The Human Agenda

Homily at Memorial - Bruce Brackman 1954-2024

Bruce Brackman
12.6.1954 – 6.8.2024
“A Dawn Without Darkness”
Psalm 42, John 15:12-17

O God, never-failing fountain of life, through the saving waters of baptism you call us from the depth of sin to the abundance of mercy. Do not forget the trials of our exile, but from the wellspring of your word satisfy our thirst for you, that we may come rejoicing to your house, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. (Psalm Prayer for Psalm 42)

Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and Sustainer and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Too often in our world there seems to be a gap between sacred and secular. We label certain places, like churches and retreat centers, holy. We call other places, like offices, shopping centers and taverns, profane. Houses are capable of being in either column, depending on who lives in them. People also are too often identified as religious and non-religious. Bruce Brackman is one of my friends who helped me let go of such a gap. In my early connections with Bruce, I was in a religious role as senior pastor of a large city congregation. He was very interested in a woman who was part of that congregation, and he was very interested in becoming a pastor. He demonstrated a passion for ministry that was unwavering and persistent.

Many months and years have passed since that first time of connection. Both Bruces life and mine have taken interesting turns. Some have been wonderful, some of been terrible, and reconnecting with Bruce has reminded me again and again --- all of them have been sacred.

Bruce’s passion for ministry never faded, although his place of ministry varied. He served as parish pastor in Christ Lutheran in Augusta, MO, Mt. Moriah in Byron, MN, Trinity Lutheran in Sealy, TX, Berwyn United Lutheran in Berwyn, IL and St. Paul Lutheran in Palmer, KS. Filled in as interim here at the Presbyterian Community Church of the Rockies, Pinewood Springs Community Church, just down the highway, and always loved coming home at Shepherd of the Mountain Lutheran here is Estes Park.
Bruce was a hospice chaplain accompanying fellow human beings and their families in their end of this life journey. He assisted refugees find a welcoming home and support for a new life in a new place. He trained women and men to be better teachers and mentors in the automobile industry. He nurtured a small group of backpackers that refused to disconnect even though many miles divided them. And in all his ministry spaces he kept whispering or saying out loud to all who would listen, “Where did you encounter the sacred this week?” “How did you experience the holy these past days?” “Remember you may be the only Bible someone will ever read.”
His words remind me of the words of our friend Henri Nouwen, “Without the Spirit, our lives remain truly uneventful. But with the Spirit, all that takes place from day to day, week to week, and year to year, can be known and experienced as the concrete manifestations of the Christ-event in time and space.”
Bruce honored me by asking me to preach at Shepherd of the Mountain last May and again this morning. His final days were about ministry in a wonderful community here in Estes Park and his wife Sally’s family as they were celebrating a new covenant of marriage. Like all of you, I was shocked into silence when I heard about his sudden death. But that silence did not block me from hearing his whisper “Where did you encounter the sacred this week?” “How did you experience the holy these past days?” “Remember you may be the only Bible someone will ever read.”
To be truly human, that is created in the image of God, is to live your life with joy, creativity, integrity, honesty, and hope. Bruce lived such a life. Bruce recognized the goodness in people and creation and himself. He loved his life and lived it with passion. I was not surprised to learn more than a decade ago that Bruce and Sallie would retire in the shadow of the Rockies in Estes Park. Although Bruce encountered the sacred in all of creation, the attraction to the woods, rivers, meadows, trails and peaks were especially strong. I am very impressed with his hiking.
At least five times Bruce took the pilgrimage from the south rim of the Grand Canyon to the Colorado River, slept overnight, hiked to the northern rim, then back down to the river for another night and then back up to the south rim again. Like his climb to Long’s Peak, you encounter different weather, difficult terrain, unknown, hazards, and exceptional vistas. Since Sallie phoned and shocked me with the sad news of his death, it has been hard for me to stop thinking about that journey Bruce took so often. His life was a series of peaks and valleys, glorious sunrises and dark valleys. In both the bright sunrises and dark sunsets, Bruce continued to hear that word from his creator, redeemer, and friend Jesus, “You did not choose me, but I choose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love on another.”
We celebrate that faith claim today as we say our goodbyes to Bruce. His sacred life has been a gift, his loving has been holy, he has made a positive difference in the world. God created him, redeemed him, and sustained him throughout his life. God continues to create, redeem and sustain each of us. Let’s tell the stories about Bruce with laughter, and with tears. In our sharing we will be celebrated that holy connection. We will be closing that old worn-out gap between the sacred and the secular.
We really love you, Bruce. We thank you for the many times you remined us of who were really are. We will miss you next Sunday, tomorrow, tonight. And Bruce, we will be OK because we too understand better (because of you) that all is sacred. Life and death are all part of your holy presence. As you now experience a Dawn without Darkness, we celebrate your union with all the saints. In the name of the Father, The Son, and the holy Spirit.

David E. Nelson, D.Min

Homily at Memorial - Deana Reimer 3/10/23

Deana Reimer - “Cultural Broker from Pawnee Rock”
October 19, 1946 – March 5, 2023
Memorial March 10, 2023
Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 23; John 14:1-6

Grace to you and peace from our Mothering and Fathering God, Creator of the Universe, and the Sacred Spirit alive in all of life. Greetings from God’s Special Child Jesus. Amen.

