I think for most people, unofficial "summer" is from Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend.
Well, if you like summer, I've got good news for you.Memorial Day, observed on the last Monday of May, is as early as it ever can be, May 25. (Note: that means that there is a Sunday in May after Memorial Day, May 31.) AND, Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is as late as it ever can be, September 7.
That means that there are 15 plus weeks of "summer" to enjoy. So get out there and enjoy it. And hopefully, we'll get some warm weather up here in Duluth to go along with it. :)
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Summer "Convertible"
Wow, the month of April was busy for me, between Holy Week and Easter, and then other events. Now things are getting better. Warmer in Duluth, too. Time to get out the "Convertible."
Well, it doesn't really "convert" from anything, but it is a great outdoor vehicle for nicer weather in Duluth. I bought this a few years back, and have been very happy with it for getting around Duluth. It is a recumbent tricycle, and has served me well. It is geared down pretty well for getting up the Duluth hills. Sure, it is work going up hill, but you can go slow and not worry about tipping because of the third wheel. (Also, when I stop at lights or stop signs, I don't tip.) The wide padded seat is very comfortable, and I can pull a trailer with kids or groceries. From my home it is less than four miles to ust about anywhere I want to go, along nice streets or even the lakewalk. And when I'm running various errands, the miles can add up without seeming tiresome.
Last year the lakewalk was extended to 36th Avenue East, so I can get to or from downtown pedaling right along Lake Superior. (The only disadvantage is that coming home from downtown I end with almost a mile straight up the hill.)
Most of the winter I work out on recumbent aerobic machines, so those particular muscles stay in pretty good shape.
One fun trip I took a few years back included packing some camping gear in the trailer and biking to Jay Cooke for an overnight. I've taken this up to the Willard Munger Trail up the North Shore, too. I hope I can take this out camping this summer, one way or another.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Bible Bowl trophy
This past Saturday, March 28, was the Minnesota State Bible Bowl. LCMS Churches throughout the State of Minnesota sent 34 teams to Concordia University, St. Paul, to show off their knowledge of this year's topic, the Gospel of John, and compete for the top six individual and team trophies.
My own church sent a team for the third year in a row, each year improving, and this year coming home with the sixth place team trophy. Congratulations! In fact, we were the only church from the Minnesota North District to get a trophy this year.
We went down on Friday night and spent the night all sleeping on mats at University Lutheran Chapel's library. For fun on Friday night, we walked over to Mariucci Arena where the University of Minnesota--Duluth's hockey team was playing in the NCAA Division 1 tournament, so we were there when UMD scored two times in the last 40 seconds, sending the game into overtime and eventually winning in OT. Wow.
On Saturday morning, we had to get up pretty early, and the kids had been up late playing games and studying. Josef roused us all with the words, "Arise, take up your mat, and walk."
Monday, March 16, 2009
Love is an Active Thing
There was a great interview with Robert Gagnon, author of The Bible and Homosexual Practice, on Issues Etc. back on March 4. There was much in that interview, but what struck me was a quote from Augustine.
Gagnon pointed out that someone opposing his point of view and arguing for a more open point of view towards homosexual practice was quoting Augustine as saying "Love, and do what you want." However, Augustine uses this quote in the immediate context of rejecting homosexual behavior, and in fact shows the need for us as Christians to speak up and be more active in rejecting all immoral behavior. True love for the neighbor must not be lazy and let the neighbor do whatever, but must be active in helping that neighbor be what God wants him to be.
Here is more from Augustine: "If any of you perhaps wish to maintain love, brethren, above all things do not imagine it to be an abject and sluggish thing; nor that love is to be preserved by a sort of gentleness, nay not gentleness, but tameness and listlessness. Not so is it preserved. Do not imagine that . . . you then love your son when you do not give him discipline, or that you then love your neighbor when you do not rebuke him. This is not love, but mere feebleness. Let love be fervent to correct, to amend. . . . Love not in the person his error, but the person; for the person God made, the error the person himself made."
That's sometimes hard to live out. It is so much easier to say nothing. But that's not real love, either. I'm not sure who coined the phrase, "Hate the sin and love the sinner," but this quote from Augustine comes awfully close.
Gagnon pointed out that someone opposing his point of view and arguing for a more open point of view towards homosexual practice was quoting Augustine as saying "Love, and do what you want." However, Augustine uses this quote in the immediate context of rejecting homosexual behavior, and in fact shows the need for us as Christians to speak up and be more active in rejecting all immoral behavior. True love for the neighbor must not be lazy and let the neighbor do whatever, but must be active in helping that neighbor be what God wants him to be.
Here is more from Augustine: "If any of you perhaps wish to maintain love, brethren, above all things do not imagine it to be an abject and sluggish thing; nor that love is to be preserved by a sort of gentleness, nay not gentleness, but tameness and listlessness. Not so is it preserved. Do not imagine that . . . you then love your son when you do not give him discipline, or that you then love your neighbor when you do not rebuke him. This is not love, but mere feebleness. Let love be fervent to correct, to amend. . . . Love not in the person his error, but the person; for the person God made, the error the person himself made."
