Pictorial Anabaptist Walk in Zurich with Map

Giving Thanks

 

We Give Thanks Daily - For Our Home

In recent years it has become an accepted practice for everyone from do it – yourself writers to therapists of all stripes to recommend a daily dose of gratitude. Indeed, for those of us who are also familiar with spiritual disciplines, that is a biblical injunction that goes back millennia.

Every day there is one thing I am particularly thankful for. That is our level four apartment. It is just far enough from our city's downtown to be quiet and green. It was built at a time when it was custom made to include a wide firelane around the three sides of the building besides its facing the street, so it does not feel hemmed in by adjacent buildings, giving it a more spacious feeling.

We are on the top floor of the building (penthouse?), and actually have a level five den, which opens up on to a large 300 square-foot deck, the inner part of which is covered.

We had chosen to downsize from a detached home to condominium living when we moved to this city from Manitoba in 2005. Our nephew and my wife's cousin lived in the area and we enlisted their help in locating a place to move to. We had two stipulations. One was that it was not under any flight paths for the Vancouver International Airport, which would've created considerable noise pollution. The other was that it should be within walking distance of where I was going to be working. We found this apartment that met both criteria.

We can see planes taking off or landing at YVR, but from such a distance that sometimes we don't even hear them. We do sometimes hear them when they are taking off, at which time they of course make more noise. What we hear more of are small twin engine or even single engine planes flying over from time to time but that is not frequent enough to be bothered. In fact, I generally like listening to the sound of, for example, a radial-engine Beaver, and seeing such what we used to call bushplanes, flying about. It reminds me of my childhood growing up in northern Manitoba, where bushplanes were the main form of transportation in and out of our communities at the time.

We are not bothered by traffic, but since we are close to the centre of the city and not that far from the hospital we might hear more ambulance noise than some other areas. However, actual traffic on what I might describe as a third-rate artery one lot over to our east. When we moved here, our apartment looked over attached residences with one older three-story apartment somewhat to the left at the corner of our street and the street that is directly one lot over from our unit. Since then, the home more to the left of our apartment was replaced by a three-story four unit townhouse complex. Fortunately, it has a flat roof which is more or less level with our main living level so it still allows us to see a good deal of greenery and doesn't impede our view of the sky at all. To the right of that, across a driveway for the complex, which itself comes from the street right up to the wooden fence at the border of our property, remain two detached homes. Their backyards are full of greenery of all kinds, to the point where we can barely see the homes in the summertime. Across the street, particularly around the church that is situated there, there are a lot of trees, with even more visible as a skyline in the distance in all directions. Especially from our deck, we have a view of snowcapped Mount Baker to the south eas, although it is becoming more obscured by tree growth as time passes.

I especially appreciate this location when I sit at my desk and look out the window to my left. Even in the winter, when the non-coniferous trees are bare, I can sometimes see overwintering hummingbirds, flickers, finches, starlings and the ever-present crows and gulls. When the last two are making a big fuss, we know it is likely due to the presence of a Bald Eagle which we can quickly spot trying to escape the neighbourhood pests or soaring overhead. Not infrequently flocks of Canada Geese fly by, even below tree level; less frequently ducks.

There is a steady stream of traffic on that road out from the front of our apartment, but not enough to be a bother, and if we close our windows, as is generally the case in winter, we really don't hear it at all.

In the spring and early summer, of course, we can see the different trees around us blossoming in their time. The neighbour has a magnolia tree, and at the end of the detached home driveway is a dogwood tree. Straight across from the end of the driveway next to the church parking lot is a cherry tree, which blossoms in the springtime. There is a tree with plum blossoms right next to the fence. To the right of that is a large bamboo groove, one could say. Then we see roses of all kinds, and more recently even lilac, as well as the banana tree that the nearest townhouse unit owners have their own property. In the fall, the maple trees that grace our firelane on the building side of it turn brilliant red.

The birds that we see in summer are basically a continuation of those in the winter, as this climate is warm enough for most birds to stay around, except for the smaller ones that might rely more on insects as food. We still see the House Finches and the starlings. There are more robins in the summertime. Chickadees and nuthatches are present year-round. A variety or two of junco are to be  seen in the different seasons.

With the wide open sky that we see, we see wonderful cloud formations of all kinds. At night we see the bright lights of approaching aircraft, some of the planets and a few stars. Most stars, of course, are not visible due to the light pollution from the urban environment in which we live. From time to time, we also see rainbows to the east, which is where our apartment faces. And, of course, we see all manner of wonderful sunrises. How often we have rushed to the window or out the balcony door to take pictures of sunrises and rainbows.