I met Deana because she had helped create a collaboration of Head Start, several school districts, and Migrant Education. Her organizational vision was amazing, but that is not what first stuck me. I had the privilege of working with her on several projects in migrant education, advocacy, and community development over a several year period, but what stayed with me and will be cherished long after her life is this place is compete is her love of life, her love of the whole human family, her love of having a good time no matter what. Her love will never die. One of her friends shared this past week, “Deana…May God rest her soul. The only boss I ever had that would plop herself in my lap, caress my hair, and kiss my forehead. Others would think that was sexual harassment in the world place. But no…that was Deana. I’m glad she was in life and godmother to my baby. She’s in heaven rearranging the angel’s cubbies. Switching their wings around, moving their belongings, name tags and such. I am glad her pain is over. Que descanse en paz.”

She was so full of energy, fun, and love of life. Walking into a room she lit it up, wither in a classroom or a living room. Life was not a problem to be solved but a gift to be fully embraced. Diversity was not a challenge but a reality to be treasured and celebrated. She pushed the edges enough to provide services like education and opportunity.
Deana came about that love by nature. She grew up in Pawnee Rock, KS. Pawnee Rock was long a meeting place of the Comanche, Kiowa, Arapaho, and Cheyenne Indians. Numerous battles were fought at Pawnee Rock between the tribes, and as a result, many bones have been found in the soil in the vicinity. The nations also held their councils of peace there. Indian battles and peace agreements were common in the days before the white men came to Kansas.
It served as a lookout for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail, as well as a rendezvous and ambush for the Indians. As a camping spot it afforded some protection against hostile Indians. Many travelers and traders on the Santa Fe trail considered Pawnee Rock the most dangerous place on the Central Plains because of encounters with the Indians. Some of the Plains tribes reportedly used it as an observation point from which they could track and swoop down upon buffalo herds and wagon trains.
The same space was experienced as sacred and scary. Place of war or a place of peace. Much like the world we all live in today. It’s risky to live for others. To embrace life rather than hide takes courage. Space does not determine reality, people do. It takes people like Deana to help us decide. It was nature that shaped Deana into a peace maker and educator.

And it was also nurture. She chose to learn another language so she could build strong human connections. She taught others to speak Spanish so we could build a more welcoming community. She chose to make friends with members of her community that others often avoided at best and at worse pushed aside or away all too often. She nurtured herself and others to see and believe in what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called “the beloved community.”

I have had the honor of working with several leaders in Migrant Education and Early Child Development. Deana is unique in not only embracing and encouraging me in the use of Appreciative Inquiry. She modeled and taught it to others. She lived and taught others to understand the assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry: 1)In every human being and organization something works, 2) What we pay attention to becomes our reality, 3)Reality is created in the moment and there are always multiple realities, 4)Moving into the future is easier is you can build on parts of the past, 5)Discover and take what is good from the past, 6)Diversity is to be celebrated, 7)Language creates reality.

When someone sees me as I want to be and encourages that, I grow and become more. Deana did that for me. She gave me the opportunity to grow and add value to her team and community. I suspect most of you in this room would say the same. She loved you and believed in you, and invited you to live with greater compassion, hope and human dignity. Like the Jesus she knew and loved, Deana welcomed you and invited you to share in the community of faith. And like Jesus, Deana invites the human family to cooperate and build a more beloved community.

Cultural Brokers are individuals who are considered bridges, connectors, or mediators between groups or people with different cultural contexts with the purpose of reducing conflict or producing change.

Deana is a “Cultural Broker from Pawnee Rock”, a wife, a friend, a mentor, a teacher, an organizer, a comic, a mom, grandmother, and one wonderful and remarkable human being. We remember her best by loving like she loved and creating and nurturing others to do the same.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen
David Nelson, D.Min.
[email protected]
816.896.3835

December14, 2022, Zen and Happiness: Practical Insights and Meditations to Cultivate Joy in Everyday Life by Joshua R. Paszkiewicz
Life is filled with thrilling highs, crushing lows, and everything in between. But often, we spend too much time planning for and reacting to our experiences, rather than simply “being” in them. Zen tradition strips away all your preconceived notions of what is means “to live” and teaches you how to let go and be present so you can find bliss in the everyday. After reading a variety of books about Buddhist, I found this one to be especially refreshing and enlightening. It is a simple, yet profound, guidebook you can use in both your busy and your relaxed life. Joshua, a multireligious cleric and scholar who trained in Zen traditions in Japan, Korea and Vietnam, will be with us to share his journey and wisdom.
“Bodhidharma is widely considered to be the progenitor of the Zen tradition. His core teaching was that Zen is ‘a special transmission outside of the scriptures, that is not dependent on words or letters, but which directly points toward the true nature of mind, allowing one to become awakened.’”...”Zen is a method of holistically and meticulously examining your own life and overcoming the commonly garnered inaccurate, and often inadequate conceptions of how life works.” (2) It sounds like Zen is more about my life than about past lives and great minds and teachers. Is that accurate? Can you share steppingstones in your life that illustrate?
In the section of misconceptions of Zen, you respond to these myths: Zen is undefinable. Practicing Zen means becoming a Buddhist. Zen is a form of meditation. Zen is supposed to be difficult...Rather, the central and most universal discipline of Zen is the mutual tending to an ongoing mentored relationship between a student and a teacher.” (4-5) How do you and others find the teacher and discern she/he is the right teacher? Is having a teacher always essential?
“The Four Nobel Truths
1. Suffering exists in ways big and small
2. The Cause of Suffering – We become infatuated with impossibility because we perceive things
to be in ways others than they really are.
3. The End of Suffering – the Zen path is for people prepared to transcend the theorizing and
storytelling, to get to work on the things that can be known and that can be worked on.
4. The Eightfold Path – right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood,
right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.” (8-11). Looks easy. Is it?
“Zen does not require belief as it is commonly understood nor the religiosity and metaphysics that are found in its parent and competing Buddhist traditions. Zen retains no premodern notions of biology and cosmology found in Buddhist orthodoxy, for example...Zen has freely co-opted practices from other Buddhist schools and employed them toward the aims and objectives of the Zen tradition --- namely, the full awakening of its adherents, in this very lifetime, as liberated, aware, and fully human, happy beings. Zen, in its simplest form, require only that people show up and try. In fact, the most classical instruction for the basics of entering the Zen way is simple, and perhaps a bit crassly, the ‘sit down, shut up, and pay attention.” (13) I will share my story from North America Assisi. “Do you have any questions?”

