Just like old times (but without the injuries)

Looking back on it now from New Year's Eve, I have to say that 2007 has been a decent year. I would have said "a good year," but as my dad's original draft of the family Christmas letter pointed out, there were lots of lowlights—from the burglary at my home church to my Grandpa Don's near-fatal experience. Although it should be noted that there were also silver linings to such clouds and that my parents later revised the Christmas letter to make it less of a bummer, the bottom line is that 2007 was probably not the best year of our lives. That said, it sure has ended well.

First, I survived my final exams at Luther Seminary and even managed to have some fun on my birthday, which came two days before the deadline for three of my final papers. Then, I found out that my cousin, Erin, and her husband, Aaron (yes, Erin and Aaron), welcomed a baby boy, Samuel Harland. His middle name was given in homage to my Grandpa Dick (his real name was not Dick but Harland—funny thing about names in my family), and my Grandma Alice, now a great-grandma, is thrilled. Then came Christmas in Wisconsin, which was absolutely terrific. We got to celebrate with both sides of Tracy's family and then headed up to Green Bay on Christmas Day, which was particularly special because we had my Grandpa Don there with us, and we all had a good time despite the change in his condition.

In the days since, we rounded out the year by revisiting some memorable experiences from years prior. On the day after Christmas, Tracy and I went sledding with my longtime friends, Scott and Sonya, and their 2-year-old daughter, Clarissa, on the hill behind our old grade school. This was significant because it was the first time I had gone sledding with Scott since a certain snow day nearly 15 years ago. It was on that occasion that, after Scott and I took his "Batman: The Animated Series" sleds to the outskirts of our still-developing subdivision and climbed a barbed wire fence to reach a suitable hill, I crashed into a snow bank and got myself a spectacular black eye.

Amazingly, 15 years later, Scott brought along the same Batman sleds for us to use. Even so, there were thankfully no black eyes this time. There was one comical moment in which I crashed my Batman sled into Scott, who had fallen over in front of me after foolishly attempting to surf down the hill (Tracy captured this comedy gold in the series of photos above). Scott actually fell over a lot, and Clarissa in the days since has apparently been quoting me by calling her daddy a "drama queen" for his antics.

The next day was bittersweet but unforgettable. Tracy and I attended a funeral at my home church for a 95-year-old woman named Margaruite who was a faithful inspiration to others right down to her dying breath. Then, our week in Wisconsin culminated with a visit to Appleton with my folks. It was the first time in many years that I visited Appleton with my parents, who would take me to the nearby Fox River Mall almost every weekend when we lived in Neenah and still brought me there regularly after we moved to Green Bay.

It was a particularly memorable trip for the four of us. Revisiting the mall brought back memories not only of my visits there with my folks as I grew up but also of the several times that Tracy and I went there—it was at the mall's Kirkland's store, which is now going out of business, that I first hinted at the possibility of Tracy and I getting married ("Maybe we could get something like this for our house someday").

We also had dinner at Good Company, a fantastic two-story restaurant in Appleton. It was there that, as a young child, I once infamously hurt myself while playing "blind man" by walking into a large piece of furniture at the top of the stairs. The four of us were seated at a table just past that spot. I kept my eyes open this time, and again, thankfully, I suffered no injuries.

Now, Tracy and I are back in Minnesota. We have continued to have a great time while enjoying the remainder of our days off from work and classes. If all's well that ends well, then 2007 turned out pretty well.

Here's praying for a black-eye- and bruise-free 2008 for all of us.

Merry Christmas

I just got my first real chance to access the Internet since finals ended, and it's Christmas Day. So this is just to wish everyone a blessed Christmas. Not that anyone in his or her right mind would be reading this blog on Christmas Day. But just in case ... Merry Christmas. I should probably go pay attention to my family now.

God bless us, every one.

In God's Name

While Christmas reminds me of family, friends and home, we are also called to understand the manger as a promise for all people and all places. In a few days we will celebrate that God came to be among us, with us, as one of us and because there was no other way.

Who do you pray for?

How do you worship?

What do you believe?

How do you reconcile your differences with those who pray, worship and believe differently than you do?

