The Sunday school teachers at First Lutheran Church did yeoman's work when my generation was growing up. Take a look along the upstairs hallway wall at the church: rows of confirmation photos. Confirmation was such a big deal in my Norwegian background. Churches in Norway have a formal responsibility of keeping family records. Because of this, my friend Truman Carlson has been able to put together a spellbinding family tree for his late wife Edna.
I call Truman "friend" but when I was in high school, he was "teacher," someone ranking higher than me. I played in band with his kids Dave (trombone) and Cathy (clarinet).
I have sorted through items in our basement since the recent passing of my mom. It was bittersweet to come across a First Lutheran Church directory from the 1990s. It's wonderful to have that family record of my parents' involvement and devotion to the church. The bitter part was that I wasn't in the photo. A typical Sunday morning would find me at the Sun Tribune "shop." For many years we at the paper were obligated to get the "box" with the layout pages to Quinco Press in Lowry by around 3 p.m. Sunday. I remember that in the first stage of my career, we didn't send the box off until about 2 p.m. Monday. Either way I'd be working Sunday morning because, well, I just had to.
And however much work I did, elements around Stevens County would be prodding me to do more. Naturally I wish I could have just taken the time to go to church. And not only that, to be relaxed and worry-free as I went to church. Was I choosing not to attend because of some frenzied commitment to the paper? I may have tried to convince myself of that.
Years ago, an adult living with parents would be forced on the defensive. I'm convinced that Dan Rassier, the long-time "person of interest" in the Wetterling case, was abused by the system because of how he was living with parents. It made him seem abnormal.
Leave people alone
Today there is a feeling consistent with "political correctness," that we do not judge people by lifestyle choice. We judge them by their actions and how they perform on the job. I had a co-worker in management who verbally abused me. This person eventually demonstrated she was not sin-free herself.
You have probably seen news reports about how multi-generation families have become more common. Millennials are receptive to staying with parents and parents are probably glad to have them. Part of this decision has been forced by economics, i.e. how much more practical it is for family members to share their life experience. It is a huge blessing from the standpoint of adult children being handy to assist aging parents when those parents have the inevitable issues relating to age. Age catches up to everyone. It usually starts in subtle ways. Death eventually comes to us all. My parents died at ages 96 and 93 in our beloved home on Northridge Drive, Morris.
It took some time after leaving the newspaper before I really felt comfortable going to church with them. I was afraid of the old skepticism that would probably be directed at me. Oh hell, there would be skepticism directed at me regardless, if not for one thing, then something else. Mary Ann Scharf, who I always thought had a caustic way of expressing herself, said to me one day in the fellowship hall: "I see you inherited a nice suit coat." Scharf had a personality that I thought was inconsistent with working in Extension. I saw her as highly political and opinionated. I don't sense any of this nature with the Extension people of today: they are soft-spoken, polite and professional. The suit coat I was wearing was sent down with my father in his grave. It was burgundy colored. Who gives a flying f--k what kind of suit coat I was wearing at church, or if I was wearing a suit coat at all? Some men come to church dressing absolutely grubby today.
And merry Christmas too
One year I was with my parents at the Christmas Day lunch at First Lutheran. The dessert is cookies which are placed on large plates on the tables. I availed myself of a cookie or two before going up for the main course. A person walked in who had clergy credentials. Seeing me, she said loudly so half the room could hear, "didn't your mother teach you not to eat dessert first?" Obviously it was an abusive taunt, and I am always a member of the "clean plate club" no matter the sequence I choose for consuming my food. Can't I even attend the Christmas Day lunch as a family member at my childhood church?
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| First Lutheran Church, Morris MN (my photo) |
As a child I had close Catholic friends. I found them to be more personable than the Lutheran kids generally. I joined several of the Cruzes for a bike ride around Morris on the Thursday of the 2018 Stevens County Fair. The Cruzes taught me Catholic bingo when I was a kid. Our friendship is unconditional. Greg Cruze had his photo taken with the cardboard cutout of Pope Francis in the commercial exhibits building. I love Pope Francis because of his progressive political stances.
Did you know that the Wisconsin Synod of the Lutheran Church considers the Pope to be the Antichrist? The Wisconsin Synod is represented in Morris by St. Paul's Lutheran and its articulate pastor Donald Main, who I love. We doubt he would want to be confronted with a question about his synod's attitude toward the Catholic Church. He would equivocate, I strongly suggest, and express love for everyone. At least I think so. It's tough to argue religion.
St. Paul's Lutheran is the church of our grocery store family, the Martins. The Martins too are people-lovers - wait a minute, that's the slogan of their store. I smile as I remember a letter writer who once asserted that "home of the people lovers" is a slogan you'd expect for a grocery store in San Francisco!
I am happy going to church now. I tell people that even if they aren't thrilled going to church, just do it - make it a habit. It's a weekly home base for renewal and reflection. Obviously I wish I had done it all along. Jim Morrison would demur.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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