When Death is Sudden, Christ is Timeless

We were together in community for the Vigil and Funeral Eucharist of Gwen Sayler Friday and Saturday. In Dubuque two communities centered for service in Christ were together at Wartburg Seminary, difficult to comprehend, but wonderful to experience.  I have been a member of the Lutheran Deaconess Conference (Lutheran Diaconal Association) for almost 60 years (with Gwen for almost 50 of those). I became a faculty member at Wartburg 40 years ago (Gwen was a faculty member for almost 30). Wartburg Dean of the Chapel led worship; deaconesses read lessons and preached. So many others shared their words and gifts. Graduates from decades conversed, processed, embraced.  Together, together, we said “Hello” again in coming to say “Good-bye.” Even when death is sudden and shocking, new life in Christ is timeless and the body of Christ gathered is strong beyond words.

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.

Strong Leader; gentle man: Elijah Cummings

I sat in my living room for a long time quietly watching them walk by. Silently, silently, black and white, old and young, paid their respects to the son of share croppers, now the first African American to lie in state in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.

 “Elijah” means “the Lord is my God” and it was evident that those who spoke at the ceremony Thursday knew Rep. Elijah Cummings lived every moment of his life with that strong center.

 A “double PK” (the son of two preachers as are the sons of Burton and me), Elijah was a leader with a strong and gentle voice in the House, worked on behalf of those in need, lived among his people in Baltimore, working for peace in times of turmoil, always with a tenacity for justice.

 A man of integrity with a servant’s heart: Micah 6:8 “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

When Winds Blow Wildly

Cheers for the beautiful leaves that still cling to the tree outside our window after the first wildly blowing snow of the season.

Cheers to Simone Biles for her amazing strength and skill, and to all the artistic gymnasts flying wildly through the air at the world championships in Germany.

Prayers for those suffering from wild burning fires in California, the causes yet “unclear.”

Prayers for and commitment to the Ukrainian people caught in a struggle to keep their land from Russia.

Prayers for and commitment to the Syrian Kurds fighting and fleeing for their survival.

Prayers for and commitment to all who cling to life when forces blow wildly against them.

The First Amendment: How Do We Exercise Freedom of Religion for All?

Lifelong Learning North Iowa Area Community
 College September 17, 2019, Constitution Day  

About 90 people came and engaged in wonderful conversation                                                                                         

 Norma Cook Everist, professor

Brief History of Freedom of Religion
 and U.S. Relationship of Religion and 
Government (“Church and State”)

1.    Disestablishment occurred gradually,
 state by state, over a 50-year period in
 the new United State of America.

2.    Disestablishment meant denominationalism
 and promised inclusion of all religions.

3.    Debate remains to this day as to the
 meaning of “separation of church and state.”

1^st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: 
Congress shall make no law respecting an
 establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
 free exercise thereof; or abridging the
 freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
 right of the people peaceably to assemble,
 and to petition the Government for a
 redress of grievances.

1.    The establishment clause: The nation
 gives privilege to all religions without
discrimination.

2.    The free exercise clause: Religious
 freedom means that I and my neighbor
 both have religious freedom.

Various Positions on Religion and
 Government

1.    One Religion Dominating the Nation
and Over the Government

2.    The Government Dominating All Religions

3.    One Religion Privileged Above 
All Other Religions: A State Religion

4.    A Civil Religion: The Symbols,
 Shrines, Holy Days, Rituals and 
Creeds of Nationalism Linked to a Religion

5.    Institutional Separation and
Functional Interaction: Healthy Pluralism  

Kinds of Separation  

1.    Structural Separation

2.    Absolute Separation

3.    Transvaluing Separation

4.    Supportive Separation

5.    Equal Separation

Time to Talk with each other

1.    Why do you think that the no
 “establishment” clause” is important
 and how can we help understand
 and support all religions without
 discrimination?

2.    How does “functional interaction”
 take us beyond just “being nice” or 
saying “this is a free country” to caring
 about the problems of the world and
 the needs of our neighbors?

Encountering Religious Diversity

1.    Religious diversity has continually shaped
American society, starting with the
 indigenous peoples.

2.    We can make common commitments and 
accept new callings.

3.    We cannot really know another’s belief, but
 we can ask and respect and work together.

Religion in Public Schools

1.    God is not forbidden in the public schools
. Each student comes as a person with a
 belief system and perhaps as a member 
of a faith community.

2.    We need schools to be safe, trustworthy
, places to be different together, not
 places of fear.  

3.    We need schools to teach how the
 natural world functions; we do not look
 to science to answer religious questions.