Take time on Sunday night 9/8c to gather with those you love, those you disagree with, those who need the manger as much as you do. CBS will be broadcasting a documentary In God's Name that addresses the fear and violence at work in the world today by hearing from "spiritual leaders" from all over the world:

• Alexei II, Patriarch of Moscow and head of the Russian Orthodox Church

• Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi), a Hindu spiritual leader

• Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church

• The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists

• Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent Shi'ite Muslim leader

• Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran World Federation

• Michihisa Kitashirakawa, Jingu Daiguji (High Priest) of the Shinto Grand Shrine of Ise

• Yona Metzger, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel

• Dr. Frank Page, President of the Southern Baptist Convention

• Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader

• Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the Sikhs' highest authority

• Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England

The six minute trailer showed me that this conversation is not a pluralistic compromise or a divisive and judgmental competition, but a genuine attempt to live beyond the many beliefs and behaviors that separate us for the sake of the world. We can only speak and listen with true respect when we are confident enough in our own faith to explore the things beyond ourselves and people just like us.

We all believe in something. Learning about the faith of another can teach us greater truths about our own faith.

May your heart be a manger for Christ this season, alive with the radical hope that is Emmanuel.

Merry Christmas!

Liverpool lost 1-0 to Manchester United, or, Why God gave me the DNA to support the latter and I have a secret charmin

I support Liverpool Football Club. Their website is visited by me nearly every day to look for news. My son requests wearing his Steven Gerrard #8 shirt when I put on my #7 Harry Kewell. On the door of our family bathroom there is a plaque with the club shield and my name. I've been to Anfield football ground three times and the team's aggregate score in those trips is 11-1 so I'd even like to think I'm a sort of good luck charm (or maybe it's the fact that they play shite teams when I visit). Sunday morning my friend Chris and I arrived at Brit's Pub in Minneapolis at 7:15 to watch them take on the hated rivals Manchester United. Argentine international Tevez scored in the 44th minute for the enemy (off a shot/pass from Liverpool native Wayne Rooney) and the Reds never recovered. Maybe I should have gone to church instead.

I was bummed. Thankfully, here at the Burntvedt Court my bunny ears receive quality religious programming. I got home just in time to change a poopy nappy and turn on inspiration-of-mine Joel Osteen. In my sports-induced-emotional-valley, he reached down and picked me up, promising me that I have the "DNA of a champion." He encouraged me that, as long as I am faithful, one of these days I'll "get the blessing that my heavenly father has in store for me." I felt so much better knowing that I was made by God to be "a victor not a victim." Duly encouraged I took a trip to the restroom and read "The Secret." I'm glad it was there because I ran out of toilet paper.

I'm not sure who I dislike more, Osteen or Manchester United. I think I'll send him a Tevez jersey for Christmas. He likes winners.

First Snow

I know. The first snow was weeks ago, but I'm still smiling about a conversation I had with Halise and Christy in early December.

Christy is from India and Halise is from Turkey. Both were wide eyed watching the Grounds Crew shovel as the flakes continued to fall. That big weekend storm welcomed December and Advent with gusto. Christy and Halise were bundled up, peeking out the window at cars navigating the main intersection on campus and wondering what this would mean for their first winter here at Luther.

Christy had to venture out in the storm for a dentist appointment that first morning. She only made it a few steps when she slipped and fell into the snow onto her hands and knees. "I felt like a child again," she giggled. "It was so slippery and cold and wet on my hands!"

Halise blushed and shared that the snow reminds her of the power and purity of God. The dramatic change in seasonal weather is something beyond our human capacity. "God can do all this - it's white and beautiful everywhere!"

Michael, a seasoned veteran, has been at Luther for a few years now. He remembers his hat wherever he goes and says that the snow made clear the passage in Isaiah. "This is how white and pure we are when our sins are washed away! It's very bright and I'd never seen it before."

The snow has been on the ground for weeks now, but they still seem charmed by it all, which makes me look with fresh eyes. Halise looked at me like I was crazy when I reached down and collected snow with my bare hands. "I worry about your hands - they will freeze!" Something both friendly and devious rose up inside of me. I couldn't resist being the first to hit them with a snowball.

