Never Really Goodbye?

By all accounts the answering machine you see at the right is quite ordinary. We are trying our hand at a garage sale this weekend, and we are clearing out some things that we are no longer using. You might even be able to see that I have already marked it for $.50.

To ensure that we would not be selling unusable items, I plugged it in to see if it worked. Looked good. One old message from years ago. I hit "play", and there came a voice from the past--a woman who loved to use the telephone to visit frequently at length with her beloved family.

I called Kathy to the garage and told her she had to listen. It was her mother, now dead for four years. At the first words of the message, Kathy's eyes showed suprise. By the end of the message, those same eyes were glistening with tears. She took the answering machine from me. We would not be selling this piece of electronic equipment for $.50 when there was something much more valuable attached.

In Kathy's heart, her mom is not gone forever. Surely, to this world she is lost, but there is another world to come. Perhaps a digitized voice is a way to hang on to that certain hope in Christ. Christians truly never really go away--we just change our addresses.

Other important people to us (and to all of Bethel Lutheran Church) are departing us. This morning Kathy and I had breakfast with Dale and Helen Mundahl while the movers were finishing up the packing of their belongings onto a truck. They will moving close to their two children and five grandchildren in the Twin Cities! (For readers unfamiliar with Bethel, Dale has been our magnificent church organist for 46 years!)

It is hard to say goodbye to good friends, even servants of Christ. But we have already made plans to see each other again. We really never go away--we just change our addresses. And all of our addresses are temporary until we come to the home being prepared for us by none other than the Son of God. Talk about high quality construction!

God's peace to you in your comings and goings.

Watching Over

If you look at the picture to your right, can you pick out two eyes, a nose, a forehead?

It is the Place of the Skull, or Golgotha, just outside one of the gates of Jerusalem. It fits the Biblical evidence well. Not far from there is a garden with tombs--perhaps even the very tomb in which Jesus was laid?

Even in the picture's sunlight, the face is ominous. One can imagine why the Romans would crucify criminals in such a place.

This Place of the Skull sent shivers down my spine when Kathy and I observed it in June. How did those first century observers feel? We know something from the Bible--his mother was there, distraught. John, the disciple to whom Jesus entrusted the care of his mother was faithful in his attendance. A centurion was awed, declaring this to be the Son of God.

I can only imagine how frightening it must have been with the sun being blotted out in complete darkness around noon. And to always have those eyes looking...dark and ominous.

For most of us, the Place of the Skull isn't our picture of God watching over us. Instead, we look to the God of light and love. We appeal to Jesus who, in his absence, promised to send a counselor, one who would aid us in the truth.

Most of all, we take comfort in the God of Psalm 121--one who will watch over our going out and our coming in, from this forth, forevermore.

Are God's eyes upon you? Loving you? Caring for you, even in times of distress? God was even there at the crucifixion...watching a Son die for you and me. God raised up that Son. God intends to raise us, too. This time forth, forevermore.

On Target

As American as baseball, apple pie, and Chevrolet.

Our first visit to the new Target Field in Minneapolis was uncertain. Plans changed for friends at Bethel, and they offered us tickets in the first deck down the right field line--excellent tickets!

The seats were so good that we hesitated to leave them for any reason to explore this beautiful, new Target Field. And we didn't. We also enjoyed a well-pitched 6-0 winning by the Twins over the Indians.

As a supporter of the Metrodome (and the need for a covered baseball park in Minnesota, especially for all the college teams that use the Dome 24/7 for a few weeks in the early spring), I didn't expect to be moved by outdoor, professional baseball as I was yesterday. The sights were tremendous. The sun was brilliant. The house was full. We even saw Wally the Beer Man, one whom I have seen selling beer now in three stadiums, the first time in Metropolitan Stadium in the 1960's.

It was a tremendous afternoon. As we were leaving Target Field, I checked my smart phone for messages. One had particular poignancy. Ninety-three year old Lois had died that morning. The coincidence? Lois was the mother of the friend who gave us the tickets, because this friend knew her mother was in dire circumstances.

As we were celebrating at Target Field, Sue and Paul were mourning the loss of this vibrant and wonderful Christian woman. She gave great inspiration to all of us who are aging. She was on target with her faith and her family. Sue and Paul will never think about a game that they missed in 2010, but they will forever remember their mother and mother-in-law. Tears are shed, but prayers of thanks are offered as well.

I hope that people will enjoy baseball (as well as apple pie and Chevrolets) for decades to come at Target Field. More so, I pray that people will be on target with their faith and their relationships. Baseball will come and go. Faith is forever.

Bethlehem--An Uncertain Journey

The startling picture you see to the right is a part of a labyrinth of wire, iron gates, and concrete separating Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Bethlehem is on the West Bank, under the control of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Our guide in Israel, an ardent Zionist (and for some good reason--he still carries shrapnel in his body from a suicide bomber in Jerusalem in 2002), discouraged us from going to Bethlehem since it could be dangerous. Four out of our group of 19 decided to go anyway, including Kathy and me.

