Today (Monday) is the day after the 4th of July. Holidays are never meant to actually be celebrated on Saturday or Sunday, are they? A big part of the occasion is the day off. So that be today, Monday. But it's a mixed bag for things being open or closed.
I was putting down a large cold Pepsi at the Willie's picnic table when I saw someone try the rear entrance door at Ace Hardware. Closed.
I got a heads-up phone call from the meals on wheels kitchen because I had wrongly assumed they'd be closed today. So I raced down and got my much-appreciated noon meal. Seniors in need of the service should not suffer because of a holiday coming along.
Three or four years ago there was even an op-ed in the Strib maintaining that time off for Christmas was an inconvenience. The fellow who wrote that stated directly what many of us think during Yuletide. It would be nice at times to have our "routine." Our routine can be so comforting. I confess I'm on board with that thinking. Then again, I live alone with precious few contacts to enrich my life.
The holidays can seem bleak for people in that category. The late Glen Helberg and I talked about how holidays are depressing for unemployed people. I left my job at the Morris newspaper in the summer of 2006. I left under duress and felt I had no alternative. The manager told staff after I left that "things would be better" with me gone. A former co-worker tipped me off to that. I had a real nice relationship with several people there. The individual with whom I talked eventually left herself. She said the weekly "status meetings" were getting so stressful, it was starting to affect her weekends.
I knew precisely what she was experiencing. We were owned out of Fargo at that time. The company presented itself as so "hip" with modern corporate strategies. It seemed loose with money. It was night-and-day different from when the Morrisons were there. Maybe I'm just a rube but I would suggest that being loose with money, along with managing from a distance has a downside. Strings were pulled not just from Fargo but from Detroit Lakes.
The guy from Detroit Lakes came here for a meeting and said Morris needed to come up with ways to get people to come here, as in to visit here. Jim Morrison, who worked under the guy for a time - he and I referred to him as "Ol' Leadbottom" - shook his head and said Morris simply isn't like Detroit Lakes. Tourism is a mother's milk of Detroit Lakes. Morris? Well, we have our attributes, albeit subtle, but we're no Detroit Lakes when it comes to promoting tourism.
The July 4 weekend makes us think about our attributes or shortage thereof. Attendance at my church of First Lutheran was actually stable, a little better than the week before. But the long-term trend of our church has spelled challenge. We have gone from two Sunday services to one in the summer and finally to one all year-round, and some Sundays we have a lot of empty pews even with one service. It may not be a Morris thing but it's concerning.
Drop-offs in church attendance everywhere have been making the news. You've seen the headlines?
There is a "last bastion" for Christianity and no, it is not a good thing. What appears to be a final refuge has actually caused the problem to begin with. It has greased the skids for the decline. Most notably, young people are not continuing with the tradition of churchgoing.
So we count on the older folks in the short-term? That's not so guaranteed either. Sometimes when I notice certain prominent congregation members absent, I'll ask and I will often get this answer: "They're visiting grandchildren."
Isn't it something how "visiting grandchildren" trumps virtually everything? I would argue that people should attend church wherever they are. If you're in another town visiting those precious urchins, your grandchildren, attend the ELCA church there. If people are in Morris doing same, come to our church or to Faith Lutheran. But it doesn't seem to work that way.
Grandchildren are in the pantheon of precious human beings. You don't dare question that. They come ahead of God and Jesus I guess. A deceased former neighbor of ours told us that he was seriously admonished once by a fellow resident of a senior-oriented housing unit. Admonished for what? Talking about his grandchildren too much! Yes, it was serious.
Some of you might take note: the rest of the world does not share your obsession with your grandchildren! My former neighbor, RIP, had a grandchild who was interning under Michelle Obama! I'll confess: growing up next to that family gave me an inferiority complex. Such are the trials of life. Some kids grow up next door to bullies. Come to think of it, that happened to me too. It's all in God's plan.
So while grandchildren have total primacy in the lives of some people, we must consider the conservative evangelical Christians for whom political priorities have primacy. Such priorities have come to define the Christian faith for them. Reverence to Donald Trump. Well, that's how they see it. And so the waves of young people keep walking away from the church.
That's no bastion I want to be associated with.
Is a reversal possible? Never say never. Anyone who feels alienated in our Morris MN, please just come to First Lutheran any Sunday morning. You will be welcomed, and no one will care if you vote Democratic once in a while. You will see the face of Christ
Addendum: To repeat, are we supposed to show Independence Day reverie on July 4 or 5 this year? Reminds me of the parody movie on the "Friday the 13th" series of movies. It was called "Saturday the 14th."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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