“The discipline of wearing some form of habit relating to Zen can prove both easily doable and useful to new practitioners...wear your habit to call your mind to your mindful practice throughout the day. Each time you find your attention drawn to the beads/necklace/scarf/whatever, through its weight, through adjusting its position, or even when someone asks about it, take a moment to enjoy several slow, deep breaths ---or at least the spirit of them, as circumstances might demand.” (61) I wondered why I enjoy wearing beads, now I know. Thanks!
Zen practice is almost always about awareness. The same practice regard that can manifest this self- inventory as a Zen practice can transform your present experience from a life suspended to a life embodied.” (88) What does “life suspended to a life embodied” mean? How will I recognize that I have made the transformation?
“The word SAMADHI refers to a particular variety of concentrated meditative absorption wherein time and space – and perhaps even self – seem to fall away to the eternity that underpins every moment.” (112) Have your experienced this and are you willing to talk about it?
“The great Zen Master Kyong Ho once said, ‘Don’t hope for a life without problems. An easy life results in a judgmental and lazy mind.’ He then went on to invoke the advice of sages of the distant past, who always invited practitioners to ‘accept the anxieties and difficulties of this life.’ For this exercise, regard your meditation practice less as a place to zone out and more as a place to tune in. And ultimately, a place to accept your present reality and act accordingly, with wisdom and grace.” (114) Why practice Zen then, if it does not rescue me from my brokenness?

Vital Conversations May 2022

2022 Vital Conversations
1-2:30 p.m. Second Wednesday each month
A Program of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, CRES, And Mid-Continent Public Library - The Antioch Branch 6060 N. Chestnut Ave. Gladstone, MO 64119
Zoom: Meeting ID: 832 3534 6541 Passcode: 076621

May 11, 2022, Banning Books in libraries and schools. You can attend by coming to the library or on Zoom. Instead of one book, there will be a list of a variety of books that are currently on the list for removing from school libraries. Look over the list and read one or select any book that is being identified as suspicious and come to share your insight and opinion on this current issue. The following books have been selected and will be discussed:
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History & Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
All Boys Are Not Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson Animal Farm by George Orwell
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
Book banning is the most widespread form of censorship in the United States, with children’s literature being the primary target. Advocates for banning books fear that children will be swayed by its contents, which they regard as potentially dangerous. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove them from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.
According to a new American Library Association report, there were 330 “book challenges” in the fall of 2021, an uptick from the same periods in recent years. “Parents, activists, school board officials and lawmakers around the country are challenging books at a pace not seen in decades.” New York Times
Questions: What is this book about? Give a brief synopsis. Why do some want it banned? Articulate the argument. What is your opinion?
What is the role of librarians? Parents? Library Boards? School Districts? Newspapers? Television?
How do you choose which books to read and share with others? Where do individual rights end and group rights take over?
What are our responsibilities as parents and citizens? What can we do influence others?
Future Vital Conversations
June 8, 2022, Ukraine, and Russia. With several Ukrainians and Russians present we will have a conversation about their histories, the current war and why this is important to us. To prepare for this conversation you can read, watch the news, visit with your friends, and engage with others. Below are listed three books. One is a non-fiction by a journalist. One is a novel. One is a complete history.
Black Square: Adventures in Post-Soviet Ukraine by Sophie Pinkham.

Ukraine has rebuilt itself repeatedly in the last century, plagued by corruption, poverty, and substance abuse; ravaged by ethnic clashes and Russian aggression. Sophie Pinkham saw all this and more in the course of ten years working, traveling, and reporting the Maidan revolution of 2013-14, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and the current war against Russian invasion. Sophie has current articles in The New York Times.
Brisbane: A Novel by Eugene Vodolazkin. In this richly layered novel by the winner of Russia’s biggest literary prizes, a celebrated guitarist robbed of his talent by Parkinson’s disease seeks other paths to immortality. Expanding the literary universe spun in his earlies novels, Vodolazkin explores music and fame, belonging and purpose, time and eternity. At the stunning finale of Brisbane, all the carefully knit stitches unravel into a riddle: Whose story is it – the subject’s or the writer’s? Are art and love really no match for death? Is Brisbane, the city of our dreams, our only hope for the future?
The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine revised edition by Serhii Plokhy. A Ukraine is embroiled in an ongoing struggle with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence, this celebrated historian explains that today’s crisis is a case of history repeating itself: the Ukrainian conflict is only the latest in a log history of turmoil over Ukraine’s sovereignty. This revised edition includes ne material that brings this definitive history up to the present, from the election of Volodymyr Zelensky to the tole of Ukraine in Trump’s impeachment. As Ukraine once again find itself at the center of global attention, Plokhy brings its history to vivid life as he connects the nation’s past with its present and future.
July 13, 2022, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz Dante can swim, Ari can’t. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other -- and the power of their friendship – can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.

