June 2024 Pastor Mark’s Pen
"Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices.”
ELW hymn #839
The archetypal idea of “home” points in two directions at once. It
points backward toward an origin and forward toward the ideal of
“home” that we would call paradise. Chie and I simply want to say
THANK You to everyone that has welcomed us, hosted us and
supported us in this ministry. We are grateful for all you have done
for us and the countless others that have called St. Martin home.
We leave with the knowledge of friendship, the wellspring of hope
for our future at Bethlehem Lutheran Church and love of God as
our foundation. I have written much about faith, life together and
visions of ministry out here on the Great Plains through this venue.
I have preached hundreds of sermons if not thousands to you on
Sunday after Sunday and on other days too. None of which were
more or less important than the previous or the next. Today as I
type, I am frankly, at a loss for words. So, with that, we say Thank
you and farewell. May God bless.
Pastor Mark
May 2024 Pastor Mark’s Pen
“Good thoughts have much to do with good rowing. It
isn’t enough for the muscles of a crew to work in
unison; their hearts and minds must also be as one.”
George Yoeman Pocock
from the Boys in the Boat
By Daniel James Brown
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask my Father in my name, he may give it to you.” John 15:16
Nine years ago, as the Kansas City Royals were winning games and on their way to a World Series Championship. Those were terrific days, the church was filled with a wonderful choir, a gaggle of children, and a midweek book study! Eight adults showed up to read the above book by author Daniel James Brown and make an implied connection between an eight-man rowing crew and the church. Over five weeks we read the corresponding parts of the book and through some leading and thought-provoking questions we discussed the aspects of church and the challenges, from both friends and foes that the rowing crew from the University of Washington and eventual representative team at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. One member would later recount, to me, one Sunday, after worship, as he exited the church, he said, “I attended just to see if you could make the sign board connection”, which in essence said “What do the church and an 8-man rowing crew have to do with faith” The idea to read this book came from the introduction by the author which read in part; “I knew only two things about Joe when I knocked on his daughter Judy’s door that day. I knew that in his mid-seventies he had single-handedly hauled a number of cedars logs down a mountain, then hand-split the rails and cut the posts and installed all 2,224 linear feet of the pasture fence I had just climbed over-a task so herculean that I shake my head in wonderment whenever I think about it. And I knew that he had been one of nine young men from the state of Washington-farm boys, fishermen, and loggers-who shocked both the rowing world and Adolf Hitler by winning the gold medal in eight-oared rowing at the 1936 Olympics.
...But it wasn’t until he began to talk about his rowing career at the University of Washington that he started, from time to time, to cry. He talked about learning the art of rowing, about shells and oars, about tactics and technique. He reminisced about long, cold hours on the water under steel-grey skies, about smashing victories and defeats narrowly averted, about traveling to Germany, and marching under Hitler’s eyes into the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, and about his crewmates. None of these recollections brought him to tears, though. It was when he tried to talk about ‘the boat’ that his words began to falter, and tears welled up in his bright eyes... I’d like to write a book about his rowing life... Joe replied, ‘But not just about me. It has to be about the boat.”
Yes, tis truth, the church must be of one heart and mind, dependent upon Jesus and His Word as a lamp unto our feet, a path of which we walk and courage to live faithfully into the vision for us in the near and distant future. Change is almost upon us and when the right time arrives, we will, we must, get into action, answer the call to action and cast our crowns before the one who overcame sin, death, the grave, and hell itself could not stand nor hold him. We, as called by God, seek to know His will through prayer, Jesus promises us to give, whatever we ask. This is our prayer; “Thy will be done” Amen.
