“Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” ( Luke 8:19-21 )
Anabaptists, the faith ancestors of Mennonites, took seriously many portions of the bible that other faiths at that time passed over. Actually, there was only one predominate faith at that time, and the Anabaptists did not feel that group was faithful in the ways they should be. One of the things the Anabaptists did was start calling each other brothers and sisters in the faith. Since the “new” Anabaptist beliefs would sometimes separate family groups, it would be very possible to feel closer to one’s faith family than one’s biological family. In that respect, they were not much different than the early Christians.
The Confession says,”All Christians are to take their place within the household of God, where members treat each other as brothers and sisters.” More modern day Anabaptists -Mennonites – do not usually use such terminology in addressing each other. But neither is it unusual to refer to the people one worships with as “brothers and sisters.” And when talking about faith heritages, we often refer to our forefathers and foremothers.
When I was growing up, from about the age of 8 years old to when I went off to college, I was in the same church. For the most part, my friends were my peers that I went to church with. It was a small town where I lived – so small that it did not have its own high school, so my peers and I went to a larger town close by for high school. I never really thought it unusual to have the same circle of friends in both places. Sort of put a damper on dating though -not that I was the type of have an “active” social life. The people I chummed around with, for the most part, I went to church with. Our lives were pretty interwoven. Add to that being an only child, and you have a recipe for being strongly rooted in the church. I carried that notion with my through adulthood, seeking “family” in the family of God – brothers and sisters in Christ, and mentors amongst older church members.
May you gentle reader find the “family” you seek, and may the Divine Parent nurture us all from this world into the next. Selah!
