Reformation Sunday

Today is Reformation Sunday.

*

Yes......go ahead......any non-Lutheran readers may yawn and sigh "ho-hum".......that's OK. I will not be offended, and neither probably will Dr. Luther. Here's a little statue of him from the vestibule of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Waverly, Iowa.

*

And......a couple more likenesses of Martin Luther from atop the sitting room fireplace mantle at Scholte House in Pella, Iowa. Click the photo to see the famous/infamous Reformer in enlarged size.

Wafting on the breezes today you may hear the strains of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" being belted out by Lutheran congregations around the world, and sermons containing synopses of Martin Luther and his role in the attempted Reformation of the Christian Church back in the 1500's.

*

Here's a look at the Reformation through the eyes of art history.

*

And, a BBC view of the Reformation from the vantage point of British history.

*

Are we better off because the Reformation happened? Who knows. I think it was a stumbling step in the progress of humanity.........like the tumultuous upheaval of adolescence or something of that nature.

*

Nevertheless, I do enjoy singing Martin Luther's hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God", and look forward to belting it out with the rest of the congregation this morning!

*

Hear the famous hymn's tune on Cyberhymnal.

*

Officially, October 31 is Reformation Day, but is celebrated on the closest Sunday in October. The Reformation color is RED, so wear appropriately-hued attire, if possible.......and have a blessed day!!

*

*

(P.S. - Husband unexpectedly yanked me away from home for the entire day yesterday......thus, no chance to be at computer. He took me on a long drive, during which I frantically snapped photos of water towers, steeples, old barns, and fall foliage. Its an illness, for sure.)

*

End-Times & Wild Vines

*

If you think it will bother you to know what's buried within my religious psyche, then you'd better not read this post. It comes from long ago and very deep within, and I'm going to be completely honest with you.........after I show you this wild grapevine.........

*

*

A couple miles from where I live is a bridge over Crane Creek, surrounded by a low-lying wooded area. Yesterday, I detoured through there after picking up an empty pan at church, from an egg casserole I took to a congregational brunch on Sunday.

*

This dead tree trunk looked interesting, accessorized as it was with vines and reddened leaves:

*

I had only my Canon PowerShot with me, so am hoping to go back today with the Nikon D40 to perhaps get a better picture. Perhaps.......perhaps not.

*

Squinting closer at the top of the trunk, my eyes finally focused and these wild grapevines came into view!

**

**

My hours of solitary driving over the weekend gave me plenty of time to think, and often the thoughts turned in the direction of the upcoming presidential election. Callie of Chezbichet blog has a post concerning prayer and the upcoming election. Though its not my desire to endorse any certain candidate in my blog writing, I do agree that prayer for the election is needful!

*

Not that its here nor there, or that anyone should care, but I'm going to explain where life has put me in the spectrum of Christianity. Through no fault of my own I was born to parents who attended an American Baptist Church, of the Northern Baptist Convention. In case you aren't familiar with them, they are more on the liberal side than the Southern Baptists, Regular Baptists, and certainly, than the various very strict Baptist sects that exist. I think Bill Moyers is an American Baptist.......GASP........that awful, liberal journalist, Bill Moyers.

*

There was a rather heavy dose of religious fanaticism buried within our household, though. I'm mostly at a loss to know where exactly it originated. My mom grew up Evangelical United Brethren (E.U.B., which later merged with the Methodists, to become the United Methodists). Her mother, in particular, was not vocal about her beliefs........Grandma went to a Methodist church, but was quiet about her faith, otherwise. My dad had grown up in the Baptist church we attended; his mother seemed fairly quiet about religious matters, too, although she for years taught the older peoples' Sunday School class.

*

The dynamics of the household I grew up in were complicated; there was hidden alcoholism going on, thus plenty of pretense and hypocrisy permeating the family atmosphere. I, as a child, had no comprehension that this might be abnormal.......it was simply normal for our household. Kids soak up whatever is dished out to them; they aren't able to discriminate.

*

For whatever reason, from time to time, my parents would go to services at other churches, mostly on Sunday evenings. Thus, I've experienced the Assembly of God/Pentecostal/Charismatic-type service. I've observed an overly dramatic pastor claiming to be doing healings before a crowd of people whose arms are raised, with unintelligible gibberish pouring from their mouths. I simply observed......I was a kid stuck with being required to accompany my parents.

*

Another church experience we had was attending summer tent meetings of the local Gospel Hall. These people were and are very upstanding, kind people, and definitely not charismatic, but were and are very conservative; back then they didn't have TV's and the women kept their hair long and up in buns, and wore hats to church services. We, of course, didn't wear hats, and sat there feeling idiotic and conspicuous with our uncovered heads. This group also didn't believe in organs or pianos in church, so congregational singing was a cappella. They didn't have pastors, either.......men of the congregation would preach, though at the tent gatherings the speaker was an evangelist guy from somewhere else, usually Canada. The one I particularly recall was from Toronto and had a German name and quite an interesting brogue when he preached.

*

In the summer, the Gospel Hall special speakers would travel around the community in pairs, calling on people to discuss the Christian faith. My sisters and I called them "the tent guys". One summer afternoon when I was maybe thirteen or so, I was home alone mowing lawn and the tent guys drove in. I was embarrassed that they were seeing me in shorts, but I shut off the mower and talked to them for a few minutes. They came right out and asked me if I thought my parents were saved! I answered that I was quite sure one was but wasn't sure about the other one! I didn't go into any other details. Can you even imagine people going around asking kids that? Is that a good idea? A few years later, shortly after I had gotten married, I was mowing lawn at the acreage where Husband and I lived........dressed in normal hot-weather lawn-mowing attire, short shorts and a skimpy tank top. It was way out in the country and I was not expecting company, so who cared, anyhow..... right? Well, wouldn't you know it, all of a sudden two of the tent guys drove in. They had seen me out in the yard pushing the mower; otherwise I would have just hid until they left. I tried to position myself behind a weedy fenceline as I spoke with them so they wouldn't see my short-shorts-clad legs. They knew me as this supposedly good Christian girl and here they were witness to the fact that I was dressed very immodestly! They gave me some tracts and invited me to the upcoming tent meetings. I was uncomfortably embarrassed........and, very happy when they left!