Anticipating Normalcy Soon

Hello friends. It has been a while since I posted a blog about my adventures as a seminarian. In recent weeks my life has consisted of school—work—studying—sleeping and repeating this cycle Monday through Friday. Weekends have been study—cook—“house cleaning” (the kind that
would not pass Momma’s white glove test)—study—church—too brief conversations with loved ones (you have to call or they get worried).

Truth is, there has not been very much life activity that is blog-worthy. Unless friends, you want to read about the unusually hectic end of the year activities at work. Or I could write about the very silly gestures and mnemonics I developed to help me remember Hebrew vocabulary. (Hey, you do whatever it takes.)

My normal life has been and still is on hold. Instead of doing what I normally do this time of year, I have made lists of things. I am anticipating normalcy soon and I want to be ready to do the special things I do this time of year. So I have lists of:

• organizations to which I want to make donations before the end of the year;
• old and new friends to whom I want to send Christmas cards;
• cookies and candies I want to bake before Christmas (gingersnaps, eggnog snowmen, peppermint surprise brownie bites, and orange chocolate cookies–the 2008 Minneapolis Star Trib winning cookie);
• gift ideas for loved ones; and
• items to pack for the trip to my hometown to celebrate Christmas with my family .
  

In the midst of these days¸ I have looked forward to (and quite honestly been desperate for) experiences of worship that ground me. Worship is the one time during the week when I refuse to be in a hurry or get distracted thinking about work or thinking of lists. I look forward to worship all year to be a break from ordinar time. I especially look forward to worship during this holy season. I had a wonderful worship experience last Sunday with a dear friend and mentor who is a United Methodist clergy woman. I arrived at the church where she is pastor and as soon as I heard the prelude and gathering music, I knew I would have the experience of worship I desired and needed. In the service she prepared for the second Sunday in advent, she deftly balanced the themes of anticipation and preparation to meet Jesus Christ on one hand and the anxiety of whether we can adequately prepare ourselves to meet him on the other.

This theme was woven all through the service and especially in the unison prayer. I conclude my blog post with a bit of the prayer and hope it helps ground you too:

“Gracious God. It happens every year. I think that
this will be the year that I have a reflective Advent. I think
that this will be the year that I will not have a million things still
undone in my life. I look forward to new Advent and Christmas season,
Jesus. But all around me are the signs rushing me to Christmas and
some kind of celebration that equates spending money with love and success.
I need your help. I want to slow my world down. This year, more than ever, I need Advent, these weeks of reflection and longing for hope in the darkness. Jesus, this year, help me to have that longing. Help me to feel it in my heart and be aware of
the hunger and thirst in my own soul.”

Church & State

Finals. I thought I'd share with you the questions I'm considering for one of my final exams. I'm taking an elective called "Islam in the Modern World" from Dr. Charles Amjad-Ali in which we take a deeper look at the buzzwords of today and the relationship between religion and politics in America and around the world.

The course has tempted me to ask others about their personal relationship with church and state before preparing my final paper. I sent the following email to most everyone on my email contact list and have received a lot of helpful feedback already. I offer these for thought in a time that demands our serious consideration of the relationship between faith and nationality, this kingdom and the next.

Hi All,

I'm writing to ask you about what it means to be a Christian living in and believing in democracy. (I am referring to the more general form of government, of course, not the American political party.) Most of you have been both Christian and Democratic for your entire life, but not all. I'm writing one of my final exams about this complex identity and hoping to receive blurbs back from many of you that will form the interview portion of my research paper.

This request is being sent to people of all political and theological persuasions from within the Christian and Democratic perspective and I look forward to receiving many different reflections and opinions. Please respond to one or all of these questions at whatever length you choose by Saturday, December 15. Your reply will help shape the voice of my paper. Your participation would be much appreciated - both initial gut reactions and thoughtful, reflective replies welcome! Thank you, in advance, for taking a moment to consider these questions. There's no right or wrong answer, so even admitting that you are either or both because of birth or life-long habit is of great interest to my project.

