Thank you, thank you, thank you, one and all: the planners of the gathering, the leaders of the sessions and of worship (and of my opportunity to contribute) and all of you for just being there. Yes, I want to do it again. I'd like it to be the same but know it can never be repeated just as it was. We will be different: different in numbers, different attendees, different in person and experiences. (And, how can we put "Group Belly Laugh" on the agenda?) But the same Spirt gathering us in koinonia. I want to do it again, maybe as part of an extended driving trip which both LeeAnn and I enjoy. Yes, she will be with me, God willing.
I arrived home safely, Friday evening, WITH my luggage! As I boarded the plane at Tucson, I glimpsed the clear sky and felt the warm air--it was the most beautiful day, weather-wise, of my time there. I took a deep breath, suspecting I wouldn't be experiencing this for a while. And I haven't. The frigid air chilled the corridor from plane to terminal in Minneapolis but I was warmed when who should be waiting for me but Bob White! Before he had to go on his way, he wrangled a meal voucher from NorthWest. When I arrived in Winnipeg, it was no less cold but my luggage was in the carousel. The only glitch was that my intern failed to pick me up as he insisted he would and I took a taxi home. (To those of you who have been supervisors, advise me: is this grounds for a failing grade? No, grace will abound.)
The warmth of Arizona--most particularly of our gathering--remains as we carry on in the chill of a lingering Winnipeg winter.
Thanks be to God.
LANNY
Monday, February 23, 2009
"A Desert Blessing"
Thanks, all, for the great experience in Tucson. I have written this reflection.--Paul Lundborg
“Desert Blessing”
February 2009
For forty years we wandered,
Each in our own wilderness.
Entering villages and cities
We conquered their citizens
With brash youthfulness
And true doctrine,
Trusting in our own rightness.
We looked back in longing for the safety
Of theological brick-making
We had known for four brief years.
The desert’s manna failed to satisfy
Our appetites for success and fame.
But the grace of the wilderness
Was revealed in failure.
We couldn’t find our way
And had to ask for directions.
Left to rely on our own brilliance
We failed to heal the sick
Release the captive
Remember the message
And soon we realized we were lost.
That’s when the manna
Began to taste good,
To satisfy our appetite.
We were filled by flakes of sustenance
Not of our own making.
It was all grace.
In search of a feast,
We had been granted enough.
And we survived.
More could be said of our 40 years,
But we were called to re-unite.
Come away from your wilderness
To another desert to peek into
The Land of Promise.
Come to feast on memory and song,
Laughter and healing.
Here was delight
In the Trinity’s affirmation
Of fellowship, communion, koinonia.
Fueled by memories of a shared history
And a common hope for a new future,
We glimpsed a vision of heaven’s shore.
We tasted the feast of abundant grace
In soulful talk and gracious listening.
We heard the elders’ voices
Singing ‘round the throne,
And they were our own.
The foolish wisdom acquired by experience
Was shared by old friends
With whom we had once been young.
Gifts we had witnessed decades ago
And labeled as “potential”
Had been polished through the years
And emerged as “fulfilled”.
Becoming more of what we have always been,
We witnessed congruency, integrity, and wisdom
In each other.
We were blessed in the wilderness,
By the Redemptorists,
And our common Redeemer,
In their desert home.
Listen for the whistle.
Could be a train
Just passing by.
Or a memory of our blessing.
“Desert Blessing”
February 2009
For forty years we wandered,
Each in our own wilderness.
Entering villages and cities
We conquered their citizens
With brash youthfulness
And true doctrine,
Trusting in our own rightness.
We looked back in longing for the safety
Of theological brick-making
We had known for four brief years.
The desert’s manna failed to satisfy
Our appetites for success and fame.
But the grace of the wilderness
Was revealed in failure.
We couldn’t find our way
And had to ask for directions.
Left to rely on our own brilliance
We failed to heal the sick
Release the captive
Remember the message
And soon we realized we were lost.
That’s when the manna
Began to taste good,
To satisfy our appetite.
We were filled by flakes of sustenance
Not of our own making.
It was all grace.
In search of a feast,
We had been granted enough.
And we survived.
More could be said of our 40 years,
But we were called to re-unite.
Come away from your wilderness
To another desert to peek into
The Land of Promise.
Come to feast on memory and song,
Laughter and healing.
Here was delight
In the Trinity’s affirmation
Of fellowship, communion, koinonia.
Fueled by memories of a shared history
And a common hope for a new future,
We glimpsed a vision of heaven’s shore.