*

In my junior high and early high school years, I attended a Gospel Hall Bible study with my parents.........mostly because I had a minor crush on one of the boys from that group. (Oh, thank the good Lord he never took an interest in me!) The Bible study was about the book of Revelation and all sorts of End-Times speculations. Yes, my parents were really into that stuff. Well.....let's see......at that time it was thought that perhaps Henry Kissinger might be the Antichrist, because he was a politically influential Jew. Hmm.......bar codes and Master Card might be part of the End Time scenario.......precursors to "the mark of the Beast", when people would be required to have "666" tatooed on our foreheads in order to buy and sell. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse might symbolize races of people......white, black, yellow, red. Babylon, the Great Whore.......well, that might be the Catholic Church or the United States. The ten-headed beast might be the Common Market, a revived Roman Empire with ten member countries. The Antichrist would amazingly recover from some sort of seemingly mortal wound, the healing coming via his sidekick, the False Prophet, AND everyone around the world would see this happen (live TV or internet?). Preceding it all would be the renewal of some abominable sacrifice in Jerusalem......something to do with a red heifer.

*

And, then there was the Millenium.......the 1000-year reign of Christ and His people.........those Christians who persevere and prevail, I guess. (For sure, it would be the Christians who don't fall prey to becoming opinionated bloggers.) After that, the devil will be released from his shackles below and wreak havoc amongst the nations again. Armageddon will occur after that, perhaps, or maybe it is before......I can't recall for sure. Gog and Magog will rise up against Israel. The image from the dream in the biblical book of Daniel comes into play somewhere along the way, too. Quite a collection of scenarios can be fit together from biblical prophecy.

*

Here are some penciled notes in my old Bible next to Revelation Chapter 6: "We are all gone (Raptured). Tribulation = 7 years. Great Tribulation = 3 1/2 years. " I have an arrow pointing to "white horse" in verse 2 from the penciled words: "The Beast/False Prophet." "Horse = power and speed. White = clean. Antichrist = religious power. Beast = political power. No arrow = conquers with peace. " (We are to be suspicious of anyone promoting peace!)

*

Anyhow, the great and wonderful thing was, of course, that all of us Christians would have been "Raptured" by the time the terrible Tribulation stuff started to happen. And, the Rapture was expected to happen any day. Remember, I'm like 14 to 16-years-old during this time. I figured I'd never live to experience sex......yes, that's right.......sex.......let me say it again.......SEX.......marriage and children, too. Forget about considering college, how pointless that would be when the world is about to end! Plus, my parents told us that college was where people went to become atheists.......or, worse yet......HIPPIES!

*

If you didn't grow up with this mindset permeating your household, I'm ecstatically happy for you. I've read that the Palin family possibly espouses these beliefs. If so, I might have some understanding of the deeper reason why Bristol decided to have premarital sex despite her Christian upbringing. It was a temptation for me, too, back then, just so I could experience it before the Rapture......though I was too fearful to do such a thing. I don't know what my dad would have done if any of his daughters had ended up pregnant out-of-wedlock. I shudder to contemplate such a scenario. To my dad, a girl who had premarital sex was "ruined". (That "ruined" description didn't apply to the boy, of course.)

*

I also had fears that the Rapture would occur and I would, for some reason (probably because I wanted to have sex), be left behind to experience the Tribulation. If that happened, if I clung to Christian beliefs, I would end up being martyred, of course, perhaps being one of the 144,ooo from the Tribulation period. I used to panic when I suddenly couldn't find any of my family out on our farm.......I thought they had been Raptured! I would quickly look across the road to the neighbor's place to see if I could spot any of their family out in the yard.......they were Gospel Hall people and they for sure would be Raptured. If I could see any of them then I breathed easier, knowing the Rapture had not taken place, and I had not been Left Behind! We did see a movie at our Baptist church about such a thing once; it ended up with the Christians all lined up in white robes waiting to be executed! I went home terrified. I mentioned this to my mom just the other day........she said, "Oh, honey, I don't remember that." Well......she was probably at home with my younger siblings that Sunday evening. I do recall that my dad was in attendance when the film was shown.

*

After I married Husband-----one month after my 20th birthday-----I joined his Missouri Synod Lutheran church. One of the first things I noticed was that this church NEVER, ever spoke of the End-Times, the Rapture, the Tribulation, etc. At first I wondered what on earth was the matter with them.......why were they ignoring these crucial issues? As time went on, I realized that faith is about living in the now, living out your faith day by day.......NOT obsessing over obscure scriptures and futuristic speculations. I could see what a huge effect those End-Times beliefs had had on my life. When I started having kids, I vowed to myself to NEVER speak to them of the End-Times or of biblical prophecy. They grew up going to Lutheran parochial grade school, giving them a firm Christian foundation without fanatical leanings.

*

By the way, it has taken serious depression, and a nervous breakdown with time spent in a psychiatric unit to get this questionable religious baggage completely out of my system. I don't wish that on anyone, so be careful how you teach your kids, folks!!! I think in order to expell an entrenched glob of beliefs and associated parental bonds, your ego has to dissolve for a time........I'm fortunate that during my ego-meltdown I didn't do anything more bizarre than what I did. It did land me in the psych unit, but at least I didn't hurt anyone else or commit suicide. The Gospel Hall guy I had a crush on.......remember him.......well, he had a nervous breakdown, too, several years ago, and spent time in a psychiatric unit. Hmm.......I wonder why. Reality finally comes crashing in, people! Jesus hasn't returned in the eastern sky during these past 30 to 40 years.......perhaps He won't return during your lifetime! Perhaps, we were misled just a little bit. You can't be preoccupied with the Second Coming of Christ and live a normal, sane life, in my opinion. Any of you are free to agree or disagree with me or go away and never return to this blog if you wish........whatever works for you.

