Came to Bro. Ogden, an infidel.

How funny is that! What a juxtaposition of terms!

That reminds me that awhile ago on Juvenile Instructor, the regulars were discussing the use of the term “Brethren.”

So last weekend I was at a genealogy conference at the public library and afterwards I began talking to a woman about local historical projects. After she had said “Mennonites and Brethren” half a dozen times, I remembered to ask whether they use the term “brethren” in their churches. (Mennonites and Church of the Brethren.)

She said that they don’t, except when someone dies, and then they’ll use language like “our dear departed sister Jones.” (Except not Jones, of course!)

Another woman standing there said she was Moravian and that they refer to themselves as “brethren in the Lord” (or something like that) but don’t use that language otherwise. I mentioned that the question was of interest since I was Mormon and we did use that language (brothers, sisters, brethren) in our worship and in speaking to each other. The Moravian woman said, “How funny! When I tell people I’m Moravian, they say, ‘Oh, the church where you can have more than one wife?’ And I reply, ‘No, the Moravians can’t have more than one wife, and neither can the Mormons!’”

(Okay, so that was definitely a tangent.)

We had a good time during the day eating oranges, pecans, and candy.

Mmm. Texas pecans.