4.    The schools approach to religion
 should be awareness and instruction
 not indoctrination or conversion.

5.    There should be equitable access
 to public/community quality education
 for all regardless of race, religion,
 social-economic background, etc.   

Current Challenges of Religious Freedom
for Living in the Public World Together

1.    Faith Communities Tax Exempt Status:
 Speaking on Political Issues, Telling
People How to Vote, Preaching on
 Social Statements

2.    Commerce in the public arena: 
religious freedom as a justification
 for discrimination against serving
 certain customers

3.    Religious freedom of employers
 and the restriction of the rights of 
employees

4.    Religious restrictions of
 child-placement
 agencies in regard to foster 
care and adoption

5.    Opening Municipal and 
Legislative Meetings

Time to talk with each other

1.    Share examples of public schools
 teaching about religion and being
 a place for people to appreciate
 religious diversity.

2.    Which issues of religious freedom 
and religion and government challenge 
you today? Select one to talk about
 together.

Other Important Freedoms in the First 
Amendment (all in the same sentence)

1.    Freedom of Speech

2.    Freedom of the Press

3.    Freedom to Peaceably Assemble

4.    Freedom to Petition the Government
 for a Redress of Grievances 

Fridays for the Future: Youth Lead in Climate Crisis

Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, led a group of young people to the White House lawn this Friday insisting those inside act like grown-ups to do something about the global climate crisis. These past months Greta has been leading a global movement of school students to make a statement every Friday: “Fridays for the Future.” She has galvanized the world’s young people who know action must be taken now. She spoke this summer at the World Economics Forum in Switzerland and is looking forward to the United Nations General Assembly next week in NYC.

When asked in a television interview aired Friday night on Public television why she thinks there is so much inaction on the climate crisis, she said she thinks that human beings often are of two minds morally, saying they are concerned about an issue, but they “go along” with society which they see is not doing anything to change.  When asked what has led her to step forward, she replied that she believes it is due in part to her being on the autism spectrum. “I don’t usually follow society coding, but go my own way.”  She speaks in a very intelligent, sophisticated manner about the need for both individual action and systemic policy change.  Her passionate, persistent activism is inspiring youth around the world and adults as well to become more aware of and feel the urgency of the climate change crisis.

Cherokee Nation to Send Delegate to U.S. Congress

      The Cherokee Nation will exercise its treaty rights and send Kimberly Teehee to Washington D.C. as its first-ever delegate to the U.S. Congress, marking a new strategy in the ongoing fight for the survival and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples in the United States.

        “This journey is just beginning and we have a long way to go to see this through to fruition,” Teehee said. “However, a Cherokee Nation delegate to Congress is a negotiated right that our ancestors advocated for, and today, our tribal nation is stronger than ever and ready to defend all our constitutional and treaty rights.”

       Confirmed as a delegate by the Cherokee Nation Council on August 30,  Teehee grew up in Oklahoma and cut her teeth in politics in the 1980s, interning for Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to become principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. She previously worked for President Barack Obama’s administration as the first-ever senior policy adviser for Native American Affairs in the White House Domestic Policy Council, and has over a decade of experience in Washington, D.C. She has advocated for environmental justice, tribal self-determination, economic growth, health care and education — issues that impact all of Indian Country. 

         Coming at a time when Immigration issues dominate conversation, it is appropriate to focus on political victories for Native Americans.  In November 2018, Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk Nation) and Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) became the first Native American women elected to Congress. Kimberly Teehee will be the third Indigenous woman to represent Indigenous nations in Congress. Unlike Davids and Haaland, however, Teehee will not have the right to vote when the House is in open session. She will, however, be able to participate in committees as a voting member and bring legislation to the floor. This is an important distinction to make: Haaland and Davids are elected members of a congressional district, operating from within the U.S. representational system. Teehee stands as a delegate of a sovereign nation; it is the power of treaties which recognize nation-to-nation agreements that make Teehee’s presence in Congress possible.

       “I think more broadly, we want affirmation that our treaties are still in full force and effect,” Chief Hoskin told Truthout. “You can say that in a theoretical sense, but to actually do it, we’re demonstrating in a real concrete way that the treaty is still alive, it’s a living and breathing document.”

           More than 500 treaties have been signed between Indigenous nations and the colonial United States government, considered under the U.S. Constitution to be the “supreme law of the land.” In the early days of occupation and white settlement, treaties were used to mark land boundaries as well as establish political, economic and military agreements between Indigenous peoples and growing numbers of settlers and colonial powers. Ojibwe scholar Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark reminds us that, “Indigenous nations primarily saw treaties as living relationships, diplomatic processes that enabled the expansion of intricate kin-based networks situated within a relational paradigm that saw the world as a deeply interconnected and interdependent place.” In other words, treaty documents outline responsibilities and obligations that have been agreed upon by the United States government and which it is required to honor and uphold. A treaty is not a relic of history, but an ongoing, living set of relationships.

