Birthday Week Thanks and Thoughts

Surrounded by my loving husband, Burton, family, and friends, I give thanks for a community of care.

I was Born Nov 6, 1938.  A few days later that week, Nov 9-10, was Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Grass, the start of the Holocaust, when Nazis destroyed 250 synagogues throughout Germany, as well as Jewish hospitals, businesses, and schools, and 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and incarcerated. My birth week reminds me to pay attention to the rise of hate.

This year Nov. 4-9 we commemorate the 30^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1989 Gethsemane Church in East Berlin became a center for the peaceful revolution for freedom. It was a sanctuary church and a place for public discussions. Within 5 days the non-violent protest grew to thousands and the Wall came down.  I continue to believe the local and global church is called to public theology and prophetic action.

Often Nov. 6 is Election Day. Some notables: In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. Presidents re-elected on Nov. 6^th include: 1940: Franklin Roosevelt; 1956: Dwight Eisenhower; 1984: Ronald Reagan; 2012: Barack Obama. My birthday has always urged me to commit to engage, participate, caucus, vote.

In thinking of my own heritage, Martin Luther was born the same week as I, November 10—just a few centuries earlier, 1483. I am grounded in the grace of Jesus Christ.

This week, the Lutheran Diaconal Association, of which I have been a part since my consecration as a deaconess in 1960, celebrates its 100^th anniversary.  This community of sisters, and now brothers, calls me forth again to ongoing faith and service in a complex world in need of healing and hope.