The Immigrant's New Camera by Maryfrances Wagner

2022 Vital Conversations 1-2:30 p.m. Second Wednesday each month A Program of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, CRES, And Mid-Continent Public Library - The Antioch Branch Zoom: Meeting ID: 832 3534 6541 Passcode: 076621

April 13, 2022, The Immigrants’ New Camera: A Family Collection by Maryfrances Wagner National Poetry Month is a time to explore how words can explore the world in beautiful ways. Maryfrances Wagner is the Poet Laureate of Missouri and will be with us for this Vital Conversation. She will not only share some of her poetry but also reflect with us on the value of poetry for our time. She is a retired writing teacher and has published nine collections of poetry. Wagner said she wants “to find ways to reach out to people who don’t usually read poetry or think they like it.” If you like poetry or not, you will enjoy this conversation with Maryfrances.

Quotes and Questions written by David Nelson
Releasing Conversation: “Poetry is a type of literature based on the interplay of words and rhythm. It often employs rhyme and meter (a set of rules governing the number and arrangement of syllables in each line). In poetry, words are strung together to form sounds, images, and ideas that might be too complex or abstract to describe directly.” LiteraryTerms.net
“Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Shelley
Share your name and speak a few words about your favorite poem.

1. “Glimmering with the physical things of the world, offering a stepladder to the possible, Wagner’s fifth collection takes us back to awe and wonder.” Jo McDougall. What does that mean to you? What would you add in defining poetry and teaching poetry?

2. Maryfrances, could you tell us a few ”steppingstones” in your life that has brought you to this honor. When did you first flirt with poetry? What events have been significant in your personal and professional journey that you wish to share with those of us on this Zoom gathering? Who are some of the poets you admire? How often do you read poetry? Do you write poetry every day? Etc.

3. “The Missouri Poet Laureate enriches Missourians’ lives throughout the state by fostering the reading and writing of poetry, through public appearances, readings, workshops, and digital and social media. “As Poet Laureate,” Ms. Wagner says, “I’d like to find ways to reach out to people who don’t usually read poetry or even think they like it.” (Missouri Arts Council Web site). Tell us about being Missouri’s Poet Laureate. What has been different during this period of your life? What has been the response from the public? How as Covid impacted your time as Poet Laureate?

4. “Specific poetic forms have been developed by many cultures, in more developed, closed or ‘received’ poetic form, the rhyming scheme, meter and other elements of a poem are based on set of rules. Common forms widely used across languages: Sonnet, Shi, Villanelle, Limerick, Tanka, Haiku, Khlong, Ode, Ghazai…Poetry is often thought of in terms of different genres: Narrative, Lyric, Epic, Satirical, Elegy, Verse, Dramatic, Speculative, Prose, Light, Slam. (Wikipedia). Poetry has played major roles in human history. Religions have used poetry in liturgy and ritual. Revolutions have been empowered, wars have been fought, unions have been made and destroyed, life and death has been honored, humor has been embodied; all this through poetry. What is it about poetry that has made it so central to the human story?

5. “Like most poets, I’ve wanted to touch the human spirit and move the reader. That’s what I want to happen to me as well when I read a poem. Not every poem is easily accessible, and not every poem will have the same impact on a person, but poems abound out there for all of us. I want to help find those poems for people.” IN KC. How do you “find those poems for people”? Are there types of poems that appeal to different types of people? Is there a way to discover poetry that will help me “touch the human spirit and move” me?

6. In your recent book, The Immigrants’ New Camera: A Family Collection, you introduce and reflect on a unique culture, a specific family, and several interesting places. I found myself not only learning more about you but also remembering more about myself. One example is “My Mother’s White Lies”. Talk about how living a specific life unites or divides you and others from the realities of others. Can poetry be a force in reuniting a divided community?

7. Poetry, like other art, is more about what is heard and seen than what is written or pictured. That is my opinion, anyway. The “art form method” of discussion helps us to listen to more than words. While we listen, would you read out loud your poem “Raising a Hand” (page 55)? After the reading, I will ask others “What words did you hear? What did you feel? What experiences were you reminded of from your own life?

8. Amanda Gorman in her poem “The Hill We Climb” at Joe Biden’s inauguration brought tears of hope to many in this nation and the world. The nation paused for a moment and for many we felt like a united and special people. Where else have you witnessed poetry serve to heal, motivate, empower, challenge, or inspire?

We are hoping that beginning in May we will meet both at the library and by Zoom. I have been thrilled to have participants from outside the greater Kansas City area who attend and do not want to lose them.