[This News from Truthout]

Four States,Three Hymnals and Still We Sang

For 59 years I have belonged to the Lutheran Deaconess Conference, since my consecration in 1960. We gather as a community once every summer.  In between we gather in area conferences. I belong to the Minnesota/Wisconsin Area which clusters around the Twin Cities area.

Last Saturday they gathered as they usually do once a month.  I can't always attend since I live in Iowa--Northern Iowa. That's why I'm included. We're only 30 miles from the Minnesota border and in the Rochester, MN, television viewing area (quite frankly I'd rather see the Des Moines news)  But I digress.

The Area Conference Saturday began with devotions and about 1/2 hour of simply singing favorite hymns. The meeting would go from 10:00 a.m. until 2 in the afternoon. I had joined by conference phone call. Another woman, Brenda, also joined by phone from Eastern North Dakota. Four States! As the group in Minneapolis chose their favorite hymns I soon realized they had with them "Gather" and "With One Voice."  I had the "Evangelical Lutheran Worship" (ELW or the "Cranberry Hymnal")  Three Hymnals!  What could have been an absolute mismatch not just of voices but of books (We had to call out hymn numbers from one book and look them up in the index in another book) and states,--not to mention the difficulty of some of us on the phone--turned out to be what it always is when deaconesses gather: women making beautiful music together, singing of faith and service in Christ.

We are theologians and with that solid base, we are also social worker, parish worker, nurse, teacher, professor, counselor, chaplain and more.  We have a commitment to faith and service to Christ and also to one another--for a lifetime.  That's what it means to belong to a community!

The meeting went on with each sharing some of  our work, our challenges, our joys, our questions, our lives, our prayer concerns.  We talked and we prayed. We also share leadership, a circle of leaders, collaborative, not hierarchical. We care about each other in the midst of our diversity.  We can count on that always.

Diaconal ministry is servanthood ministry, no matter where we serve, whatever our gifts. The words of our final hymn have stayed with me all week:

When the poor ones who have nothing, still are giving;
when the thirsty pass the cup, water to share;
when the wounded offer others strength and healing;
we see God, here by our side, walking our way;

When compassion gives the suffering consolation;
when expecting brings to birth hope that was lost;
when we choose love, not the hatred all around us,
we see God, here by our side, walking our way.

When our spirits, like a chalice, brim with gladness;
when our voices, full and clear, sing out the truth;
when our longings, free from envy, seek the humble,
we see God, here by our side,walking our way.

When the goodness poured from heaven fills our dwellings;
when the nations work to change war into peace;
when the stranger is accepted as our neighbor;
we see God, here by our side, walking our way;
we see God, here by our side, walking our way.

Picture from our entire Lutheran Deaconess Conference meeting Summer 2019

Finally: Ordination for Deacons, Beyond Classism Toward Partnership

By one little word the ELCA in assembly changed the entrance rite for ministers of Word and Service—Deacons—to “ordination.” I celebrate that decision. The vote wasn’t even close. We have come a long way, but it has taken a long time.

Let me go back before the ELCA came into being. I served on the “Design Task Force on Specific Ministry” (1983-4) We presented a model to the proposed new church on the “Public Ministries of the Church” for the “Office Word and Sacrament” and the “Office of Word and Service.” I remember drawing the parallel chart. The two ministries were to be side by side. The proposal was not accepted

After the beginning of the ELCA, January, 1988, the “Task Force on the Study for Ministry” was formed. I also served on that (for five years) and on the subcommittee which designed diaconal ministry. Diaconal ministers would be called to serve inside the structures of the church and called by the church to serve in the world outside the structures of the church. For many years we had faithful diaconal ministers, associates in ministry and members of the ELCA deaconess community.

Meanwhile I also served on the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission which produced the Hanover Report “The Diaconate as Ecumenical Opportunity.” (1996)

I had the privilege of teaching M.A. in Diaconal Ministry students at Wartburg Seminary for many years, seeing them flourish in their service in the world and yet never quite understood or fully accepted in the church on whose behalf they served. (“Why don’t you want to be a pastor?”) We still had a ways to go to fully catch the vision of the being the church for the sake of the world.

As the ELCA studied uniting the three “lay” rosters into one, I prepared a paper, “Diaconal Ministry from the Open Tomb to the Open World.” Jesus was a diaconal minister. Faithful diakonia is theologically grounded in a theology of the cross, facing the great wounds of the world, and a theology of the resurrection: death no longer has dominion.

