October 13, 2018
David E. Nelson – Alumni Award
When I got the call about this award my first thought was “of course, they have made a mistake.” I know about my four years at Bethany. I have lived my 50 plus years since. This must be a mistake. Then I thought about it and decided to go with the flow and make plans to be here, in case you change your mind.
In the late 1930s Bethany College President Emory Lindquist drove to Canton, Kansas to visit and attempt to recruit a young woman who had a state-wide reputation for speech and debate. In order to make it possible he agreed to hire her as his personal secretary at the college. That young woman was Barbara Lacquement. She did not have a date for the Ottawa football game and there was a train to and from the game. Eugene Nelson, a leader on the debate squad, made a generous offer to invite her as his date. On the train, on the way back to Lindsborg, she fell asleep on his shoulder. Both my Mom and Dad like to say, “She continued in that position for the rest of her life.”
Thanks Mom and Dad for telling me stories of Bethany College. Dad used to tell me, “Bethany is named after the town in the Bible ‘where Jesus liked to hang out with his friends.’”
As a sophomore at Bethany I was part of a Blue Key assembly that reintroduced “The Terrible Swede” as the mascot. L. Dale Lund, the president at the time, called me into his office the next day and told me that was a mistake. It would be bad for the school to raise image of “terrible” Swede. That was not my only mistake at Bethany. I remained the “Terrible Swede” mascot for my entire time at Bethany. Several years ago, a new statue was added on campus of The Terrible Swede. Today a new outfit was used. A bit different from the buffalo skin, huaraches sandals and shabby shorts. While I was a senior, Dr. Lund visited from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He made an appointment with me and said he strongly felt “David, you belong at seminary.”
Thanks Dr. Lund for reminding me that I make mistakes, but I am not a mistake.
From the first day on campus to graduation day I dated and began to define my life in relationship with Ann Sandberg. She knows me better than anyone and knows better than anyone that I make mistakes. She also chooses to believe in me and forgives me and reminds me I am not a mistake. Thanks Ann for being the most precious partner anyone could ever have. Thanks for our partnership in home-making and parenting to three wonderful children. One of them is memorialized in the Molly Amanda Nelson Pre-School Library just down the hall in this building, and two that have also become alumni of Bethany. Thanks Lars, Lucia and Molly for your reminders that loving someone is never a mistake, even when it hurts.
During the 50 plus years since I graduated from Bethany College I have been granted amazing opportunities to learn, serve, mentor, speak, coach, provide spiritual direction, and befriend many. I have had the honor of serving three wonderful congregations of the LCA and the ELCA. Along with my sisters and brothers of various world religions I was privileged to help establish the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council and serve as convener in the early years. I worked with people in Head Start, Migrant Education, and Health and Human Services, in Prehospital Care and 911 Communication Centers. I partnered with men in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, who were transiting their lives. Thanks for all those wonderful people. Each one has been a gift to me.
One of the strongest guiding values was what I learned at Bethany College. Thanks Bethany College and the Bethany Family, I accept this incredible honor, whether it is a mistake or not. I make mistakes, but I am not a mistake. James Joyce said it years ago and I embrace it today, “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”