Contents
¬  Bleeding hearts can't change the world   by Susan Mark Landis
¬  Otterville   by Merrill R. Miller
¬  Not far enough   by Tammy Alexander
¬  A persistent faith   by Max Ediger
¬  "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry?"   by Brother James Dowd
¬  Review of A Persistent Voice: Marian Franz and Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation   by Muriel T. Stackley
¬  Review of Pray the Devil Back to Hell  
¬  Public footpaths and dog-friendly pubs   by Tom Beutel
¬  Prayer for peace  
¬  Readers respond to past issues  

Road Construction	top ^

Bleeding hearts can't change the world  
by Susan Mark Landis

No question, I'm a bleeding heart. I feel hugely guilty about how good and easy my life is on a global scale. When I become aware of how rotten life is for someone else, I quickly give up something so they have enough and so I don't feel guilty. I've baked bread for area hot meal programs, gathered volunteers to sort gloves and hats so people can be warm, given out three-day supplies of groceries from the local food pantry, housed people overnight and put more than change in my church offering that goes to hungry people. All of these are necessary, charitable fixes that make my bleeding heart feel better and remind me how generous I am. But they are each temporary. They improve someone's life for just a little while. They depend on my gut feelings and mostly make me feel better.
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Administrative Associate for Peace and Justice Mennonite Mission Network job soon opening. For more details, watch http://www.mennonitemission.net/Personnel/Openings/Staff/default.asp

Otterville  
by Merrill R. Miller

Capitol Reflection	top ^

Not far enough  
by Tammy Alexander

The healing story in Matthew describes a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years. Aside from her physical suffering, the woman was also likely a pariah in society, an outcast, unable to marry or have a family or be a part of community life. Like a sick child watching her friends play through a bedroom window, she was missing out on some of the best parts of life, unable to enjoy the gift of humanity because her human body was broken.

This story plays out again and again today--but not always with such a hopeful ending. According to a recent study by Harvard Medical School <http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu/medicine-health/articles/new-study-finds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-lack-health-coverage>, 45,000 people die each year due to lack of health insurance. Millions more suffer every day due to lack of access to adequate health care.
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WorldViews	top ^

A persistent faith  
by Max Ediger

Mrs. Hai Khanjanta is a grandmother with a message for us. She does not share her message through words, but rather through her example. Grandma Hai, as her neighbors call her, is an eighty-year-old farmer from the northeast region of Thailand. She has raised ten children and now proudly boasts of having 54 grandchildren.
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Your church website is also a witness! Wondering how to witness to Christian peace and justice with your church website? Check out the pages of the Houston Mennonite Church website. The congregation has chosen to work hard to have their peace and justice section of the church website reflect their core beliefs and to connect with the wider church's discussion on peace and justice. http://houstonmennonite.org/peace-and-justice

Peace Before The Sun Goes Down	top ^

"Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry?"  
by Brother James Dowd

Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are well into the season of autumn, and along with the beautiful leaves and the crisp weather comes the harvest. In much of North America, we are blessed with a bountiful harvest each fall which feeds most of our people and some people in other lands as well. Our Canadian brothers and sisters have already celebrated their Thanksgiving and here in the States, ours is still more than a month away. But all of us have much to be grateful for, not the least of which is the fact that we rarely, if ever, have to worry about having enough food on our tables.
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Bethlehem: Then and Now These PowerPoints and coloring pages for children's times were created in 2006, but the story hasn't changed and the materials can be used for Advent this year. They'll help your congregation connect the Bethlehem Jesus knew with the reality of living there today. http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/advent06

Arts Crossing	top ^

Review of A Persistent Voice: Marian Franz and Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation  
by Muriel T. Stackley

In today's mail is the October, 2009 issue of More than a paycheck: News from the War Tax Resistance Movement--evidence that the movement led so well by Marian Franz for 23 years is alive and well. Newsletter editor Ruth Benn announces a War Tax Resisters Counselor's training for November in Cleveland. (nwtrecc@nwtrcc.org or call 1-800-269-7464) Marian would be pleased. Her work continues. (National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee is a companion organization to the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund.)
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Review of Pray the Devil Back to Hell  

On September 17, Perkasie Mennonite Church joined with others in Seoul, Korea, Stellenbosch, South Africa, Wilmington, North Carolina, and Ottawa, Ontario, inviting people from our community to view the powerful documentary, Pray the Devil Back to Hell. About fifty people gathered, not only to watch a film, but to talk about how we might take risks for peace and justice in our communities and be a part of grassroots peace-building efforts. The vision is to make the documentary available around the world as part of a world peace tour, holding forth a way of peace that is non-violent, yet powerful and effective.
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Balancing Acts	top ^

Public footpaths and dog-friendly pubs  
by Tom Beutel

My wife and I recently returned from a long-anticipated trip to England. The trip, a dream of ours for many years, was a celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary and my recent early retirement from university teaching. As a sabbath from our busy lives it could not have been better. As a chance to see a different, beautiful, and historic land and meet some of its people, it surpassed our expectations.
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Peace Sunday worship resources Focusing on peace at this difficult time of economic hardship can be both a challenge and a hopeful spell check for the church. How do our current priorities align with Jesus' way of nonviolence, justice and peace? A number of sermon themes can be drawn from the lectionary text of James 3-4. While you may use examples of individual peacemakers, be sure to emphasize that the intent of James' letter was to call the whole church to peaceful, righteous relationships and life. Peace Sunday Sermon Seeds Sample worship outline Ideas for children, youth, and young adults Much more: http://www.mennonitemission.net/resources/peacesunday/

Praying for Peace	top ^

Prayer for peace  

This month's prayer was written by Hilary Scarsella, AMBS student and member of the Iraq Christian Peacemaker Team.
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Reader Response	top ^

Readers respond to past issues  

Reader responses to our past issues.
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Are you aware of human trafficking/modern slaves in your area? We're preparing a study guide to help congregations help stop modern slavery for sex or labor. We're looking for stories or real case studies (we will change names). Please send stories to SusanML@MennoniteUSA.org.