1. Are there buzzwords used by the media and contemporary culture that you use or hear being used, but struggle to clearly define because they seem so broad and assumed? (Ex. 'Western', 'Green', 'Radical', etc.)

2. What does it mean to be both Christian and Democratic? (I refer to the more general form of government, not the political party.) If you are both, why? How do they support one another (or not) and how do you uphold their mutual (or conflicting) values?

3. Does your Christian faith influence your democratic citizenship? Does your democratic citizenship influence your Christian faith? How so?

My favorite atheist

There are a number of things I could write about in this last sliver of time before final papers and exams become my sole focus for the next week and a half. Most obviously, there's the winter weather that kicked in at the very start of December. There are also the NFC North Division Champion Green Bay Packers and 2007 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Brett Favre. And there's my unfortunately timed decision to cut off any caffeine consumption. But, setting aside all that, I think it's about time that I finally give some respect to Adam.

Adam is one of those friends that every human being hopes to have one day. Someone who supports you in everything you do. Someone who you know, without a doubt, will be your friend for the rest of your life. Someone who sends you mix CDs of cutting-edge music in the mail every few months. That's Adam. (It's also true of my wife, Tracy, except she doesn't send me mix CDs.)

Adam was one of the first people I met at the University of Wisconsin Green-Bay. We really got to know each other while working on the campus newspaper, the Fourth Estate. In my junior year, when I became the editor in chief, he agreed to be the humor page editor. On our first day as a staff, Adam burst in, yelling, "Stop the Presses!" His excitement about the newspaper soon spread beyond his fantastically funny page, and whenever I needed help with something, Adam would step in. He soon became managing editor, my "Deputy Dog," and things worked like clockwork. Fun clockwork. Meantime, I met Tracy, and Adam became a great friend to both of us.

A couple years later, when I was working at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Adam made one of his most classic unexpected appearances. I was hosting an advertised "meet the reporter" coffee hour in my hometown area, and Adam suddenly showed up. I had been a bit anxious about the event, but Adam's sudden presence gave me all the confidence in the world. Later that morning, I mentioned to him that the Press-Gazette had an opening for a copy editor. Happily returning the favor of his support, I made a strong case for him with the bosses, who, to my delight, gave him the job. It was great to have him as a co-worker again. Soon after, he was also a groomsman at my wedding, for which he meanwhile created a party-favor newspaper that was a roaring success.

Not quite a year into our revived journalistic heyday, I suddenly knew I would have to cut it short. I had decided to attend seminary and pursue ordained ministry ... which made for an interesting situation because, as I had realized at some point, Adam didn't believe in God. I was a little nervous about breaking the news to him, but Adam, although a little surprised, was immediately supportive.

And he has been ever since. In October of last year, Adam visited me at Luther Seminary. His visit happened to coincide with a deadline day for the Concord, the seminary's student-run journal, and Adam—once again arriving with a shout of "Stop the presses!"—lent me a bit of his page-design talents one more time (if you look closely at the November 2006 issue, you can find a small attribution for his graphical handiwork).

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of some criticism I received from an apparent agnostic or atheistic respondent to one of my blog entries, Adam agreed to e-mail me an explanation for his self-described atheism. That honest explanation—including a sensible expression of concern about what religion has failed to do for the good of humankind—and the opportunity to respond to it remain one of the most important learning experiences of my time at seminary. I have referred to that conversation repeatedly in my seminary classes, and I think I actually might have mentioned Adam more times in my endorsement essay than I mentioned my dad, my pastor.

A year ago, just when I was starting to worry that I had offended Adam with my rebuttal, I got a birthday/Christmas gift from him in the mail. It was popular singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens' magnificent CD collection, "Songs for Christmas," which includes many Christmas hymns and several great Christian hymns that don't even have Christmas themes. It was a wonderful gift and yet just another example of Adam's surprising and unwavering support.