Besides what one might refer to as the social and economic benefits of our location in terms of being able to walk to most amenities, to visit friends, what you have just heard and describe most is a reference to being grateful for evidence of the natural order that we see all around us from where we live. Of course, most of this is planted by humans and some of the variety is a result of human breading practices. However, the basic building blocks of all of that, are still the results of the creative work of our all creative God, the source of all beauty. Ultimately, God gets our thanks for it all.

An Hour in Elk Island National Park

 An Hour in Elk Island National Park

Come with me on a tour of this National Park, one I had never visited, even though it is only a 40 minute drive from where a couple of my siblings live. Maybe you’ll be inspired to visit, should you pass this way some day. I was en route from the east, coming on the Yellowhead Highway, which is also north of their homes. This highway actually bisects the park, with Plains Bison in the northern section and Woodlands Bison in the south, which seems counter-intuitive.

It was a grey day in early May, with rain threatening. I checked things out on my iPhone at a rest stop east of the park - $7.75 for a Seniors Day Pass; that’s okay. I motored on and turned into the main park entrance, which is on the 

north side. No one was at the gate, but instructions there directed me to buy my pass at a roadside ticket dispenser

farther on, which I did.

Then I drove on and into what appeared to be the guest centre. No one there, closed for training! Fortunately, there was

a pamphlet of the park with a map in a rack outside. I picked one up and began to follow the Elk Island Parkway route north.

Not much farther was the first promising looking location - the Bison Loop to the right. It did not disappoint.

 

There were a number of the beasts calmly gazing or resting in the grassy meadows among the trees to my right. I reasoned that with the size of those wild creatures, I was safer in the car. So, I took some photos through the passenger window with my phone but then dug out my old point-and-shoot camera, a Canon PowerShot A 2000 IS, which still does take clearer

photos and took some more.

1There were one or two cars ahead of me that I could see and a couple of vehicles followed me in.

Leaving this area I rejoined the parkway and continued north, driving past what the map seemed to identify as Mud Lake, with its beaver lodges.

Continuing north I then did take the first road, Oster Lake, to the west. I shortly came across a couple of bison on opposite sides of the road. The one to my right was a majestic bull specimen, resting in the ditch. Returning later, he was still there, now on my side of the road, so I got a great shot.

Otherwise, not much seemed to be happening when to got to the parking lot. There were a number of vehicles there but no one in sight. I assumed they were off exploring the trails, but I

was coming from a wedding anniversary party and not dressed for that. I returned to the parkway again and drove up to Astotin Lake.

The parking lot, separated from the lake by shrubs and trees, was almost full, but still no one else in sight. I stepped out of the car with my camera and began to make my way along the lake. I almost missed this bird, perched low right in front of me. However, I got in a couple of snaps before she - I think it was a female Harrier - calmly flew off.

 I took some photos of a pair of Buffleheads and a flock of migrating coots on the pond to my right 

and Blue-winged Teals in the lake to my left. My camera only has 3X optical zoom, so I apologize for the quality of my photos taken at a distance.

 

I had spotted a number of birds about a boardwalk farther on so I made my way on a wide path over a hillock between

some spruces and other foliage and down to the walk. The birds making themselves most busy here were what I

deemed to be a number of Lesser Yellowlegs. I had more often seen the Greater Variety on the shores of Lake Winnipeg as a child. These shorebirds had no beach or mud flat to peruse for delicacies here but seemed just as at home wading amongst or perching 

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on floating debris. The water must have been shallow where many of them were though, as they were often submerged to their bellies. One or two notable ones perched on a floating log gave out the characteristic call as they nodded up and down,

looking for all the world as if they were having balancing problems on that log.

I spent some time on the boardwalk, joined at one point by one of the waders. I was about to turn back to the parking lot 

 when my attention was drawn to some chirpy sounds and splashing along the reedy mud shore off to my left. Several muskrats seemed too be enjoying chasing one another around, diving and surfacing on each other. I was at some distance but I did get a few photos in.

With that, I made my way back to the car, joining throngs of mostly younger people coming from some buildings farther off to the left. Ah, teachers and students from those training sessions. Well, it was time for me to hit the road to my brother’s place east and south at Tofield. It had been a worthwhile stop.

Erasmus illustrated - in the Netherlands and Relation to Anabaptism

 Erasmus Roterodamus, Desiderius 

According to Wikipedia, Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus was born in Rotterdam and died July 12, 1536, in Basel, Switzerland. He was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic theologian, educationalist, satirist, and philosopher. Other sources suggest he might have had significant influence on the thinking of early Anabaptist leaders.

In Gouda there is an Erasmusplein, or square, adjacent to the south side of the Turfsingel, a canal on the southwest side of the older city (see map below)

According to the Gouda tourism placard #4 at the Catarina Gasthuis (see above), Erasmus “spent a large part of his youth in late-medieval Gouda. He became the most important writer and thinker of his time and is one of the best-known Dutch people worldwide.”