That's sometimes hard to live out. It is so much easier to say nothing. But that's not real love, either. I'm not sure who coined the phrase, "Hate the sin and love the sinner," but this quote from Augustine comes awfully close.
St Urho's Day
Happy St. Urho's Day everyone.
Here is my favorite St. Urho's Day poem:
The Legend of St. Urho
By Linda Johnson
(Published in The Finnish American Reporter)
There once was a boy, a Finlander fair
with sky-bright blue eyes and sunshine blond hair.
He came from up where the summer days
last twenty-four hours. From tough stock he came.
The Finns call it Sisu, it's courage and strength.
He was born in the sauna with sweat and steam.
One look at his face, and his mother just laughed.
Wrinkled and red, the babe looked like his dad.
"We'll call him Urho," his mother proclaimed.
"He's a strong boy, he needs a strong name."
Weaned on black coffee, hardtack and toast
he loved cardamon bread and ate more than most.
Urho grew like a weed; a typical boy.
The farm was his home, the land was his toy.
Urho's dad grew grapes to ferment over time
to make the Lutheran's communion wine.
At church the sacrament of body and blood
was Urho's dad's wine and cardamon bread.
Urho worked on the farm with his dad and his mom,
doing chores with a whistle, filling the sauna with song.
One Sunday at church Urho heard pastor say
"Dear folks we need Sisu and we all need to pray.
The grasshoppers are here and they're eating the vines,
Without any grapes we won't have our wine."
Urho snuck out of church and ran home that day
as fast as he could while the pastor prayed.
Urho rushed to the field where the grasshoppers ate.
Did he make it in time? Or was he too late?
Urho cried out aloud with all of his might.
His voice echoed like thunder and made day turn to night.
Heinasirkka, Heinasirkka, mene taalta Hilteen!
and with his fierce words the green plague was beaten.
Translated these words in English say
"Grasshopper, grasshopper, please go away."
The ugly beasts flew away into the night
and the darkness changed from shadow to light.
As Finland was freed from the insects so vile,
they pronounced Urho a saint and not just a child.
The legend has grown and spread through the years
of a brave Finnish boy without any fear.
Now each March 16 we celebrate this way:
wearing purple and green for St. Urho's Day.
Here is my favorite St. Urho's Day poem:
The Legend of St. Urho
By Linda Johnson
(Published in The Finnish American Reporter)
There once was a boy, a Finlander fair
with sky-bright blue eyes and sunshine blond hair.
He came from up where the summer days
last twenty-four hours. From tough stock he came.
The Finns call it Sisu, it's courage and strength.
He was born in the sauna with sweat and steam.
One look at his face, and his mother just laughed.
Wrinkled and red, the babe looked like his dad.
"We'll call him Urho," his mother proclaimed.
"He's a strong boy, he needs a strong name."
Weaned on black coffee, hardtack and toast
he loved cardamon bread and ate more than most.
Urho grew like a weed; a typical boy.
The farm was his home, the land was his toy.
Urho's dad grew grapes to ferment over time
to make the Lutheran's communion wine.
At church the sacrament of body and blood
was Urho's dad's wine and cardamon bread.
Urho worked on the farm with his dad and his mom,
doing chores with a whistle, filling the sauna with song.
One Sunday at church Urho heard pastor say
"Dear folks we need Sisu and we all need to pray.
The grasshoppers are here and they're eating the vines,
Without any grapes we won't have our wine."
Urho snuck out of church and ran home that day
as fast as he could while the pastor prayed.
Urho rushed to the field where the grasshoppers ate.
Did he make it in time? Or was he too late?
Urho cried out aloud with all of his might.
His voice echoed like thunder and made day turn to night.
Heinasirkka, Heinasirkka, mene taalta Hilteen!
and with his fierce words the green plague was beaten.
Translated these words in English say
"Grasshopper, grasshopper, please go away."
The ugly beasts flew away into the night
and the darkness changed from shadow to light.
As Finland was freed from the insects so vile,
they pronounced Urho a saint and not just a child.
The legend has grown and spread through the years
of a brave Finnish boy without any fear.
Now each March 16 we celebrate this way:
wearing purple and green for St. Urho's Day.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Christians and Contraception
A great hour-long discussion about contraception on the Issues, Etc., radio program. Play below or Listen here.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sermon on the Death of a Baby
Texts: 2 Samuel 12:15b-23; Romans 14:6-9; Matthew 18:1-5,10-11; Mark 10:13-16
Dear friends,
We gather in sadness, mourning the death of this little baby, [n.]. Death is never easy. But there should not be caskets this size. We know death is in this world as a result of sin, and death is always a reminder to us of the fact that this world is not as God first created it. We mourn the loss TO US of the life of this baby, [n.], and yet we know that God is in control, and that this child is in the arms of Jesus.