May 11, 2022, Banning Books in libraries and schools. Instead of one book, there will be a list of a variety of books that are currently on the list for removing from school libraries. Look over the list and read one or select any book that is being identified as suspicious and come to share your insight and opinion on this current issue. The following books will be available at the library (ask for Vital Conversations or David Nelson): To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Giver by Lois Lowry, Lord of the Flies by Willian Golding, Animal Farm by George Orwell, 1984 by George Orwell, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Several librarians will join our conversation.

June 8, 2022, Black Square: Adventures in Post-Soviet Ukraine by Sophie Pinkham.
Ukraine has rebuilt itself repeatedly in the last century, plagued by corruption, poverty, and substance abuse; ravaged by ethnic clashes and Russian aggression. Sophie Pinkham saw all this and more in the course of ten years working, traveling, and reporting the Maidan revolution of 2013-14, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and the current war against Russian invasion. Sophie has current articles in The New York Times.

July 13, 2022, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Dante can swim, Ari can’t. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other -- and the power of their friendship – can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.

Gunfight - Vital Conversations March 9, 2022

2022 Vital Conversations 1-2:30 p.m. Second Wednesday each month A Program of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, CRES, And Mid-Continent Public Library - The Antioch Branch Zoom: Meeting ID: 832 3534 6541 Passcode: 076621

March 9, 2022, Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America by Ryan Busse “Ryan Busse presents a fascinating, clear-eyed account of the gun industry’s slide into extremism. I was left with a sense of hope that there is a path forward; one where the majority of Americans, including the majority of gun owners, stand up to the gun lobby bullying and demand lasting change.” --Gabby Giffords “Gunfight reveals the truth about the roots of our national division, and many people will see themselves in Busse’s resistance to extremism.” Jon Tester, three-term Montana Senator

Releasing conversation: Share your name and list an organization you support.
Quotes and Questions
Selected by David Nelson

1. “I came to understand that for my dad and me, like many gun owners, guns like this were more than tools. They were symbols of our hopes and of our relationship to each other. They represented things that we wanted to be true. Unlike a hammer or a shovel, we had a deep emotional connection to these tools.” 24-25. Say a bit more about guns as symbols of hopes and of your relationship to each other. Why are guns central to this deep emotional connection?

2. “I brought to Kalispell (Montana) all of the work ethic my parents taught me…and my limited view of politics. I was busy chasing success and didn’t give politics much consideration other than to know I was a hardworking, red-blooded, gunrunning American. In other words, I thought of myself as Republican.” 36. Describe the journey of your career. Why were you so successful?

3. “During the whole debate, as I cut my teeth in this industry, manufacturers, dealers, and consumers went into a frenzy. All the uncertainty and attention, plus a strong fear and distrust of Bill and Hillary Clinton, meant that consumers rushed to buy any guns that might be banned, and gun sales exploded.” 63 Why were mass shootings good for the gun industry? Some of us think that such tragic events would result in stricter legislation against guns.

4. “I became a prominent player in the gun industry. No one could deny I played a key role in helping the NRA (National Rifle Association) build the foundation for a new brand of national politics that demanded almost religious devotion. There was only one unwritten but clearly understood line of scripture in this new political church: ‘100 percent loyalty and no one steps out of line. Period. The organization had learned to be unforgiving. 117 How was the NRA different from other member organizations? Can you illustrate what that means?

5. “The Blackfeet called this part of what is now Montana the Badger-Two Medicine, named for the nearby Badger and the Two Medicine River. They believed that the ‘Sky People’ the Sun, the Moon, and the Morning Star – looked over the people who were created here. On that day, with tears still in my eyes, I knew that in a very important way I too had been born in this place…I adopted the Badger-Two Medicine as my own sacred home.” 154-155 In your chapter “Rescued by the Sky People” you describe your move to Montana, “the Last Best Place” and your very important companion “Ruark”. In reading your book I almost felt I was starting a different book. Geography plays a major role in your life. Can you share why it is so important?

6. “After 9/11 and George W. Bush’s wars, the industry’s annual sales would shoot up to between thirteen million and sixteen mission units per year between 2013 and 2016. The Bush-era cultural shift meant that the components for this sales explosion were in place. Now all we needed for final detonation was a pinch of Sharia law conspiracy theory and a Black president with a Muslim-sounding name.” 187 Politics and gun sales seemed a strange mix. When did you realize how toxic that had become? When did you first feel like the “frog in the boiling water”?

7. “Of course, contrary to LaPierre’s (Head of NRA) promises the country did not crumble under Obama’s presidency, nor did gun sales suffer. Nobody took any guns away. I was not forced to give up hunting, and my job did not evaporate. Instead, I sat back and watched an industry capitalize on a long-simmering pot of racism…For more than a decade it had been slowly steaming but when a Black man finally rose to power, the NRA racism pot boiled over.” 208 How did racism get into the mix of politics and gun sales?

8. “And I’d do it while enduring thousands of people who took me to be something I was not anymore. I could not blame them, I suppose. Sameness, solidarity, unanimity, lockstep, freedom, patriotism, us versus them, stand and fight, God and guns, good verses evil. These were powerful verses in hymns that were written here, and they were catching on across the country…I’m just a ranch kid trying to make a living.” 219 How did you survive during the period you had intellectually separated from the mentality of the gun industry while remaining a major player in it?