I celebrated the ELCA’s 2016 decision to adopt a unified roster of “Word and Service” using the term “Deacon.” Deacons are now serving as hospital chaplains, musicians, congregational administrators, in disability ministries, in urban education and food ministries, as lawyer, college president, and so much more.

Finally, would “Pastor” and “Deacon” be side-by-side in collaborative ministry? However, the word “ordination” remained difficult. It was the entrance rite, not the essence of service, but it would take more time to move beyond systemic hierarchical and classism biases.

Finally, in 2019, the ELCA made a bold “new” and yet very New Testament decision with global and ecumenical support. Within the one ministry rooted in baptism, some are called to the ministry of “Word and Service” and some to the ministry of “Word and Sacrament,” side by side. Partners in the Gospel.

Cory Booker and I Talked about White Supremacy, Repentance and Authentic Diversity

Senator Cory Booker and I shared common concerns and commitments Friday night. I told him I appreciated his powerful words when speaking at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, this week. He appreciated what I shared with him, that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will commemorate June 17 as a day of repentance for the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9—the nine people who were shot and killed June 17, 2015, during a Bible study. We stand against racism and white supremacy.

Booker knows the ELCA and he, (including the press with him) was eager to hear more. He was grateful that the ELCA in churchwide assembly this week voted to become a Sanctuary church body and took strong stands against racism, white supremacy and gun violence. Booker and I talked about the urgent need in this country to come together and to love one in “authentic diversity.”

Over 20 candidates for the Democratic Party nomination for president of the United States spoke before a gathering of 1200 in Clear Lake, Iowa, just outside Mason City, Friday night. Burton and I attended with son Joel, his wife Rachel, and their children Jackson and Jennaya. A number of the candidates attended a reception beforehand hosted by our State Senator Sharon Steckman.

August 6: Hiroshima Day. Today: Catastrophic White Supremacy

August 6, Hiroshima Day, is a day of remembrance of the world’s first atomic bombing in 1945. August 6 is a day of remembrance of baptism in our family, mine, in 1939, and our son Kirk’s in 1969. Death: more than a quarter of a million people perished because of the catastrophic nuclear explosion by the USA near the end of World War II. New Life: being baptized into Christ’s baptism for the forgiveness of sins and deliverance from death.

Kirk was baptized outdoors, in the backyard of the church parsonage where we held weekly Wednesday night summer services. Neighborhood children, and some of their pets, came, too. Kirk’s baptismal banner hung on the clothesline. The singing was a sign of joyful life, a public witness to Jesus Christ, alive in the inner city.

I was baptized in the early stages of WW II. Kirk was baptized in the midst of the U.S. war in Vietnam. Kirk’s baptism was fifty years ago today. How do we remember now? We have stockpiles of nuclear weapons. We barely talk about whether a nation has 400 or 4000. Does it matter? But pulling out of the Iranian Nuclear deal matters. And so do North Korean missile tests and meaningful treaties of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. We remember Hiroshima by working every day on diplomacy to avoid war.

What do we do today? We remember by acknowledging the catastrophic gun violence inside our own nation. No one brought a gun to Kirk’s Detroit neighborhood backyard baptism. There are more guns in every U.S. neighborhood today, more guns per person by far than any other nation on earth, more guns than there are people. Are we afraid to go outside? We have had 250 mass shootings this year, more than days on the calendar. The belief system of white supremacy and white nationalism is deadly.

Today we must not forget. This August 6 we choose to remember our baptisms into Jesus Christ so that together we might face the challenges that are before us.

Apollo 11 Went Back to Where They Came From: the Earth

Go Back to Where you Came From. The earth!  July 24, 1969, was the day the Apollo 11 crew returned to “where they came from”: the Earth. One day later, July 25, 1969, our son, Kirk Andrew, was born. Each of our children has a “birth story.” 

News media have covered extensively the anniversary of the moon landing; however the picture the astronauts took which remains a favorite is their view from the moon of the earth.  They saw the amazing beauty and knew, of course, the complicated issues on our planet.

The 50^th anniversary week’s coverage was almost overshadowed by the exclusionary words of the president of one nation on this planet to four of its citizens, saying that they should go back to where they came from.  No matter that they are citizens of the same nation as he.  Where should they go? From the moon, the astronauts could see no national boundaries. On July 24 the world celebrates the men’s return to the whole earth. 

 Our family this July 25^th lovingly celebrates our youngest son’s 50^th birthday. May the citizens of the earth celebrate the family of nations and love one another.  May we not try to rid ourselves of those we disdain, but give ourselves to each other, seeking justice and each other’s welfare, that the beautiful sphere seen from the moon might truly hold the beauty the astronauts beheld.