Hope to see you in Church,
Pastor Mark
April 2024 Pastor Mark’s Pen
“My arms are like two shipyard cranes
That may not work again
My fortunes wax
My fortunes wane
My senses sunder
A cup would cheer
The cheerless heart
The path I dare not chart
I look askance, not quite the part
Someone has blundered
The normal rules do not apply
And mine is not to reason why
[Called, called, called]”
Echo and the Bunnymen “Gone, gone, gone”
One of my meditation practices is listening to modern music with little or no direct connection to religious organizations or institutions. Many of the artists that I listen to may or may not be familiar to you. This meditative scheme of mine has allowed me to experience peace, inspiration, sermon themes and many other emotions or otherwise aspects of faith. My own journey begins, not in my teenage years but in my early Navy career. I give Daniel Saltarelli the credit for introducing the music of the Grateful Dead. Many of my friends back in Spokane couldn’t handle any of the Dead music, so I insisted upon playing at parties. Later while I was stationed in Hawaii, I discovered some obscure groups at discount prices and the meditative process began in the hours of driving to work or12 step meetings. I would hear something that touched my spirit in a way that can only be expressed by words of faith include The Grateful Dead, Cowboy Junkies, The Trilobites (Australian Band), Smithereens, B-52's, Lone Justice, House Martins, Midnight Oil, U2 and Hat Makes the Man, and even the Pagan Babies (a house band in Honolulu) to name a few. Each of the groups provided me with countless hours of thought-provoking ideas, concepts and challenges to my faith and belief system. Later on, in my development of musical tastes, I became more familiar with U2, especially the Joshua Tree album, Lone Justice and their chilling rendition of Good Friday. Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Crosby, Stills and Nash with their Southern Cross brought me to my knees one Christmas Eve. Neil Young’s Old Man and Look Out for My Love (also done by Linda Ronstadt) have always made me weep, pray and reflect on whatever was foremost on my heart or in my head. Today, music, especially that of the above-named groups have helped my process challenges, joys and grief, as well as helped to prepare me for preaching. Lana Del Rey’s Mariners Apartment Complex is one of my “Go To” songs for every funeral. So too, is Linda Ronstadt’s “Talk to Me of Medocino” as is Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald”. Now, do not get me wrong, I love, adore and often hum many of our Lutheran’ hymns day in day out. When it comes to meditation, I am a product of modern musical culture, but way behind current trends. Hope to see you in Church, Pastor Mark
March 2024 Pastor Mark’s Pen
Anyone who has known me for some time, will also know that my favorite film of all time is Joe Vs the Volcano. Those also familiar with me know that I enjoy reading Danish theologian, Soren Kierkegaard. I saw Joe V. Volcano a couple of years before being introduced to the dower Dane, but when I read an excerpt of Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling, for a philosophy class, I was hooked. Both the premise of the book and implied in the film, is the concept of the “Leap of Faith”. The protagonist from each story; Abraham from Fear and Trembling, Joe Banks from Joe V. Volcano. Both are characters that have lost their way in life and over the course of events that ultimately lead each to make a dreadful decision. Abrahma is asked to offer his son; Issac as a sacrifice. Joe is hired to be a human sacrifice to a deity in a volcano on an island of simple and lost nomads living on an island somewhere in the Pacific. Both stories hang upon the dreadful moment when each must make a movement that in Kierkegaard’s term requires a leap of faith. This act defies reason and, in each case, brings the protagonists to their respective faith.
Joe and his wife, played by Meg Ryan, are shot out of the volcano in the most unlikely scenarios and as the film closes you hear Joe exclaim; “Away from the things of man. Away from the things of man.” I loved this story as it mirrored the course of my life of faith. Faith
requires actions that seemingly defy reason and logic. It is Luther’s “sin boldly”. There are countless accounts throughout the holy scriptures of plans gone awry and working out for good in the end. The season of Lent is a time for reflection upon all that is decided upon us, where we live, earning a living, raising our children, tending our land or other tasks that require our action. Lent is a season of action, where these acts influence those under our care and often our neighbors, friends, coworkers, and sometimes total strangers. How does one use the season of Lent to accomplish these reflections and all the other stuff we must accomplish? Great question. I suggest beginning with prayer. Ask God or your Higher Power if you so choose to speak to you through others. God will. You might also consider attending a worship service in your neighborhood or nearby expression of a denomination you may or may not be familiar with. Picking up a classic book you have always wanted to read. Read it. God will speak to you. I have always desired to read Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, maybe this is the year! May your season of reflection lead you to greater understanding and a view of your life that is exciting, interesting, and courageous. Until then, Bless you.