Canadian Mennonite
Volume 6, number 7
April 11, 2002

---

Abbotsford, B.C.

Vivid imagery" is the best phrase to describe the variety of art that honoured victims of abuse at the opening night of the Fraser Valley Arts and Peace Festival on March 1.

The Art Gallery at the University College of the Fraser Valley featured work by B.C. artists Bob Evermon, Edith Krause and Hugo Myny, as well as Illinois artist Hector Maisonet. Many of the paintings used vivid colour and layered, complex images to depict struggle and war.

One of the most striking pieces was a series of banners by Krause that hung in the vaulted entrance way. The banners were a result of Krause's reading Marilyn Waring's book, If Women Counted, which explores how the world determines value.

"Waring discovered that work that does not involve the exchange of money has no value," Krause said. The five banners address value according to economics, nature, gender and technology.

The evening included poetry reading, and music by Juno award winning singer and actor Shari Ulrich and jazz/folk band "The Russian Judge." A haunting piece by The Russian Judge was about the Sarajevo "Romeo and Juliet," a young Serb/Muslim couple who were shot by snipers while trying to elope.

Ulrich entertained the audience with her wit and music. She shared her personal experience with violence, but her songs were filled with images of hope and restoration. One of her most moving songs was about the Samaritan woman who meets Jesus at the well.

"I loved that image of living water," she said, adding with a laugh that she could also relate to the kind of woman who had five husbands.

Poet Barbara Nickel read several poems from The Gladys Elegies, based on letters between twin sisters growing up in a restrictive society, one with an abusive husband. Nickel ended her readings with a humorous series based on "Uncle Hans" who showed up at Christmas with gifts, forgetting whom they were for and solving the problem by raffling them off.

The highlight of the evening for many was the dramatic reading by local teacher and poet Gareth Brandt. Brandt shared his experience of childhood sexual abuse and the ongoing journey of healing. Each of the poems described a phase of the healing process: denial, pain, anger, grief and hope.

"The cleansing of the bedroom" was developed when a therapist asked him to imagine Jesus with him at a time of abuse. The poem echoed the image of Jesus clearing the temple. The anger was as palpable as was the tenderness at the end of the poem when Brandt described Jesus taking the child on his lap and saying, "Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted."

The Arts and Peace Festival continued on March 3 with a worship service at Emmanuel Mennonite Church. Through music, scripture, story-telling and poetry, the service reflected on the often painful history of the Christian faithful, using Hebrew 11 and 12 as the theme (the cloud of witnesses). The worship team, led by Angela Neufeld, led the group through songs from various cultures and a prayer litany calling on God to release the world from injustice.

Barbara Nickel led the children's feature and read her poem, "Martyrs," describing the death of an Anabaptist woman by drowning. The image of life-giving water reflected how the death of this woman can give inspiration now.

Novelist Rudy Wiebe shared the martyr story of Anabaptist Weynken Claes from his latest novel, Sweeter Than All the World.

The final weekend of the March 1-10 festival included a drama by Trinity Western University entitled, "Patient A, When a virgin dies of AIDS who is to blame?" as well as worship at Langley Mennonite Fellowship, and a multi-media peace presentation at Columbia Bible College.

The festival was sponsored by Project Ploughshares Fraser Valley, Mennonite Central Committee B.C., the Political Science department at University College of the Fraser Valley, Langley Mennonite Fellowship, the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster (Peace and Justice Unit) and International Network on Personal Meaning.

-From MCC B.C. release

Sandra Birdsell, The Russländer. McLelland & Stewart, 2001, 350pp.

Russian Mennonites cherish their story of Paradise Lost, and its sequel, the Great Escape-God's miraculous deliverance from the Red Sea of Soviet Russia. The number of individuals who lived the story is shrinking.

How fortunate that Sandra Birdsell, a major Canadian writer, offers a fresh retelling in The Russländer, her first serious venture into Mennonite subject matter. The novel describes how peace and prosperity in the "Mennonite oasis" in Czarist Russia are shattered by civil war, famine and epidemic, a destruction that challenges long-held beliefs and values.

The central story is Katya Vogt's. The revolution and its aftermath put a violent end to her sheltered growing up on the Sudermann estate where her father is overseer. The horror she witnesses, loss of family, and devastation of village life, threaten to crush her spirit.

The best in Mennonitism is portrayed through Peter Vogt, Katya's father. His integrity and concern for social justice inform his interest in culture, the natural environment, and the welfare of his people. In contrast, there is Abram Sudermann the world-travelling estate owner. His arrogance, greed and lechery make him repugnant, and his word is not to be trusted.

A description early in the novel suggests the self-indulgence that wealth has led to: "Abram Sudermann had entered the room in a bustle with his brothers, each one wearing a dark vested suit and a cowboy hat, bringing with them the smell of tobacco and a rich odour of fermented cherries."

