Plunging into darkness. This is the time of year for the Solstice to arrive. We are a mere six days from that. It's the shortest day of the year or the longest night. We hear about people having "seasonal affective disorder." In long-ago times people feared the world might be coming to an end.
Sometimes I wonder if the end is near now, what with Donald Trump still on the cusp of seizing power. You laugh. Or, you are turned off and will choose to stop reading this post. Two common reactions. The real crisis that could well be looming right in front of us is not dawning on people. People go through their routine as if life is normal, even as we may be very close to having an autocracy take over in America. A dictatorship. A Fascist government.
And it does not seem to get many of you rattled.
Rudy Giuliani is disintegrating right before our eyes. Do you follow the news? He's a combination of pathetic weaknesses now. He would be a joke to consider as an attorney for any of our local government entities in Stevens County. He has a serious alcohol problem. He is delusional. He was lawyer to the president of the United States.
Again you might just laugh at me. Probably be annoyed. And you will not engage with me in any serious discussion. Truman Carlson was like this toward the end of his life. I was disappointed. He was in the Trump camp and would not listen to the cautionary arguments. He'd just smile. A dismissive smile. I have gotten so accustomed to Trump people behaving like this. They populate our local "conservative" churches.
Our ELCA churches are somewhat of a counterweight to the Trump-supporting ones. Only somewhat.
It's an accepted fact that the ELCA has been through steady decline which has every indication of continuing. We have Faith Lutheran on the west side of town, "across the tracks," which at present happens to be doing very well. That's according to the talk out and about. Also, from firsthand observation as I realized on the night before Thanksgiving. What an eye-opener.
First Lutheran members were invited over to Faith on Thanksgiving Eve. At present we are invited to the Advent sessions on Wednesdays which are during the day. First Lutheran had no Thanksgiving service, nor are we doing anything for Advent. And that is bad.
When last we attempted a Thanksgiving service, it was barely token in quality. We'd attend really to just have something to do, to go through the motions. And it has been ditto with our attempts to observe Advent. Going through the motions, but at our "rival" Faith Lutheran on Thanksgiving Eve, my what a surprise. Because, there was nothing "token" about the service. Amazing: a full sanctuary, a full adult chorus, a full children's chorus and a nice overall program that was planned, planned obviously by someone who really gave a rip.
So it still can be done. Nevertheless, both First and Faith are having to overcome the handicap of being ELCA. Federated Church over by the public school is in a similar position, attracting basically the same kind of people. Not political zealots from the political right, not flag-wavers for Trump.
Federated Church has the curious status of being 50/50 with two denominations. At least this is my understanding, with one of those two being Methodist. And if you think the ELCA of the Lutheran faith has problems now, hoo boy look at the Methodists. The catalyst for ALL the problems, going back to several years ago, was gay rights and whether gays can be considered as ministers.
It's enough to make you want to break away from organized religion. Which in fact, many people are availing themselves of. Me, I'll hang in there with First Lutheran for as long as the church continues to exist, and I'm not all that sure about the long-term future.
During the Todd Mattson years we were seen as having the momentum relative to Faith Lutheran. I heard about Faith being torn by conflict, so bad some members left. The Morris barber told me "there's two women fighting over control of the church." These things happen with churches.
Mattson was a "hip" minister at First who appealed to the parents of adolescents. I would suggest, almost to a fault. The seniors in the congregation need some massaging and attention because generally speaking they contribute the money. That's thanks largely to Social Security, a program for which we can thank the Democratic Party. See how many favors Trump will do for you.
But again, I can't discuss these matters with the legions of Trump supporters. Their eyes just glaze over. They smile. And at the end, no matter what points I have tried to make, they just say "so what?" OK so it's a cult. I'm just trying to warn y'all about it.
Someday you'll thank me? First we have to make sure "someday" even comes. You're laughing at me now.
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| Faith Lutheran, Morris |
"Dell" is to be distinguished from "Delmont," the latter being the first name of our music store owner. You should visit Sarlettes Music just to observe his photo gallery in there, all focused on music of course. Ask him to point out the photo at UMM's Edson Auditorium from 1962, of a massed music group: instrumentalists and chorus. Included are the last students of the old WCSA in Morris. My late father Ralph was director. Dad was the only music faculty at UMM in the first year.
I am associated with two institutions that are treading rough water: First Lutheran Church and UMM. Trump "got rid of the foreign students" and these were the cash cow for UMM.
Also treading rough water: the newspaper business where I also have a background. Treading rough water largely because of what the U.S. Postal Service is doing to it. Prioritizing Amazon deliveries. And why is that? It must be because Amazon is paying for it, knaves. So newspapers can pony up more? Fat chance of that happening. Republicans do not believe in government services, are anathema to it. Please be backgrounded.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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