A few days ago I found myself waiting for some take-out food at a place with two magazines on the table.  I picked up Time magazine and began thumbing through it while the food was being prepared.  The articles were all about the campaign for president.  Hillary Clinton and John Edwards were highlighted along with Barack Obama.  A quick glance at the cover showed me that this copy was from July of last year.  Since the other magazine didn’t interest me at all, I kept perusing the old news.

I came across a death notice for Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of President Lyndon Johnson.  The notice wasn’t new to me, I had heard about her passing.  The article did remind me that she deserved a bit of a blog from me.

Lady Bird (a nickname a nanny gave her when she was a baby that stuck with her)  is standing in that famous picture of Lyndon Johnson taking the oath of office on Air Force One following the assassination of President Kennedy.  The other imposing figure in that photo is Jacqueline Kennedy, the President’s widow who was a celebrity in her own right.

I’d never thought of how difficult it must have been for Lady Bird to follow in the wake of the First Lady who was part of Camelot.  Amid all the turmoil of the 60’s, who cared about Lady Bird Johnson?

Indeed, who would have known how important her legacy would be to us in the 21^st century?   Civil rights, Viet Nam, and the space race occupied our time.  Lady Bird in the midst of all this turmoil decided to be the spokesperson for beauty, especially highway beautification.  Who really cared?

The interstate highway system we take for granted today was just beginning to be a massive concrete ribbon crisscrossing America.  Still in an industrial age, the highways were often seen only with pragmatic eyes that only worried about getting from here to there.  Lady Bird Johnson took on that who-cares-what–it-looks-like attitude by advocating for these new superhighways to have grassy areas and wild flowers.  She fought to have them as eye pleasing as possible.

She also advocated for ecologically sound practices as the highways were built.  In those days taking care of the earth was still a new idea.  Lady Bird set in motion the ecological momentum that still rolls on today.

Belatedly, I thank God for the gracious woman who gave a mellowing edge to an often gruff husband.  Even more, I thank God that she took on the established ideas of abusing the earth and relegating beauty to the basement.  She was a grand lady all the way. 

Pastor B.

 

A few weeks ago Susan and I drove down to Dubuque for the annual gala that raises money for the orchestra she plays in.  The entertainment featured a singer by the name of Oleta Adams.  She was amazing as she sang while she played the piano and three other musicians backed her up.  It was well worth the trip.I was just as amazed by the fact that almost everyone has a camera.  During dinner the guests at our table (most Dubuque Symphony folk) were pulling out cameras of every shape and size.  Susan has a point-and-shoot she got for Christmas.  Someone else had a more professional looking outfit that resembled the old standard 35mm single lens reflex.  A third person had a camera on her Blackberry type phone.  For a while I thought I was camera deficient, but than I remembered I actually have a camera on my phone.

As I looked around the banquet room, it became apparent that many tables had as many cameras as spoons.  Indeed, the plethora of lenses in the crowd is a sign of the digital age in which we live.  Other than the initial cost of the camera, pictures are free on our computers.  Everyone has become a photographer.

George Orwell predicted the age when television cameras would permeate every aspect of life.  His predictions have come eerily true.  He didn't foresee that we would all have our own.  He didn't foresee a time when pictures would overtake us like a tsunami.

It's a photographer's world out there.  Go take a picture.

Pastor B.

 

Your wrist is not just for bracelets and watches anymore.  Wrist bands adorn arms everywhere.  Red ones.  Blue ones. Yellow ones. Green ones. A rainbow of colors and causes traverse the world on people's wrists.  Nearly as ubiquitous as a wristwatch, they're everywhere.

My first experience with the rubberized bracelet came in the color yellow.  Lance Armstrong, bicyclist extraordinaire, survived testicular cancer and started a foundation to promote information and study.  The band had raised letters that spelled out LIVESTRONG.

Other wristbands soon blossomed.  An idea has been hatched, and a thousand causes wanted in.

Lots of folks have wore one for a short time and then grew tired of the extra adornment.  A few years ago we even had one for confirmation.  It was green and said, "HERE I STAND" in reference to Martin Luther's famous words at the Diet of Worms.  I think I wore mine for a week.

Various cancer causes have taken ownership of blue.  In daughter Krista's fight with mesothelioma there was a time of wearing the blue wristband to show our solidarity with her and the search for a cure for this form of cancer.  I wore mine for only a few weeks.

Of course there are only so many colors to go around.  Now wristbands have arrived either multicolored or with symbols imprinted.  Bishop Burnside wears one that is white with the Palestinian flag on it - a symbol of his interest in helping the Palestinian cause.

Personally, these day's I've been sporting a white wristband with raised lettering that spells out ONE.  The cause?  The movement to make poverty history by eliminating extreme poverty in our world by 2015.

What's on your wrist?

Pastor B.

 

Yesterday we rejoiced as a new pastor was installed in her leadership role at Our Savior's. Welcoming Pastor Julie Krahn filled us all with joy and expectations.  I am so very glad that God has blessed us with her presence.

As a called and ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church, the service of installation offers a peak at those things that are paramount in word and sacrament ministry.  For most of us who have answered God's call to this ministry, the sacraments and preaching are the places we feel most comfortable.  In those ministries we feel God is using us best.

At the font, a representative of the congregation reminded those of us who are ordained that we have been called "to baptized, to teach and to forgive sin."  I know that I feel that I'm using my few gifts to there best advantage when the Lord affords me the opportunity to usher people into an everlasting Kingdom with the water of baptism.

When Pastor Krahn was presented at the pulpit with the words "you have been called to be among us to proclaim the good news," I was drawn to my sincere desire to study scripture, pray for insight, and do the best I can to preach the word of an almighty and generous God who wants to give us good news.

And when the presenter at the altar recited that Pastor Krahn had been called "to lead worship and preside at the Holy Communion" the clear thoughts of joy came to me.  What an honored privilege it is for me to preside over the meal that Jesus' hosts.  Each week that is a "wow" experience for me.

So, you see, installation services are not just for pastors new to their call.  Installation services also remind the rest of us who wear stoles that the essence of our call is word and sacraments.  Thanks be to God.

Pastor B.