When everything is collapsing around him, "Abram sputtered, his massive head quivering as he stared at the barn in disbelief...his mountain of flesh jiggling beneath his nightshirt."

The church has room for both Sudermann and Vogt, but "Bull-headed Heinrichs," with his intolerance for hypocrisy, is not welcome. But his appearance at other places proves providential. "God put you in the right place at the right moment," Katya tells him.

Sudermann's treatment of his Russian workers at Privol'noye helps explain their uprising against the Mennonites. But Birdsell also shows the dark side of the envious peasants and personifies it in Pravda, a man misshapen in both body and spirit.

There is more than one response to war and violence. Teacher David Sudermann questions pacifism but admits he will use his family connection to avoid service; Peter Vogt becomes an army medical worker. When the Czar can no longer be counted on to protect them from violence, some Mennonites speak of self-defence.

Birdsell prefaces her story with a list of those who will die. It's a risk that pays off. Readers know there will be horror, and as the leisurely narrative moves them inexorably toward it, the tension heightens.

The leisureliness, intended no doubt to reflect the apparent peace and security in the colonies, tends to plod at the beginning. There is an unwieldy cast of characters to introduce, details of setting to establish, and symbols to weave in.

But the author succeeds masterfully in portraying Katya's reaction to the slaughter at the Sudermann estate. Young, innocent, she emerges slowly from the trauma, as if from a bad dream. Her return to life and her gradual sexual awakening are paralleled with the worsening conditions in the colony, making her transition into womanhood deeply poignant.

The growing up story of a young girl should include romance, and a wedding. The author provides both, the former somber, the latter a parody.

Birdsell balances such bleakness with the generosity of Lydia, the once-privileged daughter of Abram Sudermann. In spite of unspeakable loss, Lydia finds a dress for the bride and, more important, reminds Katya: "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it."

Birdsell's gifts of credible characters, dramatic story and loving rendition of the landscape will be gratefully received. Faithfully researched and always unhurried, The Russländer is an important novel.

-Sarah Klassen

The reviewer is a teacher, poet and short story writer from Winnipeg.

Choir performs requiem

The Pax Christi Chorale of Toronto, conducted by Stephanie Martin, will present Mozart's Requiem with orchestra on April 27 and 28 at Grace Church on-the-Hill (300 Lonsdale Ave.). The choir will also perform Haydn's Te Deum and Schubert's German Mass. Soloists for the requiem are soprano Mary Bella, alto Lynne McMurtry, tenor David Pomeroy and bass Philip Carmichael. The performances will begin at 8:00 p.m. (27), and 3:00 p.m. (28). The choir began 13 years ago. Most of the singers are Mennonites, but members also come from various faith traditions. In 1999, the choir released its first CD, Rejoice. Martin has been artistic director of the choir since 1996. With music degrees from Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Toronto, she is an organist at Calvin Presbyterian Church in Toronto.

-From Pax Christi release

My ancestors, the Swiss/Pennsylvania Mennonites around St. Jacobs, Ontario, had a tradition of bland food. When I began investigating what their everyday foods were in the early 20th century, I was surprised at how unexciting their eating habits were.

Noon staples were boiled meat and potatoes. Traditional suppers were potato soup (cubed potatoes served in milk with toasted bread cubes) or rivel soup (eggs and flour in milk). These dishes have not withstood the test of time. To be fair, a soup meal would also include spicy summer sausage.

Creamed potatoes, with a variety of names in the German dialect, is still widely enjoyed. Part of its charm is that it is quick to prepare. Sliced potatoes are cooked in just enough water and then served with a splash of cream and a bit of salt and pepper.

One bland dish that has remained a tradition in my family is Egg cheese. It has almost no flavour, but when eaten with maple syrup it is a special treat. Egg cheese has become a favourite with my husband who has English roots and a taste for spicy food.

This delicacy was traditionally made in the spring when the chickens began laying eggs again and when fresh maple syrup was available. It is also known as Easter cheese.

Egg cheese

8 cups whole milk
2 cups buttermilk (or less)
5 eggs (or more for a softer cheese)
1/2 tsp. salt
Heat the milk to boiling point in a large pot being careful not to scorch it. Beat together the eggs and buttermilk and add to the hot milk. Mix well. Heat again until the mixture curdles. Do not remove from heat until the curds are firm. Place a double thickness of cheesecloth in a colander and pour the mixture into the colander. When most of the whey has drained away, invert a plate over the top of the curds, gather the corners of the cheesecloth and tie them together. Suspend the covered cheese over a container and let it drain for several hours or overnight. To serve, cut into half-inch slices and cover with maple syrup. Use a spoon so that each bite has syrup with it.

-Barb Draper