Anonymous passages through one another's lives.

 This morning we listened to a piece on National Public Radio about an exhibit of photographs from conflicts in 28 countries that is now on view at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.  These are pictures of war.

What grabbed my attention was the comments of one the photographers.  Here is a bit of that story:

"The more you've seen of death and inhumanity, the more it turns you into someone who really can't stand the sight of war," says photojournalist David Burnett who took this picture.

You can't take your eyes off the beautiful young soldier with the chiseled cheeks and dirty clothes in a photograph taken in Vietnam in 1971. Resting for a moment, the man sits on the broken track of an armored personnel carrier he's repairing. With long, soiled fingers he holds a clipping from some weekly livestock report. He stares into space.

He almost has what they used to call the thousand-yard stare," Burnett says. "He's thinking. I don't know what he's thinking. He's reading a letter from home and it's just a picture that kind of captures him in this moment of pondering what the rest of his life was like when he wasn't being a combat soldier."

Burnett didn't get the soldier's name, or age, or hometown, and he regrets that.

"Every time I walk into a diner now and I'll see a couple of Vietnam vets sitting around talking I'll just wonder, could this be the guy from my picture? I would love to be able to find him before one of us passes away," he says.

David Burnett/Contact Press Images

Now here is a phrase that got my attention: "Burnett and the young tank repairman made an anonymous passage through one another's lives. And yet that soldier haunts the photographer".

Why I need to stay involved with the needs of the world

I am a volunteer with the wood bank, a ministry of the Episcopal church in nearby Dillon, Montana. The wood bank was started some years ago when Father Harry Neeley retired from parish ministry as an Episcopal priest. Harry is now about 80 years old and works almost full time gathering fire wood, stock piling and delivering  large quantities of it to needy people in the surrounding area - mostly disabled, elderly and unemployed.  This fire wood keeps these families warm during the long Montana winter and saves them lots of money on their fuel bills.  We have a branch of the wood bank here in our town of Sheridan. 

 

Harry one of the most humble and holy men I know - his heart is with the poor and he lives his faith in action on their behalf every day.   If he reads this he won't like it that I said that about him! But I did not sit down primarily to write a piece about the wood bank or to make known the virtues of either the wood bank or Father Neeley, even though this program does deserve all the good publicity it gets.

Meditation On Psalm 104

Grand Teton Mountains

Today Judy and I hiked in some beautiful mountains in Idaho, to the West of the Grand Teton mountains.  

As I walked I thought of so many places of awesome beauty that we have had the privilege to enjoy in many parts of the world.  Psalm 104 came to mind as this is a psalm I have read as a meditation in numerous places of natural beauty over the years.  

When I got home I went to the Bible I used to carry with me on my travels and re-read Psalm 104.  I found notations in the margins - Nepal, September, 1999; Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, April, 2002; Tanzania, (no date, but I remember the setting well in a game park); the Bolivian Andes, 1998; our farm in Minnesota, May, 2009.. and so on..

We have been so fortunate over the last several weeks to be in the midst of such beauty as Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.  

The psalmist is so much better than I am with words:

you make the clouds your chariot; you ride on the wings of the wind, 

You stretch out the heavens like a tent, 

You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, giving drink to every wild animal;

the high mountains are for the wild goats; 

These are big horn sheep, but we did see three mountain goats too.

You make the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows it's time for setting;

And so much more... 

I remember one of the most challenging mountain passes I ever hiked over.  It was in the Peruvian Andes and the pass was something like 13,000 feet .. walking to villages of Quechua Indian people that were not accessible by road. What exhilaration I felt that day! A privilege just to be there. 

But today, my feeling was of appreciation that I can still take in God's creation in quiet contemplation, even though my words are inadequate to describe it.  Thankfully, Judy is always ready with the camera to catch an image. 

Read Psalm 104 the next time you feel the urge to meditate on creation...  As the Psalmist concludes:  

I will sing to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him..

Finding the Way

Bruce McNab is our part time priest at Christ Episcopal Church in Sheridan, Montana.  He is retired after 40 years of ministry and has written a compelling book Bruce is one heck of a preacher and pastor!

 

His new book, Finding the Way: Restarting Your Journey with Jesus, was very favorably reviewed today on Patheos.com, the religious website, by the Patheos managing editor, Kathleen Mulhern. 

Here is a link to the review: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/drybones/2013/07/finding-the-way-and-loving-the-journey/

I read it and even though I feel like I am already "on the journey and know about the Way" I found it very insightful. It is written for people who, as Bruce says, want to restart their journey with Jesus, and may have left the church some time ago but want to encounter the faith and Jesus as a mature adult now.  Take a look at the review, it is worth it.