*

There is a somewhat related issue which I'd also like to mention........homeschooling. I don't begrudge anyone the freedom to choose to homeschool, and I know that in some cases it is done because people live too far from towns. My brother and his wife homeschool because they believe the public schools would corrupt their children. In the past, I have suggested to him that he and his family could be a wonderful Christian influence in the local school (which, by the way, is a fine, small-town school), but he is deaf to talk like that.

*

Husband has a relative who is similarly raising his children, only in an even stricter environment. The wife and daughters wear long skirts ALL the time. They homeschool, of course. They watch no TV except for old Western movies. Gunfights don't seem to bother the dad, but whenever a part comes in the movie where there might be a dance scene, the dad stops the tape and fast- forwards it so the kids won't see any dancing. Like I said......the gunfights are permissible to view, however. In the past, this relative would write letters to his grandpa, Husband's dad, a life-long LCMS Lutheran, telling him that he needed to accept Christ and be saved. My father-in-law would shake his head in perplexity and voice concern for his grandson. My father-in-law was baptized as a baby, confirmed as a teenager, and attended his Lutheran church faithfully ALL of his life........but, according to his fanatical Baptist daughter-in-law and grandson, was not saved. Before I married Husband, her mother worriedly warned me that Lutherans are not saved and I should think twice about joining that church!

*

Let me repeat it........I don't believe its possible to be preoccupied with thoughts of the Second Coming and live a normal, contented, peaceful.......SANE......life. That conviction of mine is never going to change. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU TEACH TO YOUR KIDS! They soak it right up. Teach them to inquire and test the validity of anything. Do YOUR homework, too, concerning the upcoming election. I DON'T CARE WHO YOU VOTE FOR, but be sure you make up your own mind. Get views from all angles! Don't confine yourself in a narrow, one-sided mindset! And, do keep the election in your prayers! I'm going to keep trying to do my homework on the candidates. IF I learn that a candidate is caught up in End-Times beliefs, I will not be voting for them.

*

Thus ends my rant for today! I need to cool my mind now by going out and taking some photos! Truly, I welcome your views, even if they are in disagreement with mine.

*

Tomorrow.......back to Pella!

*

*

After-Church Goodies

Well, I don't know what in the world is going on with the layout of this post........I clicked CENTER and medium size for uploading, like I normally do. What caused the photos to show up this way beyond my understanding.

**********************
On the way home from church I detoured over to the dirt road, figuring it would be dry and "passable".......which it was.









*******
There are red-colored wild rose hips near the bottom of the vertical photo. Click the photo to enlarge it and see them better.

*

(Uh......no, there is not a pastry shop on the dirt road!)

Well, this afternoon I would invite you over for coffee and Dutch pastries IF you were in the vicinity! Yes, the Jaarsma Bakery was one of my required stops in Pella yesterday. Yum, yum!

***********

Today in church we had a special speaker, and boy-oh-boy, could he ever speak........almost sounded like I imagine God Himself might sound.......authoritative and booming! And---wow---did he ever give emphasize to the Sacrament of Communion!

*

Yesterday, I toured the house of the founder of Pella, Dominie Henry Scholte, a Dutch Reformed Church pastor. On the mantel in the sitting room was a statue of Martin Luther and Luther's famous quote, "Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise; so, truly God help me." Evidently, Henry Scholte admired Martin Luther very much.

*

I mentioned this fact in Bible Class this morning. A visitor----someone connected with the visit of the special speaker-----then commented that the major separation point between the Lutheran Church and the Reformed Church in Europe after the Reformation was the matter of the meaning of the Sacrament of Communion. The two sides were never able to agree about it. Martin Luther clung to the belief of the Real Presence in the bread and wine, while the Reformed held more of a symbolic view of the elements. Interesting.......and, too bad, in my opinion, that this issue remains a dividing point amongst the churches of the Reformation.

*

Very interesting, too, that Henry Scholte admired Martin Luther enough to have a statue of the reformer in his house.

*

Well.......I must get back to my coffee and Dutch letters, which are very delicious, by the way. How such an odd shape for a pastry came to be, I do not know, but will try and find out for a future Pella blogpost. When my daughter spent a college semester in The Netherlands, she would comment to me that most of the Dutch people were tall and slim.......and ate pastries everyday! What's the deal with that, I say!? Is such a thing fair?

*

*

P.S. - Reader Nancy of SewManyDays blog looked up the Jaarsma Bakery website and found the origin of the Dutch letter pastry's "S" shape........it stands for "Sinterklaas"........(the Dutch Santa Claus). Thanks!

*

*

*

Take Photos At Funerals

A few days ago, we attended the funeral of Husband's 99-year-old great-aunt, at an ELCA Lutheran church in Waverly, Iowa. The sanctuary was framed on all sides by stunningly gorgeous stained-glass windows; I ventured back in there after the lunch to take photos. (By the way, for any LCMS readers out there: this ELCA funeral was very old-time, orthodox Lutheran. In the lunch line after the funeral, I found myself next to the pastor who had preached the very excellent funeral sermon. While scooping chicken casserole and potato salad onto our plates, we conversed briefly about the current state of Lutheranism, and he recommended a book to me, Principles of Lutheran Theology, by Carl Braaten, although he said it was a bit "academic".)