Within the last several months, Adam's support at important times has been especially meaningful for me. He was visiting again on that weekend in September when my Grandpa Don nearly died. Adam was sitting at the kitchen table with me when my dad called to tell me the news, and he continued to sit with me as I prayed for my family. Last month, in our continued e-mail correspondence, Adam insisted on not only listening to the collection of songs I wrote for my class on the book of Acts but also coming to see me preach at my home church in Green Bay on Thanksgiving Eve. And sure enough, a few minutes into the service, just as I was starting to worry that he maybe decided against attending, there he was to cheer me on again. (Thankfully, this time, he didn't come in yelling, "Stop the presses!")

I have to admit that Adam's confidence that there is no God frustrates me sometimes, even though he doesn't express it blatantly. It often makes me question what I believe, and it makes me consider from his perspective so much of what I learn in seminary. But I think that's a good thing. There are a lot of good people like him in the world who have found reasons to seriously doubt these things that I now take so seriously, and I need to be able to minister to them, too. Honestly, I hope something changes Adam's mind someday. I'd like him to know the peace, hope and confidence to serve that the gospel has given me. And I keep holding out hope—especially since, in his remarkable lack-of-faith statement, Adam repeatedly spelled "atheist" wrong. At any rate, I hope he never changes who he is.

I don't know where Adam will show up next. He left the Press-Gazette recently (though he continues to write brilliantly for the newspaper's TV blog), and I'm really hoping he gets a job somewhere around here in Minnesota. Wherever he ends up, I know he'll be one of my very best friends and one of the most important people in my life for a long, long time.

So figure that out: Among the blessings for which I am most thankful to God is a certain self-described athiest. Er, atheist. ... Well, I'll just keep calling him Adam.

Toddler Survival Program a "Raging Success"

Children of Luther students took to the snow this week in what has been alternatively called a "program of rough justice," "barely concealed child abuse," "dumbf^%$&** stupid," and "an appropriate means to the end of toughening up PKs, DKs, and AIMKs."

The program was also instituted to allow parent-students much needed study time in the midst of the final stretch of fall semester. Tired of reading bedtime stories, and making extra, though smaller, portions of daily meals heir-endowed Seminarians were allowed to watch reruns of Frasier during dinner before hitting the books without Raffi playing in the background.

Toddlers aged 2-6 learned various survival techniques including sleeping 8 persons (albeit little) in a 3 foot by 2 foot plastic Hasbro house, making a fire with fire-retardent plastic slides, and eating each other's hands. Evaluations were barely legible and mixed, though the committee overseeing the project was happy to destroy the negative reviews.

When my son Toby returned from the three day (one for each person of the Godhead--don't think the kids didn't get that subtle theological message!) adventure, he didn't talk much nor meet my eyes but he was able to spell his name in the snow with urine.

Free Babies, Come and Get ‘Em! or Great Things about Luther Seminary Vol. II

One of my favorite things about being here at Luther is that you get free babies while you’re here. As a student enrolled in the MA, MDiv, PhD, MSM, PCP, or DSM-IV programs you are eligible to receive a free baby. Well, this past Saturday my day finally came. The weather outside was nasty with snow and dead finches (the weather station reported 234 accidents on Twin Cities’ roadways from our hospital room—they weren’t reporting from inside the hospital room but rather we were viewing their broadcast while residing in the room), but inside was peaceful and calm. We were greeted to our labor and delivery sweet with roses and an assortment of chocolates and exotic spices. Natalie took a soak in the whirlpool and I went about setting up our video gaming console called by serious gamers, “Wee.” After a couple hours of relaxing, we were brought a pre-baby meal of asparagus, roasted lamb and pistachio-infused, Neapolitan ice-cream (sans the chocolate and strawberry parts, just the way she likes it).

Then it was time to receive our baby. We were quite excited, though nervous about what this might mean for our family. Having one child at Luther has been great but what would it be like to add another? We were quite happy when they brought her in and placed her in Nat’s arms. She cooed and we sighed. We named her Sophie. It makes coming to Luther Seminary all that much better, way better than going to crummy Gettysburg Seminary, where all they give you is rescue lab rats (like the rescue greyhounds only smaller and more likely to carry diseases). After the hospital staff ran a few tests, it was time to take her home. Being quite active people, we jogged (that’s us in the sweatpants, me on the right with the baby carrier on my chest).