9. “’I met a guy I think will be our next US senator,’ I told Sara that evening. ‘This guy Tester – he’s got something I can’t quite put my finger on.’ …Luckily for me, and for Tester, my Hail Mary promise of a victory came to pass.” 236-237. Politics is very hard. Tell us about your friend Senator Tester.

10. “I often talked through it all with Sara, and on the night of our twentieth wedding anniversary, the subject of my exit came up again…Sara locked the door and then turned to me. ‘We are not leaving this room until we decide on the plan,’ she said, tossing me a small notepad from our hotel room.” 300 Tell us about Sara and others who have been allies in your journey from farm boy in Kansas, gunrunner in the US, and now consultant to progressive organizations aiming to undo the country’s dangerous radicalization.

April 13, 2022, The Immigrants’ New Camera: A Family Collection by Maryfrances Wagner
National Poetry Month is a time to explore how words can explore the world is beautiful ways. Maryfrances Wagner is the Poet Laureate of Missouri and will be with us for this Vital Conversation. She will not only share some of her poetry but also reflect with us on the value of poetry for our time. She is a retired writing teacher and has published nine collections of poetry. Wagner said she wants “to find ways to reach out to people who don’t usually read poetry or think they like it.” If you like poetry or not, you will enjoy this conversation with Maryfrances.

May 11, 2022, Banning Books in libraries and schools. Instead of one book, there will be a list of a variety of books that are currently on the list for removing from school libraries. Look over the list and read one or several and come to share your insight and opinion on this current issue. Several librarians will join our conversation.

Morning Prayer - February 9, 2022 9 am on Zoom

Morning Prayer February 5, 2022, 9 am
The Martyrs of Japan
Zoom Meeting ID: 833 4666 6852
Passcode: 105732

1540s Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries introduce Christianity to Japan
1597 in Nagasaki, first martyrdoms by crucifixion of 26 Christians (February 5th)
1630 Christianity officially outlawed in Japan
1850 missionaries returning to Japan discover the “Hidden Christians”

Opening Litany
God of all people and the whole of creation, make us into who you have created us to be. Make us your hands, your feet, your eyes, your lips, your body in the world. Spirit of Peace, reconcile us, connect us to yourself, to each other. You are the source of our healing and hope, for if one is hurt, all of us are hurt. Clothe us, your body in the world, with your love, mercy and grace. Amen

God of Faithfulness, you bless those who are persecuted. Strengthen those who suffer for the sake of conscience. When they are accused, save them from speaking in hate; when they are rejected, save them from bitterness; when they are imprisoned, save them from despair. Give grace to respect their witness and to discern the truth, that our society may be cleansed and strengthened, for the sake of our merciful and righteous judge, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Here, O Lord, Your Servants Gather (ELW 530)
Here, O Lord, your servants gather, hand we link with hand;
Looking toward our Savior’s cross, joined in love we stand.
As we seek the realm of God, we unite to pray:
Jesus, savior, guide our steps, for you are the Way.

Many are the tongues we speak, scattered are the lands,
yet our hearts are one in God, one in love’s demands.
Even in darkness hope appears, calling age and youth:
Jesus, teacher, dwell with us, for you are the Truth.

Nature’s secrets open wide, changes never cease.
Where, oh where, can weary souls find the source of peace?
Unto all those sore distressed, torn by endless strife:
Jesus, healer, bring your balm, for you are the Life.

Grant, O God, an age renewed, filled with deathless love;
help us as we work and pray, send us from above
truth and courage, faith and pow’r, needed in our strife:
Jesus, master, be our Way, be our Truth, our Life.

(The tune recalls traditional court music,
and the text written by a Japanese Methodist minister.)
Reading
“To me death is purification Godward. The life after death I leave entirely to God. I do not trouble myself much about the question as to whether the soul is mortal or immortal. If only God lives I am content to die. If life is God’s gift, is not death, which is one of the variations of life, also the work of His hand? Death cannot be a victor over me. Through death I am a victor Godward. Nay, God is ever victorious over death. He tramples it under His feet.”
---Toyohiko Kagawa
Comments about Christianity in Japan
Silence for three minutes
Reflective Conversation

Prayer
With the whole people of God in all places on this planet, let us pray for the entire human family, especially those in need, and for all God’s creation. When one part of the body of Christ hurts, the whole-body hurts. As we listen to people who are harmed by racism, we call to you, open our hearts, O God. As we reflect on our daily interactions with people and communities of color, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.
For Afghan refugees arriving in the United States and for all persons struggling to find a secure home. we call to you, open our hearts, O God.
For all affected by flooding and landslides in Brazil; for the displaced, the grieving, and all providing assistance and support, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.
For the work of the United Nations Security Council and for all who work for peaceful relationships between nations, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.
For the safety and wellbeing of all Olympic athletes; for the host city, Beijing, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.
For peace and security among Historically Black Colleges and Universities, communities facing bomb threats this past week, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.
For equitable distribution and effective use of N95 masks and COVID-19 home tests, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.
For those who celebrate the Lunar New Year around the world, may peace and kindness expand, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.
During Black History month may we all open our minds and our hearts to better understand the truth about the past and recommit to our vision of a more beloved community today and tomorrow, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.
Sovereign God, your Son Jesus lived within the structures of society even as he spoke truth to those in power and challenged systems of oppression. Empower us to be courageous disciples and responsible citizens. Grant that our life in the public realm be grounded in love for our neighbors, care for the most vulnerable in our midst, and respect for the common life we share, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.
Holy and merciful God, as your people we recommit ourselves to loving one another as you have loved us. Prepare us for this time of listening and discovery. We pray in the name of the one who has made us one, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, we are bold to pray as Jesus taught us:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever.
Amen.
Blessing
Let us bless the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Almighty God, the Father, the + Son, and the Holy Spirit bless and preserve us.
Amen
This liturgy is adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship
Copyright 2006 ELCA. Published by Augsburg Fortress
Adapted by David E. Nelson D.Min.