***
***

There was such a multitude of stained-glass windows in that church, I hardly know where to start, but will begin with this scene of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. This window is situated above the altar area:

***
***

It is flanked by these next two windows, depicting the two Lutheran Sacraments:

**
COMMUNION:

**
BAPTISM:

***
***
I didn't take my new camera to the funeral, so this shot of the altar with its beautiful Last Supper carving is not as clear as I would have liked:

***
***
Before the funeral, the casket was in the church narthex for viewing, alongside a table of family photos, many very old. I snapped pictures of the old photos. In case you don't realize it, that is a great way to acquire family history photos for yourself. In my post about Aunt Luella a few days ago, her photo shown there was cropped out of a snapshot of several photos sitting on the table. After cropping and enlarging, it turned out quite well, I think. (I did ask her daughter for permission first. She exclaimed, "Oh, yes......take pictures, and give me some later!") And, as I was snapping the photos, the funeral home guy came up to me and said, "Its wonderful that you're doing this........families usually forget to take photos at funerals. Be sure you take pictures at the committal service in the cemetery, too." I did, and later burned two CD's of the day's photos and sent them to Aunt Luella's daughter and son.

***
***

Should anyone be interested in reading the funeral sermon, email me at junebug1976@hotmail.com .

***
***

Peeling Bells & Paint

Normally, on a Sunday blogpost, I show a stained-glass window from my church, but unfortunately they've all been used up now.

**********

[As you may or may not know, you can click on ANY photo on blogs to see them larger.......I have no idea how that can happen, but it does.]

***********

***********

If you click the first photo on this post, you will see that this church was built in 1885, and though the sign doesn't say so, the church was established by German immigrants who had settled on farms in the immediate area, including many ancestors of my husband. The families were large, and surely, at one time, the pews beneath the steeple bells in this Lutheran church would have been packed full for Sunday services. Husband's parents, grandparents, great-grands, great-greats, and a great-great-great are buried in the cemetery adjacent to the church. Obviously, the poor old building needs a fresh coat of paint, or better yet, vinyl siding. Congregations keep getting smaller, and finances, tighter.

************

************

************

Once, years ago, I heard a pastor say that way back in the brush behind this churchyard was the grave of a man who had committed adultery with the hired girl at his house. That would have been back in The Good Old Days, by the way. I think the man ended up taking his own life, and that's why he couldn't be buried in the cemetery proper. Churches used to have strict rules about that, and I have heard other such tales over the years about suicide victims' bodies not being allowed into church for the funeral, plus not being allowed burial in the church cemetery. Wow.......talk about adding insult to injury for the family of the deceased. Eventually, opinions changed on that issue, thankfully.

****************

Thinking of church bells peeling reminds me to mention a related old custom: When a church member passes on, as soon as possible one of the deacons/elders goes to the church and rings the bell, pulling the rope as many times as the age of the deceased person. In the past, if the wind is right and the sound of our church's bells ringing in a series on a weekday reaches my ears, I rack my brain worriedly trying to figure out who may have just died, and whisper a prayer for the loved ones of the deceased person. Usually the bell peeling session includes many, many rings (quite a workout for the deacon pulling the rope), as most people around here live to a ripe old age........although, not always, of course. Church bells peeling in a series can be an unwelcome sound.......especially a short series of rings.

**************

I wonder if this bell ringing tradition is common in other denominations? Is it just a rural custom? Did it originate in the Old Country, and how far back in time? I should do some research on that.

**************

**************

Have a wonderful day!!!

Fleabane & Rogue Verses

Meow-ie greetings to you! My name is Tex (where that name came from, I have no clue) and I'm here on the blog today to discuss with you this little wildflower called Daisy Fleabane.........that's FleaBANE.......NOT FleaBAIT.......(which is the scientific name of those canine-ite monstrosities that chase poor little innocent creatures like me up into trees).

**********

**************
**************

I, Tex, sneaked onto the computer last night and "meow-gled" Daisy Fleabane and found a website called Prime Focus - Iowa , that has lots of nice photos of Iowa wildflowers.......sure is funny Jeannelle never stumbled onto that site before, considering it features info about Iowa.

Whoops, gotta run.......here comes Jeannelle........

**************

What's going on here?? If it isn't my kids hogging the computer, then its a kitty........what's the world coming to??! Scram, Tex!

**************

**************

I just felt like mentioning something from yesterday's sermon: Our Epistle reading was Romans 7:14-25a. (The "b" part of verse 25 was left out.)

We have a new pastor.......as of now, my opinion of him is positive, but barely formulated, really. The text for his sermon was the abovementioned Epistle reading from Romans 7. He spoke with much intensity about each verse.......skipping over verse 22, however.......never mentioning it at all, "For in my inner being, I delight in God's law". The "b" part of verse 25 is along a similar vein, ".....I serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." (RSV)

My layperson's opinion is that the idea of a person delighting in God's law in their mind/inner self (or even having an "inner self")..........is a rogue concept that doesn't fit anywhere in Lutheran theology. We're taught that we are sinners through and through, in body AND mind; our actions and thoughts being sinful continually. (That's the LAW)

The Cross of Christ brings salvation. (That's the GOSPEL.) However........salvation is accessed only by faith........and faith is accessed through the Sacraments. (Jumping through the churchly hoops.)

Because of the Word of God preached and bestowed on us in the Sacraments (Baptism & Communion), we Lutherans are made saints, while simultaneously remaining sinners.

After 30 years, I've finally figured out that the crux of the difference between being a Baptist and being a Lutheran is that as a Baptist I put my trust in Christ, and as a Lutheran I'm supposed to put my trust in the Sacraments. Martin Luther didn't feel that people could believe in Christ with their own minds; faith comes from the Word bestowed in Sacraments. Finally, after all these years, I can see that----in my opinion, anyhow----- that is what encompasses the difference between the two denominations.