It was a little disconcerting to be let off outside a concrete bunker and told we would be met on the other side by our Bethelhem guide. There was no one to guide us through the maze of security that was daunting for an Australian couple and a Minnesota couple. There was a U.S. security warning not to visit areas under Palestianian authority. But how many times would we be within sight of Bethlehem?

We went, our hearts a bit in our throats. Walking through the security system only heightened our anxiety.

Today I think of a much younger couple--a family from Nazareth who made a much harder journey to Bethlehem. There was no dispute between Israelis and Palestianians, but there was political and military unrest--so much so that Caesar Augustus demanded that everyone return to their town of origin to be counted in a census.

This young couple found no comfortable hotel or guides waiting to show them the sights. They worried about the impending birth of their baby. They would finally find shelter amongst animals, and a baby would be placed in a feeding trough. Angels sang that night. Shepherds raced to see the wonder and told the story. It was the beginning of a life that would change the course of the world. And it began with an uncertain journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Kathy's and my uncertain journey ended gloriously. Surely this journey would not give birth to a child or even to a new angel song, but it was a day that helped our spirits soar in the truth of the Christ child. Our guide opened up the scriptures in Bethlehem. We looked over Shepherds' Field which lay between Bethlehem and Jerusalem--a place where angels could have sung to those keeping watch over their flock by night. We climbed many steps up to the top of a hill where Jesus surely could have been born. We enjoyed the quiet faith and the hope offered to us by a guide who assured us that 95% of Israelis and Palestinians simply want to live in peace with one another. And we enjoyed the shop of a Palestinian Christian who offered us a soft drink and a falafel while we bargained for olive wood carvings--purchases we will cherish forever.

The last leg of our uncertain journey concluded at the wire/iron/concrete structure where it began. The four of us read every sign to make sure we followed the correct procedures--and still almost went through the wrong door! I am sure that we were on video the whole time, guards chuckling at our naivete. With nary a problem they let us back into Israel.

It was an uncertain journey with a blessed end. And all because an uncertain journey 2000 years earlier has blessed the world.

Joren Preston Solak

Of the many and wonderful experiences we have had and yet will have during sabbatical, none will have the enduring value of this evening. His name is Joren Preston Solak. We planned a sabbatical that would keep us home most of July because of the impending birth of a grandson--due date, July 14.

Kathy and I went to the Solak home to watch Jarek late in the afternoon on July 14 so that Kari and Joe could go to a medical appointment. When they returned home, faces were glum. It looked like it would be a wait, perhaps as long as 10 days. We went to supper at Fazoli's where Jarek, age 2, mowed through a serving of spaghetti like he hadn't eaten in days. We asked if we could take him home to sleep at our place since we would be watching him the next day.

At 8:11, we got a call--the water had broken! Shortly afterwards, the power in our home went out due to storms. We lit candles and played with a flashlight and talked about a new little brother. I lay down with Jarek a bit after nine, but he is too excited to sleep. We hear Kathy's cell phone go off after a while and her excited voice communicating the news of a baby that had been born within 1.5 hours of the water breaking. Kathy came to the bedroom and had Jarek talk to her parents about this new baby brother.

Amazing facts: both Jarek and Joren were 8 pounds, 9 ounces at birth. Both were born on a Wednesday. Most amazing, both were born on their due dates. Since the percentage of babies born on their due date is only 5%, the chances of having two in the same family are .25%!

I visit many Bethel families in the hospitals after a baby is born. I always tell them that there is no gift as precious as life, that this has been one of the greatest moments of their lives. This has been great for the Solaks and the Wahls--the biggest event in sabbatical, far outpacing even a trip to Israel. Nothing more precious. A gift from God.

Communication

With much regret, I apologize to the readers of my former blog with WordPress. It seems that the server has been taken out of service with no warning.

Communications--Jesus had no such trouble as a web server going down. Jesus' world was a simpler and slower world--even with fewer languages.

To the right is a picture of languages. Everything in Israel, of course, is communicated in Hebrew. Most often, there is corresponding English. And I assume that the second line is an Arabic language of some sort.

If everything had been in Hebrew, Kathy and I would have been lost. We don't know the language. We needed familiar words.

Jesus spoke the language of his peers, but he was truly bringing new words to the world. Even in the Upper Room (the sign noting the place above) of the Last Supper, new and challenging words were offered. When he told Peter that he would wash his feet, Peter protested. But his spirit of servanthood would carry the moment. Even while presenting challenging concepts, Jesus uses familiar words.

That remains true today. "Grace" is an exceedingly difficult concept, but Jesus uses familiar words like love and sacrifice and serving and gift to help us understand. Fear can be overwhelming, but Jesus frequently uses the comforting language and shepherd and sheep so that we might know his care.

Perhaps in 2010, Jesus would use a blog to tell of his love. I pray that this blog will be successful in that communication.