Morning Prayer January 15th

Morning Prayer January 15, 2022, 9 am Martin Luther King Jr. Zoom Meeting ID: 833 4666 6852 Passcode: 105732

Opening Litany God of all people and the whole of creation, make us into who you have created us to be. Make us your hands, your feet, your eyes, your lips, your body in the world. Spirit of Peace, reconcile us, connect us to yourself, to each other. You are the source of our healing and hope, for if one is hurt, all of us are hurt. Clothe us, your body in the world, with your love, mercy and grace. Amen

Holy and righteous God, you created us in your image. Grant us grace to contend fearlessly against evil and to make no peace with oppression. Help us, like your servant Martin Luther King Jr., to work for justice among people and nations, to glory of your name, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen

Let Streams of Living Justice (ELW 710)
Let streams of living justice low down upon the earth;
give freedom’s light to captives, let all the poor have worth.
The hungry’s hands are pleading, the workers claim their rights,
the mourners long for laughter, the blinded seek for sight.
Make liberty a beacon, strike down the iron pow’r;
abolish ancient vengeance: proclaim your people’s hour.

For healing of the nations, for peace that will not end,
for love that makes us lovers, God grant us grace to mend.
Weave our varied gifts together; knit our lives as they are spun;
on your loom of time enroll us till our thread of life is run.
O great weaver of our fabric, bind church and world in one;
dye our texture with your radiance, light our colors with your sun.

Your city’s built to music; we are the stones you seek;
your harmony is language; we are the words you speak.
Our faith we find in service, our hope in others’ dreams,
our love in hand of neighbor; our home-land brightly gleams.
Inscribe our hearts with justice; your way—the path untried;
your truth—the heart of stranger; your life—the Crucified.

Reading
“The Mountaintop” presented by Archie Williams

Silence for three minutes

Reflective Conversation

Prayers
The sin of racism hurts communities of color, fractures human relationships, and denies God’s good creation. Lament is a way for us to recognize the harm caused by racism. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:35-39). God’s grace in Christ frees us for the difficult work of recognizing and lamenting racism. We are all part of one body in Christ, called to act with equity, fairness, and justice. God’s saving love creates grace-filled spaces within us and within our relationships. God’s saving love calls and leads us toward rooting out the racism that continues to infect the body.

Within the whole human family, people of color have experienced both interpersonal aggression and structural oppression instead of abundant life. We recognize and lament the harm racism has caused to African Descent communities; American Indian and Alaska Native communities; Indigenous Peoples within Canada; Arab and Middle Eastern communities; Asian and Pacific Islander communities; and Latinx communities. We cry out to you, hear our lament, O God.

We have assigned the notion of race to human beings created in God’s own divine image. We have judged God’s beautiful diversity by our flawed and artificial standards. We cry out to you, hear our lament, O God.

We have used language and images in ways that equate black and dark with dirt and sin, and that fail to welcome the treasures of darkness in God’s good creation. We cry out to you, hear our lament, O God.

We have accepted practices in our churches and in our society that privilege whiteness over diversity and equity. We have been complicit in how racism continues to exclude and harm people of color. We cry out to you, hear our lament, O God.

When one part of the body of Christ hurts, the whole body hurts. As we listen to people who are harmed by racism, we call to you, open our hearts, O God. As we reflect on our daily interactions with people and communities of color, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.

As we reconsider what we have been taught about race and racism, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.

As we contemplate what we have done and what we have left undone, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.

As we labor to create a loving and safe community for our siblings of color, we call to you, open our hearts, O God.

Holy and merciful God, as your people we recommit ourselves to loving one another as you have loved us. Prepare us for this time of listening and discovery. We pray in the name of the one who has made us one, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, we are bold to pray as Jesus taught us:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever.
Amen.

Blessing
Let us bless the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Almighty God, the Father, the + Son, and the Holy Spirit bless and preserve us.
Amen

This liturgy is adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship
Copyright 2006 ELCA. Published by Augsburg Fortress
All Creation Sings 2020
Adapted by David E. Nelson D.Min.

Vital Conversations January 2022

2022 Vital Conversations
A Program of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, CRES,
And Mid-Continent Public Library - The Antioch Branch
Zoom: Meeting ID: 863 3940 5520. Passcode: 009557

January 12, 2022, The Little White Boat: My Search for the Joy Beyond Time by Howard Martin
“While I have written these pages for an audience of two, I trust that, if they have fallen into your hands, they are also for you. As you read them, I ask only this – that you receive them in the spirit with which they are given, with kindness, compassion, and openness of heart. Sit beside me now in the little white boat. Let’s row together through the storms into the still waters. Beauty below us, Beauty above us. Beauty all around.” This book, written by a friend, did fall into my hands. It is a memoir that shares a life and connects me to literature from many ages. Howard will be with us to share his stories and his life.