Actually, if I would have understood the denominational differences years ago, I might not have joined the Lutherans. But, I was young then, and not inclined to think very deeply about things. Truly, I wish denominational differences didn't exist.......they make no sense, considering what the message of Christianity is supposed to be.

But, hey.........if Lutheranism sounds good to you........go get catechized and become one. Be sure you choose the correct brand of Lutheranism, though, which is, of course, the Missouri Synod. (Woe is me.....my son is marrying one of the "other" Lutherans.)

***************

(IF you would like to receive an email message which has clickable links to EVERY chapter of EVERY book in the Bible, email me at junebug1976@hotmail.com .)

****************

****************

Enjoy your day!!!

Alpha & Omega Window

From my church to you.........another stained-glass window, this one depicting the symbols for Alpha and Omega, mentioned in the Bible, in the first chapter of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament.

I have The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, edited by Jay P. Green, Sr. I acquired it in order to have a literal, and possibly more accurate translation of the NT from the original Greek.

Here is the literal translation of Revelation, chapter 1, verse 8: (Jesus, speaking through an angel in John's vision [v.1]): "I am the Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and Ending, says the Lord, the (One) being and who was and is coming, the Almighty."

Click to read the Wikipedia entry for "Alpha & Omega". The two words signify the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet in the era when Revelation was written. Our letters "A" and "Z" are comparable.

************************

Today is Trinity Sunday, for those who follow the traditional Church Year calendar, as my Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod does.

Thus, a blessed Trinity Sunday to you!!

***********************

***************

*****

Update: IF only I'd had my act together with enough foresight to have posted this Trinity window TODAY on Trinity Sunday instead of a couple weeks ago. Oh, well.

Today, as on Trinity Sunday every year, we recite the ATHANASIAN CREED. Yikes.......do any of you know what that is?? Its got to be the lengthiest creed in the whole world. For whatever reason, to counteract a heresy, no doubt, somebody back in the 4th century A.D. came up with this wordy creed in an attempt to clearly define the Trinity. It contains lines such as:

***********

".......we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance."

"......there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty."

".......there are not three Gods, but one God."

".......there are not three Lords, but one Lord."

"......the whole three persons are co-eternal with each other and co-equal."

***********

Perhaps you can tell that this creed is very repetitive. I grew up knowing of the Trinity......God in three persons, and didn't think beyond that very far concerning the subject. That's one gripe I have with the orthodox Lutheran faith.......it dissects everything concerning faith, like a surgeon studying the human body, or a mechanic taking apart a car's engine. They must examine the concept of the Trinity, and tell you exactly how to believe it.......the same with the bread and wine of Communion; according to Lutheran doctrine, you must view it exactly a certain way: the Body and Blood of Christ exists IN, WITH, and UNDER the bread and wine. Got that? And does it seem strange that Jesus Himself simply said, "This is my body.....this is my blood." That's what I believe, and my mind doesn't delve into it any further than that.

Pentecost Window

If you attend a church which follows the traditional Church Year, then you're aware that today, May 11, is not only Mothers' Day, but more importantly for the Church, "Pentecost".



This window referrs more to Baptism than Pentecost. Lutherans believe the Holy Spirit comes upon a person at Baptism, thus the window shows the Holy Spirit, symbolized as a descending dove, coming down above a baptismal font. Lutherans use I Peter 3:21 to uphold their position of baptismal regeneration.

*************************************

Our church service on Sunday is at 8:30 a.m., and I'll weary you again by saying that time does not work well for dairy farmers........its too early. Husband for sure could not make church this morning, and I was exhausted from spending all day yesterday outdoors at the district track meet. I couldn't find the energy or will to exhort my son------- who was also worn out from yesterday-------to get up in time to accomplish both milking chores and attending church. (We are hoping the service time will move to its former later hour, once our new pastor gets here.) Thus, it appeared none of us would be in church on this Mothers' Day.



At about 8:10 a.m., I was half-dozing, while waiting in the milkhouse to begin washing milkers, when a light-bulb suddenly blinked on in my brain.......CHURCH CHOIR IS SINGING THIS MORNING, and CHOIR MEMBERS ARE TO BE THERE AT 8:15 TO PREPARE, because we sing right at the beginning of the service!!! I was horrified......how could I have forgotten that??!! Our choir has a whopping six members, so everyone needs to be there, and that includes ME!



Strangely and suddenly very much awake, I dashed to the house and changed into semi-good clothes and a leather car coat to hide a mulitude of sins (if only it could have covered my topsy-turvy hair, too!) and speeded down the road to church, fortunately only a few miles away. Its on a gravel road, though, and that road is a rutty mess right now, so my Envoy is now completely mud-splattered!



At exactly 8:29, I arrived, out-0f-breath, in the church balcony, and took my place in the choir line-up. There was no chance of sneaking in unseen as I'd have preferred; on the way through the narthex, it was necessary to breeze by well-coiffed, well-dressed ladies, and several severe-suited men (thats the style at our church......very dressy), and a couple solemn-faced deacons who oversee the morning's proceedings. I longed to say......"Lighten up, guys"!!!



Our choir singing went...........well, it went. Not too bad, not too good. We had to sing two stanzas of a Pentecost hymn, to a very unfamiliar tune.......an old-time chanting style of some sort (I didn't care for it at all), and we had trouble matching the words with the correct notes, even after practicing several times. When you have to sing one syllable on three notes, and then one syllable on one note, then two on two, etc., in a seemingly random way, it gets very confusing. Our eyes were absolutely glued to the page of music, trying to correctly sing words with notes, meaning there was little hope of anyone watching the director. So it goes, and so it went. I surely felt stupid, though, that I had nearly forgotten we were singing. Evidently, age-related forgetfulness is creeping in.

I hope you all had a very pleasant Mother's Day and Pentecost! It was chilly and windy here in Iowa, but that's nothing compared to the bad storms in Missouri and Oklahoma last night. I pray you and yours were safely out of harm's way.