We tasted the feast of abundant grace
In soulful talk and gracious listening.
We heard the elders’ voices
Singing ‘round the throne,
And they were our own.
The foolish wisdom acquired by experience
Was shared by old friends
With whom we had once been young.
Gifts we had witnessed decades ago
And labeled as “potential”
Had been polished through the years
And emerged as “fulfilled”.
Becoming more of what we have always been,
We witnessed congruency, integrity, and wisdom
In each other.
We were blessed in the wilderness,
By the Redemptorists,
And our common Redeemer,
In their desert home.
Listen for the whistle.
Could be a train
Just passing by.
Or a memory of our blessing.
"My Younger Voice"
Here's the reading I shared at one of our sessions. I missed the first quarter and the first several weeks of our middler year at Luther because Rose Ann and I joined the Peace Corps in June of 1966, shortly after completing my first year at the seminary. We were in the Peace Corps and serving in India until mid-December of that year and returned to resume studies after Christmas--Paul Lundborg
“My Younger Voice”
January, 2005
In 1966 Rose Ann and I recorded our early, not exactly first, impressions of India while beginning our Peace Corps assignment in a small village in northern India. We were impressionable, on our first journey away from the land of our birth, but once we returned home we never took the time to listen to the tape..
In January of 2005 we listened to those words—20 minutes worth—recorded on reel to reel magnetic tape and now digitally reproduced. We were preparing to return to India with a study group focusing on the theme: "A Spiritual Journey Through India". The trip would lead us to study Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism--religions that began in India--plus the influence of Islam in India. We listened to our words 39 years after we had spoken them, following other journeys abroad and preparing for a new experience of India. We heard voices from our past. Our own.
Listening to the younger me
Was an exercise in incredulity.
It causes me perplexity
Why a lad of merely twenty three
Could cross the world and only see
Weeks and months of responsibility.
Why so somber, no room for glee?
You’re young, o so young, why not carefree?
Now I can name it. Anxiety.
Taking life so seriously,
Feeling burdens internally,
Not a reaction you’d expect to see
When a decade proclaimed its liberty
From church and state and all the powers that be.
But we were born in ’43,
Raised by parents who set the whole world free,
And survived the depression, fortunately.
And they told us, “We want you to be
Advanced, improved, far better than we.”
And we said, “Yes. Now you just wait and see.
Our goal is to serve humanity.”
Cold war, Korea, Viet Nam;
After affects of the hydrogen bomb;
Values exploding all over the place;
Authority, abstinence, issues of race.
Equality, freedom, love, peace and joy.
Booze, drugs and sex for each girl and boy.
Reflect for a minute and I think you will see
We countered our culture, just differently.
With purpose and zeal we set out to be
Pleasers of parents—not wild and free.
Here we are now, over sixty,
Looking back ever so thankfully.
We are who we are and ever will be
Pursuing life a bit dutifully,
But having more fun and feeling more free,
Relaxed and chilled out. Seriously!
“My Younger Voice”
January, 2005
In 1966 Rose Ann and I recorded our early, not exactly first, impressions of India while beginning our Peace Corps assignment in a small village in northern India. We were impressionable, on our first journey away from the land of our birth, but once we returned home we never took the time to listen to the tape..
In January of 2005 we listened to those words—20 minutes worth—recorded on reel to reel magnetic tape and now digitally reproduced. We were preparing to return to India with a study group focusing on the theme: "A Spiritual Journey Through India". The trip would lead us to study Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism--religions that began in India--plus the influence of Islam in India. We listened to our words 39 years after we had spoken them, following other journeys abroad and preparing for a new experience of India. We heard voices from our past. Our own.
Listening to the younger me
Was an exercise in incredulity.
It causes me perplexity
Why a lad of merely twenty three
Could cross the world and only see
Weeks and months of responsibility.
Why so somber, no room for glee?
You’re young, o so young, why not carefree?
Now I can name it. Anxiety.
Taking life so seriously,
Feeling burdens internally,
Not a reaction you’d expect to see
When a decade proclaimed its liberty
From church and state and all the powers that be.
But we were born in ’43,
Raised by parents who set the whole world free,
And survived the depression, fortunately.
And they told us, “We want you to be
Advanced, improved, far better than we.”
And we said, “Yes. Now you just wait and see.
Our goal is to serve humanity.”
Cold war, Korea, Viet Nam;
After affects of the hydrogen bomb;
Values exploding all over the place;
Authority, abstinence, issues of race.
