Witness the "everyman," a common guy or "bloke" as the British would say. Does not seek special attention and certainly would not get any, at least as a matter of course. The great cartoonist of Donnelly, Del Holdgrafer, had a sense about such folks. He portrayed such people as fundamentally happy while also being conscious of their obscurity. Let's say Del shed light on the latter.
A cause for pitying? I don't think Del would argue that. He passed away some time ago in case you aren't familiar. I think he saw a blend of contentment and futility with such people. Maybe I should cite Thoreau again with "the majority of people lead lives of quiet desperation."
There was no doubt Delmar had a heart of gold. Still, he had an incisive mind that could, shall we say, explore the human condition on all sides. And, in ways occasionally that could make the subject of his cartoons unhappy or at least unsettled. So such was the case when Del portrayed "Willard," no last name given, who had just been set up with a catheter.
Well, Willard was a real-life person, pretty well-known too. Del showed Willard having the realization that not many people knew about his medical device or "cared" much either. The character was smiling in the drawing.
We discovered that the real-life person was not charmed by the presentation. I offered a defense for the artist, by pointing out what I thought was the message. People have their challenges and face their special hurdles. We accept these terms of life as we get older. We care about everyone while realizing that the human condition is accompanied by breakdowns. The "everyman" works to get by.
A friend of mine from my Morris High School Class of '73 recently died after experiencing a bump to the head and not seeking prompt medical attention, according to reliable sources. Your old high school peers are always reliable sources. So life goes on. We age and we realize that some of our peers are succumbing in various ways, perhaps forced to use a walker!
We make note of these things. The "everyman" will find that life goes on and no one will dwell a whole lot on such things. Through it all we feel unbridled affection. Does the "everyman" triumph in the end? With your spiritual priorities in order, I would say yes. May God bless humanity especially at this time of year.
So I attended the Advent service at my church last night (Wednesday). I notice a trend of people being reluctant to attend public events after dark. Darkness arrives early this time of year. In the old days, let's say the pre-pandemic days, my church would have a soup supper (or at least snacks) in the fellowship hall prior to mid-week services. The attendance for the service would be decent most of the time.
But last night, my goodness, just a trickle of people. I felt conspicuous just being there. So, maybe not so much an "everyman."
So much talk about people using YouTube broadcasts as a substitute for in-person. Is that what happened last night? People "tuning in" from home instead of "venturing out in the dark?" Is this the new norm that society will eventually embrace? For Sunday services too?
My church had two Sunday services for most of my time on this planet. Then we cut it to one but only for the summer. Morris is notorious for being vacated in the good ol' summertime. The oft-heard Morris refrain is "we're going to be gone." People go to "the lake" and then when cold arrives, they speak of "going to the Cities." "The Cities" is a Minnesota term - we have just one heavily-settled urban epicenter.
My church now has just one Sunday service the year-around.
Whither church life in the new age of "connecting" via YouTube or other such manners? People take in school activities the same way. But I don't think the in-person attendance for sports is going to be threatened. A friend of mine argues that we need all our outstate Minnesota schools just so we can follow all the sports. Heaven help us to endure the long winter without this pastime.
Music concerts? I'm a little more worried about that. Word is, our small town schools are getting pressed for finding band and choir directors. The same as our churches getting pressed for finding ministers.
My church of the ELCA has the "stigma" of leaning to the political left. I personally wouldn't characterize it that way. But the conventional wisdom among the preponderance of people who call themselves Christian here in outstate Minnesota, is that the ELCA is liberal. I deduce that ELCA churches have an uphill challenge finding full-time pastors.
We are still in the age of Donald Trump. How I have prayed for our U.S. society to just get over it. Heaven help us all if we do not. The association of Trump-ism with evangelical Christianity is a tremendous curse, spilling over to taint the entire faith.
But I attended my Advent service last night, am proud of it. I hope that as a non-Trump-supporting Christian I can still be accepted as a believer. And, more importantly, that I can still pass for the "everyman."
I remember when cartoonist Holdgrafer poked a little fun at our local medical practice. Dr. Busian took offense. I personally overheard him. Talk about a guy who needed to "chill out."
Why do we have two medical offices in Morris? Is it because of doctor ego issues?
Addendum: Much as we value our bond with high school classmates, I sometimes fear that it's too much like co-dependency. Will write more about this in future.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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