I Corinthians 13 Window

On this Ascension Sunday, here's another stained-glass window from my church. Faith, Hope, and Charity........the famous trio of virtues from I Corinthians, chapter 13, are better known, probably, as Faith, Hope, and Love.

The date on our church's cornerstone is 1873, so this lovely window is 135 years old!

This window, as with others I've posted for the past few Sundays, is located in the balcony of our church, in a rather out-of-sight spot. I crawled under the bell choir table and lay on the floor to get a straight-on shot of this part of the window.

****************

****************

Always, always, always.......here's something to keep in mind (and I say that to myself first of all):

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophecies, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."

******

***** I Corinthians, Chapter 13, Verses 1 & 2 *****

***************

How does one "have love", as stated in the verse above? Or what is love, even? I often wonder that. Mostly, love seems to be a caring which prompts us to take action in some way, such as when we do a kind deed for someone.

Or do we do kind deeds out of a feeling of responsibility? Maybe that's what love does to us........allows us to feel responsible for the welfare of people around us.

I Corinthians 13 states that we can have wonderful attributes.......incredibly, even faith!......without having love.......and that combination adds up to zero in God's ledger.

I'm not entirely sure I can describe what love feels like, which makes me wonder sometimes if do love anybody. Possibly a sounding brass or clanging cymbal is what I truly am. Mostly, I resort to asking God to help me "have love", whatever exactly that may mean to Him.

Then again, maybe St. Paul was simply saying we need to put our actions where our mouth is. That you can talk or preach until you're blue in the face, have knowledge piled high in your brain, and a wonder-working level of faith, but if you never make a move to be kind and helpful to people, then you, your words, your knowledge, and your faith mean nothing.

Trinity Window Non-Est?

This is another stained-glass window from my church, and like the


Luther Seal Window, it is situated way in the back of the balcony, where it is rarely seen by churchgoers.

It looks like a Trinity symbol......Father/Pater, Son/Filius, Holy Spirit/Spiritus Sanctus. In the middle is "Deus", meaning "God", I presume. But, what about the three "NON-EST" words? In the dictionary, the definition for this Latin phrase is, "it is not; not there; absent". So I'm assuming this means "Father is not, Son is not, Holy Spirit is not"..........not God alone?? Father alone is not God, Son alone is not God, Holy Spirit alone is not God??? Meaning, of course, that God is Three in One. Maybe someone with theology knowledge can comment on whether this is correct, or tell us what it really means.

Perhaps this window was hidden away up there in the rear of the balcony so no one would see it and ask for its explanation! (Just kidding.)

Anyway, its something to ponder on this Sixth Sunday of Easter. I think today is Holy Pascha (Easter) in the Orthodox Church; I wonder why East and West celebrates Easter on different days??

In "Vittenberg"

Yeah, I realize this quite pathetic........taking photos of someone else's photo album. My mom and stepdad returned a few days ago from a riverboat cruise on the Elbe River in Germany and the Czech Republic.

One of the cities they spent time in was Wittenberg, in northern Germany.......famous for its connection to the life and times of Martin Luther. Hence, this post's photos will show a few "Sehenswurdigkeiten von Wittenberg"/main sights of Wittenberg.

The top left photo below shows the "Schlosskirche"/Castle Church, on whose door Martin Luther nailed the "95 Theses" on October 31, 1517. Yesterday afternoon, I read the "95 Theses"........they are a list of concerns, dealing mainly with the medieval Catholic Church's practice of selling indulgences. As I see it, over time the Church had become intoxicated by its power and authority over people. (Imagine that.) The institution of the Church became unable to see clearly and operated in a presumptuous manner, thinking it was God, with the right to dictate rules to dominate the masses of everyday people, and feed its greed for money. I highly doubt that that was Jesus' intentions for how the church should operate. The Church was drunk, and like a drunkard, was doing stupid things. Martin Luther's original intent was to reform the Church......not establish a new branch of the Church. Things got out of hand, probably because things needed to get out of hand........the status quo needed to be shaken up. Whoops......we need to get back to the photo.......
The lower left photo in the above photo shows the doors of the Castle Church on which Luther nailed the 95 Theses. The wooden doors of Luther's time were burned in the 1700's, and the ones there today are made of bronze. The two scenes on the right, above, are inside the Castle Church.

*********************

Below are pictures of Luther Haus/Luther House. On the Wittenberg city map my mom and stepdad gave us, Melanchthon Haus is next door. Luther Eiche/Luther Oak is down the street.

********************

Below is Luther's gravestone.........inside the Castle Church, I assume.

*******************

And last, but not least, here below is a statue of Katharina von Bora Luther, wife of Martin Luther. Her stance shows a determined posture of motion and moving forward. Good for her. Her face looks firm and well-preserved.......botox, possibly??

Sorry......I'm kidding, of course. I believe my stepdad said Katharina is buried next to her husband in the Castle Church.

I hope to post a few more tour scenes in the next post. My mom and stepdad were on a Viking Riverboat Cruise on the Elbe River. Other cities they toured included Berlin, Dresden, and Prague.

Werner Sallman Signature

This photo shows the familiar "Head of Christ" painting by Werner Sallman (1892-1968). I snapped this in the chapel room at Mission Central on Thursday.

On our way home from Mission Central, our bus tour group was treated to supper at a Lutheran Church along our homeward route. In the parish hall where we ate hung "Head of Christ" in a large frame, and we filed by it on our way to pick up our plates of food. It had the usual printing of the artist's name in the lower right corner, showing, too, that it had been copyrighted in 1941.

In addition, on the left side was the artist's own signature, "Werner Sallman", and the year "1964". There were also three Bible passages listed in the artist's handwriting. Here they are (RSV):

John 14:1-6

***************

"Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me....."