Equality, freedom, love, peace and joy.
Booze, drugs and sex for each girl and boy.
Reflect for a minute and I think you will see
We countered our culture, just differently.
With purpose and zeal we set out to be
Pleasers of parents—not wild and free.
Here we are now, over sixty,
Looking back ever so thankfully.
We are who we are and ever will be
Pursuing life a bit dutifully,
But having more fun and feeling more free,
Relaxed and chilled out. Seriously!
Toward a future of Koinonia and mission?
Sue and I both thoroughly enjoyed our class reunion/retreat. It is amazing that so many of us, playing various parts in the overall framework managed to stay out of the way enough for the Spirit to stir things up a bit, including the Holy Hilarity of Wednesday evening. Unforgettable!
Off to such a good start, the question keeps nagging at me--what comes next? In my view our class turned out to be really fine pastors of the church. In retirement we may want to be uninvolved for a time; but we have much to offer. The issue is what that specifically might be for the church, and how to do that without pontificating as so many retired pastors are wont to do. Is there some needed contribution we might be able to make to the vibrant future of the church? Are there particular ways of going with God's future that would be of value to us, our children and our children's children, and to the world?
Come, let us reason together... in order to build upon the foundation put in place outside of Tucson.
Dave Mullen
Off to such a good start, the question keeps nagging at me--what comes next? In my view our class turned out to be really fine pastors of the church. In retirement we may want to be uninvolved for a time; but we have much to offer. The issue is what that specifically might be for the church, and how to do that without pontificating as so many retired pastors are wont to do. Is there some needed contribution we might be able to make to the vibrant future of the church? Are there particular ways of going with God's future that would be of value to us, our children and our children's children, and to the world?
Come, let us reason together... in order to build upon the foundation put in place outside of Tucson.
Dave Mullen
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Mary Jo and I were delighted to be invited to join you all at the class reunion even though I did not graduate with the class. As most of you may recall, I decided to leave the sem after the end of the first quarter of our senior year to pursue a different career path.
We look forward to staying connected with you.
Thanks to the planners and all who provided leadership at the reunion. It really was a good one!
David J Nelson
We look forward to staying connected with you.
Thanks to the planners and all who provided leadership at the reunion. It really was a good one!
David J Nelson
Guess whose event it was?!
Those of us on the Program Planning Team had a sense that this would be a good event. And as the one who put most of the logistics together, I also thought it would be fun. Little did we/I expect what the reality would be!! The Spirit managed to take what we had put together and turn it into an event that few of us had even imagined! We are grateful!
Perhaps it had to do with low expectations. Having never done anything like this before, most of us didn't know what to expect ... but decided to 'take a chance' and come anyway.
Perhaps it had to do with high involvement. Virtually all of our classmates had a leadership role at some point during the Gathering ... in addition to a goodly number of our spouses. Our experience in ministry has led us to affirm that when the Reformation conviction about the priesthood of all believers undergirds our modus operandi, the Spirit seems to take off.
Perhaps it had to do with the setting, surrounded by the beauty of the desert and the efforts and prayers of our gracious hosts.
Perhaps ... perhaps ....
Each of you have other reflections as well. The Program Planning Team is planning to gather at a not-too-distant point in the future to mull over your reflections, look over the written evaluations you completed, your blog comments and other input. We'll then come back to you with our Team reflections and thoughts about when and where we might have our next Gathering ... with the prayer that others of our class might be able to join us.
Shalom!
Tom
Perhaps it had to do with low expectations. Having never done anything like this before, most of us didn't know what to expect ... but decided to 'take a chance' and come anyway.
Perhaps it had to do with high involvement. Virtually all of our classmates had a leadership role at some point during the Gathering ... in addition to a goodly number of our spouses. Our experience in ministry has led us to affirm that when the Reformation conviction about the priesthood of all believers undergirds our modus operandi, the Spirit seems to take off.
Perhaps it had to do with the setting, surrounded by the beauty of the desert and the efforts and prayers of our gracious hosts.
Perhaps ... perhaps ....
Each of you have other reflections as well. The Program Planning Team is planning to gather at a not-too-distant point in the future to mull over your reflections, look over the written evaluations you completed, your blog comments and other input. We'll then come back to you with our Team reflections and thoughts about when and where we might have our next Gathering ... with the prayer that others of our class might be able to join us.
Shalom!
Tom
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There's that train whistle again! Are those horns growing out of the conductor's head???
Triple Trouble