Life-changing experiences

Back in the days when we lived in third world countries we often hosted individuals and groups from the U.S. who came to visit communities and projects where we carried out work with people living in poverty.  Visitors would typically observe the  efforts of people in poor communities, interact with the families and listen to them talk about their lives.  

Towards the end of these visits we would ask people to express their reactions and evaluate the meaning  of their experience.  One term that was often used to describe their feelings was that it had been a "life changing experience".   It was always encouraging to hear these deeply felt expressions because  change in people was precisely the reason we were doing this work.  We were not only interested in bringing about change for the better in the lives of the poor but  we saw that people who lived their lives in conditions of prosperity (whether or not they considered themselves  rich) were often affected and changed by an intense experience with the poor and they started to see reality in a new way.  In some way they began to think in a different way.

Ancestry: Sometimes there are surprises

I have no doubt as to where I come from.  I know my ancestry on both my mother's and my father's side of the family. My mother was an important part of my formation, values and identity, as was my dad  -  I am of 100% Norwegian and my identity is heavily influenced by my  rural Minnesota, Lutheran  background. I was also shaped and formed by a few teachers, pastors, and friends along the way. One of them was Dave C. Johnson, a Professor of Sociology at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where I went to college in the 1960s. He was a beloved mentor and inspiration to many.. Humorous and engaging, perhaps the most intelligent person I had met up to that time of my life. 

While I grew up in a Norwegian Lutheran heritage, Dave Johnson grew up in the Swedish Lutheran tradition,  He was a Scandinavian in Minnesota and he was a Johnson. I once tried to locate him in the Minneapolis telephone book and found at least a dozen David Johnson's.  

In 1946, when Dave was 13 and the world was still reeling from the horrors of Nazism, World War II and anti-Semitism, his mother took him aside and shared the well-kept family secret, the secret not to be told: She told young David that she was Jewish. Dave Johnson is half Jewish, and of Eastern European rabbinical stock, no less. Uffda! Oyvey!
 
Dave has just finished a totally engaging account of his personal journey to discover and honor his Jewish ancestry and heritage. It was diligently and doggedly researched, and recorded with detail and affection. The book is a legacy for coming generations, and a lovely account of Dave’s growth and maturation as he transitioned from keeping the “secret” to “coming-out” Jewish, boldly and proudly. I haven't gotten a copy yet but it comes recommend from a friend and I will read it, for sure..

Shtetls to Shipsides/The Religious Roads of My Mother’s People is available on amazon.com, or by contacting Dave at johnson@umn.edu

Small Groups for Nurturing Spiritual Growth

Small groups can an effective tool to deepen our spiritual lives, examine our own spiritual practices, and even bring renewal to our congregations.    A number of the groups using my book, A Spirituality of Service have reported positive results.  I have been interested to hear feedback and am "promoting" the book for this purpose - thanks to all who have sent in their comments.  

The following is part of a message from Debora Baker from Concord, New Hampshire,  whom I didn't know until  I got her message. She belongs to an Episcopal church where our friends Darrell and Bunny Huddleston are members.  Darrell is a retired Episcopal priest and has been a mentor to me for many years.  I thought it might be good to share these comments with others and encourage you, if you have a group, to use the book as a spiritual formation resource in a small group.  Deb wrote:

"I am a part of Darrell Huddleston's Spirituality of Service discussion group at St. Paul's Church in Concord, NH. We met for several weeks before church to share our stories as we read the book, and it was such a wonderful experience that we've decided to try to continue to meet -- although the timing is challenging as Darrell does a lot of summer supply in other churches.

For me personally the book was a catalyst to think more deeply about God's presence in my everyday life; I am trying to focus less on what I am doing to be more spiritually mature and more on noticing what God is doing. I was also part of another educational group at St. Paul's in the spring and our concluding activity there was to write a personal Rule of Life, so when I got to your "cornerstones" chapter it helped me to hone that.

I also really appreciated getting to know others at church more deeply and sharing our spiritual journeys. The group appreciated that your book offered encouragement grounded very strongly not only in faith, scripture, and teachings of great thinkers and writers, but also in practical day to day life, and we felt your generosity in sharing your own experiences -- including times when you felt frustrated or things didn't go perfectly -- made our spiritual work feel less daunting.

Thanks for your time and for sharing your journey of spiritual service.

All good things,
Deb Baker