****************

Philippians 2: 8-11

****************

And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

***************

II Corinthians 4:6

***************

For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness", who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

*******************************************************

I found it rather significant, to see these verses referred to by the artist himself. The II Corinthians reference, especially, seems to point to what inspired Werner Sallman to paint this glowing face of Christ........"the light of the knowledge of the glory of God........".

************************

I'm not trying to preach........I just thought this might be an appropriate subject for a Sunday blog post.

P.S. ------ Here is an interesting little article about how the artistic depictions of Christ have evolved over the centuries.

************************

Have a peaceful, relaxing day!!

Thoughts & Prayers

This comforting little arrangement was in the house at Mission Central:

*****************************************

********************************
*********************
***********
*****
**

Just slipping into the blog-stream this afternoon quickly to ask for thoughts and prayers for the family of the boy who took his own life the other day. His name is Kyle. His funeral is today. In addition-------more tragedy for that family-------my daughter phoned last evening to say that the boy's uncle and the uncle's girlfriend were killed on Wednesday evening. They had left the funeral home visitation on a motorcycle, and were struck by a drunk driver, and both killed. The father who just lost his only son to suicide has now also lost his only brother to a tragic accident. I know bad things happen every second of every day in every part of the world, but please give a quick thought and prayer for this situation. Thank you.

Gary Thies - Faith in Action

This "clanging cymbal" (I Cor. 13:1) will now tell the story of our bus trip to Mission Central yesterday.

We boarded the bus at 6 a.m. in Waverly, Iowa, and motored west on U.S. Highway 20. There was one pastor on the bus, and he led a devotion as we drove through the gray, rainy morning weather. He likened the bus we were on to the "Church" rolling along through the years.

With that thought in mind, it may be significantly symbolic that the back wheels of our bus became stuck in mud when we turned into the Mission Central farm driveway. The photo below shows the wrecker that was summoned to remedy the sticky situation. Hm-m.......the ladies on the bus represented several Lutheran churches from my home area, and I can't speak for those other churches, but I know my local church is a complete stick-in-the-mud when it comes to foreign missions.......hm-m.......interesting.
The next photo was taken inside the "barn" at the Mission Central farm. It formerly housed cattle and hogs, but now is a showcase for Christian mission work in foreign countries. The founder is Gary Thies, shown below holding the microphone.We listened in rapt attention he related the tale of how Mission Central came to be. For decades, Gary Thies and his wife, Maxine, lived across the road from this dumpy, run-down farm place. Gary said he wished many times that lightning would strike and burn the old buildings down. In a way.......lightning did strike, but it was in the form of an inspiration......an out-of-the-box, visionary idea.......which formed in the heart and mind of Gary Thies.

Through a series of events, circumstances, coincidences, Gary acquired the run-down farm and renovated the house and outbuildings. Everything in the barn has been donated by people who hear about what Gary is doing, including the altar in the photo above.

The walls of the barn are covered, and I mean, absolutely covered, with items and artifacts from all over the world. Below is a set of nesting dolls from Russia.

I took many, many photos........I have never seen such a place in all my life. Below is a depiction of the Last Supper, from Kenya.......made out of banana leaves!
I also have never met anyone quite like Gary Thies. This guy is absolutely, completely on fire about sponsoring people to go overseas to spread the Christian message to others. He speaks as a layman, of course, but I have never even heard a pastor speak with such passion and heartfelt enthusiasm. I'm not kidding.

I was seated way in the back row during his talks there in the barn. After we enjoyed our lunch in the former hoghouse (too funny), we returned to the barn for Gary's afternoon talk and slide presentation. At one point my eyes went shut......that's how I get after eating.......and all of a sudden I heard Gary shouting, "And I don't want to see anyone's eyes closed right now!" I looked up with a start, hoping I hadn't been the only one with closed eyes.......goodness!! The guy gets right to ya!!

We were also given a tour of the renovated farmhouse, which now houses the Mission Central offices, and a chapel and bedrooms upstairs for use by visiting missionaries. The photo below shows the altar in the peaceful little chapel room. (The Bible is open to Psalms 90, 91, 92, by the way.)

****************************************

*************************

**********

***

Anyway, to wrap it all up in few words........I was pretty much blown away by this place called Mission Central, and by Gary Thies. Someone that went on this trip needs to get up and talk about it in front of our church. Our people are just completely so wrapped up in themselves........and I'm including MYSELF in that thought. We are clanging cymbals inside the box.......Gary Thies has stepped out of the box with faith put into action.

I would encourage ANYONE to consider visiting Mission Central. Gary encourages visitors......he simply asks that people call ahead.......I'll even give you the phone number: 712-882-1029. Mission Central is located near Mapleton, in western Iowa.

Bus Trip

Rolling along comfortably by motorcoach across rainy Iowa today:

Sixty-two ladies travelled four hours to Mission Central near Mapleton, Iowa.

************************************

*********************

********

On the way home we were treated to a DVD of old Andy Griffith Show episodes:

Remove Blinders

Today was Good Shepherd Sunday........that's what the pastor said in church this morning. We sang two really beautiful Shepherd hymns: "The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want" and "The King of Love My Shepherd Is"......both are fun to sing because they have nice alto part harmonies.

In our church basement hangs this old Good Shepherd print by Werner Sallman, an artist famous for his various depictions of Jesus.

Our Sunday services are at 8:30 a.m. now, which is super inconvenient for us on the farm, thus Husband didn't make it to church this morning. Son and Daughter went with me, but we drove two vehicles because I planned to stay for Bible Class after church. The subject of the class was "Who are our brothers and sisters in Christ?".........something important to consider when sometimes we tend to be very near-sighted and introverted in our religious lives, seeing and interacting only with those who are similar to us, or who are standing next to us in church.