“This Catharina Gasthuis’, so the placard continues, “was the Middle Ages hospital.” It speaks of times when “there were periods when the plague raged and there were many casualties.” The placard indicates Catharina,  Margaretha Rogerius, was Erasmus’ mother and she died in Deventer, where Erasmus and his brother were studying. The boys returned to their father, Roger Gerard, evidently a priest in Gouda, but he also shortly died. Quoting from this poster again ”Three guardians were assigned, but they seemed more interested in the family fortune than in either boy. Erasmus, under protest, eventually joined the Stein monastery.”

Since he was born in Rotterdam, possibly October 27, 1467, there are a couple of sculptures of him in the city. Its newest, most modern bridge is named the Erasmusbrug, but nicknamed “The Swan” for its appearance. You can see photos of it here and its location on the map below.

Also in Rotterdam is the Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC), affiliated with Erasmus University and home to its faculty of medicine, the largest and one of the most authoritative scientific University Medical Centers in Europe (Google) (photo below).

In Ghent there is an Erasmus Hotel northeast of the old town, at the east end of the Patersol neighbourhood, just north off the Leie River (see map top of next page).

First free-standing statue in the Netherlands

The statue of Desiderius Erasmus was made by Hendrick de Keyser and unveiled on 30 April 1622. The bronze statue replaced earlier sculptures of the Rotterdam humanist made of wood and stone. The statue is special because it is the first free-standing statue in the Netherlands and the first statue in Europe that was not erected for a royal or military figure. Over the years the statue has stood at various locations in Rotterdam. Since 1963 it stands in front (west) of the Laurenskerk. There is also a so-called monument to Erasmus across the street to the south of the church (see photos below).

Influenced by: Martin Luther, Thomas More, MORE

Known for: New Testament translations and exegesis, satire, pacifism, letters, best-selling author and editor, and influencer

Parents:, Roger Gerard and Margaret Rogerius

Awards: Counsellor to Emperor Charles V. (hon.)

Erasmus and Anabaptism

The following is based on my reading ab out Erasmus and the Anabaptists from many sources including Wikipedia, GAMEO, The Canadian and Brittanica Encyclopedias and papers found online on the subject Roma variety of websites, as well as Abraham Friesen’s book, Erasmus, the Anabaptists, and the Great Commission.

Although Erasmus wrote clearly and strongly against the corruption plaguing the established Christian church of his time, the Roman Catholic, he managed to evade persecution and martyrdom. This is not to say that he was not called on the carpet on occasion. Indeed, it seems he moved to Basel to escape the atmosphere of persecution in the Low Countries and elsewhere at the time.

Erasmus was the prominent Christian thinker of his day. He further developed the concept of humanism that was appearing in the Renaissance period and earlier into a Christian form. Besides what was mentioned at the beginning of the last pragraph, he wrote on baptism, seeming to favour the biblical and rational form of adult baptism. However, ultimately, he still bowed to the churches’ - Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed - insistence on infant baptism. The concern of these denominations was what would happen to the population if all European infants were not baptized at birth. 

He also wrote strongly on pacifism, which it was more difficult to disagree with him on in principle and in face of Christ’s words and the apparent beliefs and practice of the Early Church before Constantine. He also had words to say with respect to the swearing of oaths. Perhaps more to the point, he wrote on what is known as Christ’s Great Commission to teach all nations and make disciples of believers. He especially focused on the last, saying that the church was failing badly in this area. People were not being taught how to live as believers, and their leaders, like the Old Testament ‘shepherds’ so roundly criticized by the Hebrew prophets, were far from being models worthy of imitation, unlike the Apostle Paul, who felt confident enough in his actions to call new believers to imitate Christ, but also himself (I Thessalonians 1).  

Erasmus’ writings were widely disseminated and read, thanks to the presence of printing presses. Thus, it is known from their own words and the historical record that he was read by Uldrich Zwingli, the reformer in Zurich, and a number of our Anabaptist forebears. It is not so clear whether he and our Anabaptist forebears in Switzerland were reading him simultaneously or even together in the study sessions some of them were a part of with him before the break in 1525. This break was sealed by the mutual baptisms performed on one another by Felix Manz, Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock and others in Manz’s home in Zurich on January 21 of that year. This date is regarded as the beginning of the Anabaptist movement. We also know from his writings that Menno Simons read him.

The question of what role Erasmus played in the development of Anabaptism that is not entirely answered is whether the ideas he had quite clearly postulated as described above were the background for the beliefs th Anabaptists put forward, or whether they came to the same conclusions through biblical studies of their own. The comments of the previous paragraph would be taken by some to believe the former. Regardless, we know that Erasmus and the Anabaptists agreed in many key areas, even though he seems to have continued to renounce them. 

- Lorne Brandt 2024 5 21