A while ago I gave my grandmother a call. I was having a bit of an existential crisis when something clicked. “Is this what my grandparents felt?” I asked myself. The question referred to significant cultural changes, world happenings and environmental crises. For example, I cannot imagine what it must have felt like as a child to go through nuclear test drills, and then live through the tensions of the Cold War.
Andrea De Avila
Andrea De Avila is an ordained minister with a Master’s Degree in Theological Studies from Canadian Mennonite University. Originally from Tamaulipas, Mexico, she spends her time in Canada, the USA and her native land.
Gift giving in some cultures and traditions goes back thousands of years. Matthew 2:11 mentions the Magi visiting “the child [Jesus] with his mother . . . and present[ing] him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” These were complete and utter strangers bringing precious gifts to a child; how would that look in today’s society?