Funny thing.......after services I was in the church kitchen getting a drink of water and the flower lady was carrying one of two cumbersome flower bouquets down the steps from the altar area. I asked her if I could go up and get the remaining one for her, and she said yes. I went up two flights of old cement stairs, passing by the pastor's office, and into the sacristy where there was NO bouquet left on the altar. Perplexed, I turned around to retrace my steps, and saw that I had walked right by the huge pink bouquet sitting on a ledge at the top of the stairs.

I'd had my blinders on as I'd come up the stairs to the sacristy toting the preconceived notion in my head that the flower bouquet was on the altar. Evidently, one of the deacons had moved it to the ledge by the stairs. But, how unobservant of me to pass by just inches from the huge bunch of pink flowers and not see them!

Are we like that in other aspects of our lives, too? We have a goal in mind and in our effort to reach that goal, we are blind to important things right next to us along our path to that goal.

Note to self: "Remove blinders and notice things!!"

******************************************

After church.......whoops!........I took a wrong turn and ended up seeing this flooded field near a creek. The steering wheel just pulled me there!

When I got out of my vehicle to take this photo, there was a muskrat or beaver staring out from in the water, with all but his head submerged. I turned the camera on him and zoomed in, but it was too late. He had disappeared! In the foreground in the water is a collection of cornstalks which have washed out of the field.

*********************************

Luther's Seal Window

Here is one of the beautiful stained-glass windows at our church. This one depicts Martin Luther's seal.........the cross within a crimson heart within a white rose (or maybe its a different flower).

This window sits way up high in the back of the church. You can't see it unless you're in the balcony or if you're looking up at it from the front part of the sanctuary, such as right after you've taken Communion.......or if you are the pastor. This window is very lovely, but hardly noticed by us churchgoers.



I really love stained glass.........the lovely colors which are evident when light is shining through. Without the light, of course, the colored glass would not be noticeable. I've read the thought before that that's how it is concerning God's love in our lives. We are like a piece of glass, but our beautiful color glows only when God's light is shining through it. And then, think about it........you are the color you are.......not much you can do about that.......you live the color that you are.

******************************************

P.S. ------- this added 4/16/08: To read Martin Luther's explanation of the design and the colors of his seal........Click Here.

Stone from Uglich, Russia

A couple of people who are near and dear to me are on a riverboat tour in Europe right now. They travel out of the U.S. about once a year. Last year they cruised the Volga River in Russia, between Moscow and St. Petersburg. One of their stops along the Volga was at the town of Uglich.

I always ask them if they'll just pick up a small pebble or stone off the ground for me from some interesting place, as a souvenir. Last year they brought me this rock from near the "St. Dmitry on the Blood" Church in Uglich, Russia.
Click on this ---- St. Demetrios on the Blood Church in Uglich, Russia ---- to see a photo of this colorful red church with blue onion domes. It was built in 1690 on the spot where Ivan the Terrible's ten-year-old son, Dmitry, was murdered in 1591. Gulp......someone cut his throat in the palace courtyard......gulp. I think that many terrible things happened during Czar Ivan the Terrible's reign. That's how things were back then.......and we think things are terrible now.

Here also is the Wikipedia page for Uglich, Russia. This year my relatives are supposed to bring me a stone from the ground near the church in Wittenberg, Germany, where Martin Luther went anailing the Ninety-five Theses to the door way back on October 31, 1517, sparking the Reformation.

Chasing the Sunset

Yesterday was OK, but with alot of sitting around doing nothing in the waiting rooms of the orthodontist and the optometrist, reading or dozing while my son had his appointments. He's ecstatic to be rid of the braces, and to be able to see the world more clearly.

Last evening, I needed to run up to the convenience store in our little town to fill Son's pickup with fuel (he can't drive there yet with just his school permit). I also remembered I needed to stop by at church and pick up Sunday School teaching materials for subbing next weekend. That led me to also remember to take along a couple sacks of pop cans to put in the can wagon in front of our Lutheran School, which is, of course, next to the church. The schoolkids collect cans for the refunds as an ongoing fundraiser. Church members and others leave their returnable pop and beer containers in the wagon, each can or bottle being worth a nickel or dime, which adds up to thousands of dollars of needed funding for the school each year.

Anyway, as I tip-toed through the mud to toss the sacks in the can wagon, I happened to look up and see this sight of the blackbirds on stark tree branches, outlined against the sky next to the steeple. And, guess what......my camera was with me! Hooray! The steeple cross is facing west toward the setting sun.

A little while later, after spending $73 on fuel (gr-r!) at the convenience store, I was headed south on the highway toward home. Glancing to the west, I saw the sun setting in flaming majesty......this photo in no way does justice to the scene. Hurriedly, I pulled off on the shoulder to snap the photo, hoping no one would see me and think.......she's on her way to Crazyville again!

As the old pickup tolerated my jerky version of the manual shifting into first, second, third......I tried to keep watching the sun's show, and steer safely.......and then turned west onto the next gravel road to attempt to catch a photo shot at the moment when the glowing orb of the sun was perfectly round.......like a "red, rubber ball".......and, no, Cliff Richard's song was not serendipitously playing on the radio at that moment. HOWEVER, during my chase of the rapidly evolving sunset scene, THIS song was playing on the pickup's crackly radio.........."Sunset Grill" by Don Henley! I'm not kidding.

I missed the shot I wanted, and the ones I did get were blurry. My goodness, the sun's descent seems to speed up in those last few moments of sunset! Isn't that just the way life is sometimes.......you see something you truly want, and poof!, its gone before you can get it in your grasp. And so, for a chance to catch a perfectly round setting sun on photo, I repine. "Repine" is the Dr. Dictionary word for today........I've decided to attempt to use each day's word in that day's blog post. We'll see if it works out or not.......and if I remember to do it or not.


Hey, there you go.......try to use a new word today......either in speaking or writing.