Some of us are outside Thanksgiving traditions

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The guy on KFGO Radio this morning gave a special thanks to those who were tuning in on this holiday of Thanksgiving. There's a presumption that everyone is focused on the family gatherings with the mountains of home-prepared food. Is it a mere myth that we all observe the holiday in this fashion? 

Thanks to the KFGO personality for apparently recognizing that we don't all fall into the same pattern. Because all of us certainly do not. 

I thank Caribou Coffee along with the Fargo radio station. Caribou can be a godsend when the alternatives are closed up. Yes I could get food off the shelves at Willie's and bring it home to eat anytime. But it's nice to get out and be around some other people for at least a small part of the day. Our restaurant choices in Morris have become more limited. DeToy's has been closed in the evening hours for a long time now. One gets the impression that is permanent. It is closed for Thanksgiving but not for Easter. Closed! 

You should realize that the slowdown for holidays creates an inconvenience and can even be a source of depression for many. We can get depressed when we realize this holiday "ideal" of how things are supposed to be: big family gatherings and home-prepared food. It's not an option for many of us. 

I was lucky this morning getting to Caribou at about 7:15 before anyone was ahead of me. Their breakfast sandwiches were in stock. That is not always the case. I was fortunate and got an early-morning meal. That gets me through the day. I am not complaining. I feel fine. I am blessed by having had a very good doctor visit on Tuesday. My numbers from "labs" were good, better than I might have expected. Praise God. 

But Thanksgiving with its assumptions about how to spend the day can weigh on a lot of us. I saw people in the line at Caribou that likely were in a position like mine. Just finding the means for a little sustenance outside of the "model" of the big family gathering with turkey in the oven etc. And bless all these people. 

 

Faith Lutheran Church

A super service

I attended the Wednesday night church service at Faith Lutheran. What an eye-opener that was and I am not exaggerating. Such tremendous vitality in that church, congratulations to them. It is one of two ELCA churches in town, whereas we only should have one. 

ELCA churches have been through shrinkage and duress over the last period of our history. I'm sure you are aware of the catalyst for that: gay rights. And this is nothing but unfortunate because the community benefits from strong churches. 

My ELCA church of First Lutheran had some very feeble attempts at a Thanksgiving service - a mere handful of people showing up, a token effort from the front of the sanctuary. So we bailed on this for 2023. Our bulletin of last Sunday made clear we'd be welcome at the Faith Lutheran service. 

I expected Faith's service to be better than the one we had been attempting at First. But I was shocked at how much better it was, the total commitment and enthusiasm, the substantial turnout, all the young families with children. Amazing. So to the extent that the ELCA has been on the ropes - and it still is - Faith Lutheran in Morris is surviving it all quite nicely. 

Is the ELCA making adjustments to try to survive, to get its ship righted? I can only speculate. I would guess that behind closed doors, people are saying "of course we recognize gay rights and absolutely do not wish to countenance discrimination. How could a Christian possibly be hard on someone for a trait that they appear to have been born with? But let's put on the brakes: Let's acknowledge that sexual orientation of any kind should not be up-front in our church doings. Let's 'zip it' and focus on the truly spiritual things, or as they say, 'the gospel.' "

 

Put it on shelf

We don't need ELCA pastors even reminding us of what the ELCA has been through, this acknowledgement of "gay rights." It is simply an uncomfortable topic for a lot of people, most of whom project a good grasp of fairness. People needn't retreat from our ELCA churches to find "refuge" in places like Good Shepherd Church, a church that appears to have been created in reaction to gay rights and other "liberal" impulses. 

So, Good Shepherd and so many other churches of its ilk have pews filled with the kind of people who consume Fox News. They enjoy watching TV with Donald Trump speaking at one of his "rallies," lashing out with so much ferocity at so many people, even people who formerly worked with him. Some of these people may have their lives endangered, may need special security precautions. This is what Christianity has stooped to in the year 2023? 

And our current congressperson Michelle Fischbach may not be "conservative" enough? Say it ain't so. But I think it may well be so. She is being primaried from the right. The guy challenging her has made less than generous comments about her, a fellow Republican. Maybe people will vote for him because he's a man. Just saying. So let's have a nationwide abortion ban? And this is more important than the gospel? Is this more important then reading Jesus Christ's own words? These are words that often have a "liberal" quality. 

Some pastors are now scared to even quote Christ in certain ways. They do not want to be accused of running a "woke" church. They've been influenced by Tucker Carlson and others. I have actually followed Carlson for years, noticed early-on that he is nothing but an opportunist. Loves the TV camera. 

I can't expect everyone to pay as much attention to the media as I do. I don't have cable or satellite TV but I have access to all the shows through YouTube. I have friends or former friends who reject me out of hand with insults if they think I like a single program coming from MSNBC. MSNBC has a liberal reputation but I find their opinions/analysis to always be grounded in demonstrable fact. 

On the conservative end of things, it's obvious that emotions rather than facts rule. 

I can state this in today's post here without fear of being called names, in effect spit at. 

So I try to cling to my First Lutheran Church of Morris even though we're in the fragile and weakening ELCA. Maybe Faith Lutheran is emerging as an outlier. The pastor there Wednesday night shared totally wholesome and uplifting messages, nothing political and nothing about "rights" for aggrieved people. There is a place for that. Basic gay rights is really a no-brainer. But it is not the place for church leaders to talk it up so much. 

 

First Lutheran Church

Days numbered for First?

Does my First Lutheran actually have a death wish? I'm serious here. We became known a while back for being 100 percent supportive of the Palestinians even as those people were making arguments about Israeli "oppression." Maybe I actually agree with some of these arguments. But if you want a church to fade fast or to be wiped out, just keep talking up the Palestinian position from over there, or talking up gay rights at length. 

I can't complain about First Lutheran recognizing climate change.

Maybe we should just go ahead and close our doors. My late parents were active in First Lutheran Church when it was the most mainstream institution you could imagine, even conservative. This was conservatism in the days before Fox News and certainly before Donald Trump and MAGA.

- Brian Williams - morris mn - bwilly73@yahoo.com