Quotations and questions selected by David Nelson
“It’s the great mystery of human life
that old grief passes gradually into a quiet tender joy.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
Releasing conversation: Share your name and make a brief comment about the above quote.

1. “They were both born—like their older sister—with Hurler Syndrome. Their stories are so intertwined in my memory that I cannot adequately disentangle them.” P. 12. What is Hurler Syndrome and how is it treated? Why is this important in your life Howard?

2. “With her gentle whispers and kind caresses, Rene Martin nurtured a loving family into being and traveled a short while with it toward the sun…Because of her, I found it possible, ultimately, to believe in the existence of an eternal Beloved, whose presence is manifest in all of creation, always and everywhere, the loving center of gravity of all that exists…It was my first intuition of paradise.” P. 38. What is an “intuition of paradise” and how has it evolved throughout your life?

3. “There are beloved people who come into our lives as companions for a season, and then there are those who have been there from the beginning.” P. 97 Who have been some of your companions for a season?

4. “In a sense, my brother Bryn was—and remains—the other side of my very self…” p. 104-105. Please read out loud as we listen. Did any of you have such a companion in your life, sibling, friend, or other? “As I write this, my brother is ill, and I ponder the real possibility that he will leave this life before me. Yet I choose to believe that there will be a time beyond Time when we will laugh together, my brother and I – and indeed all of us – in an unimaginable symphony of Joy.” P. 106. Update us about your brother.

5. “It became my hope, in my later years as a professor and arts educator, to offer in the classroom moments where my students could feel the goodness and rightness – and safety – of that “somewhere” else. In that sense, I would come to think of my teaching as a means of nurturing spiritual life, an introduction to the care of the soul.” P. 108. How did you get away with that in public education? Can real life be explored without some discussion of the spiritual?

6. “To this day, Sairey Gamp (character in Dickens) lightens my spirit and makes me laugh…What does it matter that there is no such person as Sairey Gamp in the real world? She arises from somewhere in the human spirit. The genius of Charles Dicken found her somewhere. So much the better for me and, I think, for all of us…All I had to so was let a film or a book take me there.” P.111-112. How can we nurture intimacy with a character in a novel or film? Can any of you share other examples of fictional characters that have made a difference in your life?

7. “I was fast becoming aware that suffering and loss were not just themes in my own story, but were unavoidable strands in the tapestry of other lives as well, universal realities in the human condition that would require all my efforts to understand. I would need a story of some kind – a really good story – to help me get there.” P 121 Do you have a story “big enough” to encompass the complex quandaries of your life?

8. “As a child and as a fledging adult in my teens and early twenties, I more often than not felt overwhelmed, rather than gently nurtured, by religion. A great flood of religious dogma and practice overwhelmed the tiny channels of my interior life…Like a member of a secret society, I was initiated into this culture by repeating words…” born in sin,” or “justified by faith,” and “saved by the blook.” P 124-125. What is the role of religion in your life?

9. “Poems—and novels and plays—were about my own inner life, my own life of felt imagination. They were also, but extension, about the inner life of every person I knew and indeed every person on the planet.” P 139 “It seemed that whereas in religion there was a tendency to turn flesh into words, in the theatre there was an instinct to the opposite—to embody ideas in the multi-dimensional actualities of character and story.” P 139. Say more about the difference you have discovered between the church and the theater.

10. “We bear our sorrows bravely for the most part and even in the midst of them look for the return of joy. It may well be that the experience of joy returning after times of great sadness can—if we so choose—prepare our hearts for the coming of the Great Joy beyond time. Our sorrow and our joy are both ways in which we are, as Abraham Heschel so beautifully put it, ‘in travail with God’s dream.’” P 187. We all experience sorrow. Why do some seem to never choose the joy that can follow?

“What’s lost is nothing to what’s found
and all the death that ever was would scarcely full a cup.”
Frederick Buechner

February 9, 2022, Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin.
In one of the greatest American classics, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy’s discovery of the terms of his identity. Baldwin’s rendering of his protagonist’s spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way, Americans understand themselves. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin tells the story of the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem. Organically published in 1953, Baldwin said of his first novel, “Mountain is the book I had to write if I was over going to write anything else.”

March 9, 2022, Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America by Ryan Busse
“Ryan Busse presents a fascinating, clear-eyed account of the gun industry’s slide into extremism. I was left with a sense of hope that there is a path forward; one where the majority of Americans, including the majority of gun owners, stand up to the gun lobby bullying and demand lasting change.” --Gabby Giffords
“Gunfight reveals the truth about the roots of our national division, and many people will see themselves in Busse’s resistance to extremism.” Jon Tester, three-term Montana Senator

April 13, 2022, The Immigrants’ New Camera: A Family Collection by Maryfrances Wagner
National Poetry Month is a time to explore how words can explore the world is beautiful ways. Maryfrances Wagner is the Poet Laureate of Missouri and will be with us for this Vital Conversation. She will not only share some of her poetry but also reflect with us on the value of poetry for our time. She is a retired writing teacher and has published nine collections of poetry. Wagner said she wants “to find ways to reach out to people who don’t usually read poetry or think they like it.” If you like poetry or not, you will enjoy this conversation with Maryfrances.