The readings this afternoon reflect that. The first reading was from the life of King David. David of course is well-known. His battle against Goliath, his rise to Kingship, even his great sins of adultery and murder. Perhaps less well know is the illness that plagued his son, the first son born from Bathsheba. This son was sick and died shortly after birth, longer than baby Caleb—seven days, not seven seconds. And yet, for that boy, seven days was one day too short a time. For it was on the eighth day that their boys were circumcised, a sign of being in the family of God, like our baptism, and on the eighth day they received a name. Instead, that boy died without circumcision or a name. And yet despite that, King David expressed his confidence in eternal life and that eternal life had been given to his son in His words: “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
In the reading from Mark, Jesus was indignant that his disciples were trying to keep the children from him. “Let the children come to me,” Jesus said. “Do not hinder them; for to such belong the kingdom of God.” To such, meaning NOT, as some people think, that ALL children are saved, or that we need to become like children in general. To whom belongs the kingdom of God? To people who are like the children that are brought to Jesus!
In truth, each of us NEEDS, if we are to be saved, to become like children brought to Jesus. It is in the nature of children to trust their parents. That’s just a fact. Little children trust that their earthly parents will take care of them, feed them, clothe them, and give them what they need. Unfortunately, we as earthly parents aren’t always able to do that for our children. We aren’t always able to give our children what they need. We don’t always know what to say to our children, we aren’t even always able to ensure that our children can live. This should be so, but it is not. And it is a frustrating part of life in this fallen world.
But that is why we are taught, as parents, to give our children what they TRULY need, and that is to bring them to Jesus, to let Christ the good shepherd and God our heavenly Father take care of them. He knows their true needs. He cares for each of His children in ways we cannot. He is the father to the fatherless, the nurturer, the life-giver to those who die physically. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones,” Jesus said, “For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”
From this passage, we know that even in the womb, our children have angels watching over us, caring for our needs at the command of God the Father.
Just a day or two before this baby’s birth and death, as you sat in the hospital uncertain about the fate of your unborn child, I read that passage from Romans 14: “If we live we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”
Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is the key event for each of us. Christ’s death and resurrection is the promise that we, too, will be raised again, raised to eternal life from death, to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
Christ our Lord, Christ the Good Shepherd, is truly the Good Shepherd of all his children, all those brought to him, and to him we commend this little one, [n.], placing him in the arms of His Good Shepherd.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear friends,
We gather in sadness, mourning the death of this little baby, [n.]. Death is never easy. But there should not be caskets this size. We know death is in this world as a result of sin, and death is always a reminder to us of the fact that this world is not as God first created it. We mourn the loss TO US of the life of this baby, [n.], and yet we know that God is in control, and that this child is in the arms of Jesus.
The readings this afternoon reflect that. The first reading was from the life of King David. David of course is well-known. His battle against Goliath, his rise to Kingship, even his great sins of adultery and murder. Perhaps less well know is the illness that plagued his son, the first son born from Bathsheba. This son was sick and died shortly after birth, longer than baby Caleb—seven days, not seven seconds. And yet, for that boy, seven days was one day too short a time. For it was on the eighth day that their boys were circumcised, a sign of being in the family of God, like our baptism, and on the eighth day they received a name. Instead, that boy died without circumcision or a name. And yet despite that, King David expressed his confidence in eternal life and that eternal life had been given to his son in His words: “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
In the reading from Mark, Jesus was indignant that his disciples were trying to keep the children from him. “Let the children come to me,” Jesus said. “Do not hinder them; for to such belong the kingdom of God.” To such, meaning NOT, as some people think, that ALL children are saved, or that we need to become like children in general. To whom belongs the kingdom of God? To people who are like the children that are brought to Jesus!
In truth, each of us NEEDS, if we are to be saved, to become like children brought to Jesus. It is in the nature of children to trust their parents. That’s just a fact. Little children trust that their earthly parents will take care of them, feed them, clothe them, and give them what they need. Unfortunately, we as earthly parents aren’t always able to do that for our children. We aren’t always able to give our children what they need. We don’t always know what to say to our children, we aren’t even always able to ensure that our children can live. This should be so, but it is not. And it is a frustrating part of life in this fallen world.
But that is why we are taught, as parents, to give our children what they TRULY need, and that is to bring them to Jesus, to let Christ the good shepherd and God our heavenly Father take care of them. He knows their true needs. He cares for each of His children in ways we cannot. He is the father to the fatherless, the nurturer, the life-giver to those who die physically. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones,” Jesus said, “For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”
From this passage, we know that even in the womb, our children have angels watching over us, caring for our needs at the command of God the Father.
Just a day or two before this baby’s birth and death, as you sat in the hospital uncertain about the fate of your unborn child, I read that passage from Romans 14: “If we live we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”
Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is the key event for each of us. Christ’s death and resurrection is the promise that we, too, will be raised again, raised to eternal life from death, to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
Christ our Lord, Christ the Good Shepherd, is truly the Good Shepherd of all his children, all those brought to him, and to him we commend this little one, [n.], placing him in the arms of His Good Shepherd.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)