Message from Pastor Mori
This week Pastor Mori is on vacation from Jan 07 to Jan 10, so instead of a message from Pastor Mori, Rev. Gary Hougens, retired pastor of RFUMC, has written a letter to you.
Greeting from the Hougens!
It's been a long time a strange year. One of my colleagues says it is dangerous to speak after a long silence because you have much to say. I think he is correct.
This year like most years since retirement I have been fortunate to spend time at Bark River Campground, a private campground in Wisconsin. I can socially distance with our two dogs, from house to car to camper, then to trail, then back home. So far so good.
I want to tell you about my neighbor at Bark River. I'll call him Sam. Like most of the campers, he is a front-line worker. Works for a "board-up service" he does. A couple of Springs ago when the north branch of the Fox River was in flood stage for over a month, he was busy boarding-up vacant properties. Whenever there's a big fire, he swings into action wielding sheets of plywood and power tools, working out of the back of his Chevy Silverado pickup truck.
I didn't see him for a while after the Jacob Blake shooting in Kenosha. There were lots of demonstrations-some peaceful, some not, with much property damage; I assume he was busy. Recently his service has converted to spraying disinfectant in office buildings to prevent Covid infections.
Maybe this is a pretty good definition for the Christian vocation; go where the damage is greatest and do salvage. Bandage the gaping wounds until society can figure out how to resolve underlying conditions. So the board up service in the front line of flood, fire and wind damage (climate change), and civil injustice and unrest (Black Lives Matter), and economic development in areas that should remain natural like the Congo (HIV, Ebola), and where nature has been brought uncomfortably close to civilization (Wuhan, SARS Cov2).
Here and there we see people who are a blessing for the work that they do. I'm thinking of several of you-one in particular who has been named an advisor on president-elect Biden's coronavirus task force. You many know whom I mean. Kind of like real Santa Clauses? (Who was a real person and did real good deeds, according to Kurt Russel and Goldie Hawn in " Christmas Chronicles 2")
I don't know if Sam is Christian. He isn't pious. But in my opinion, he also does Christian work. I don't know his politics. Rural Wisconsin is Trump country judging by all the roadside signs, and I assume Sam in that category. He probably would object to be depicted as a goodie-two-shoes. But there you have it.
At this time when the country is so divided. I want to look past the divisions, I've seen the goodness in you all-urban, rural, and in between. This year we need to remember that and value each other.
About us- we've been fine! Carlene is still residing over "Friends of the Batavia Library" when it is open. She is still swimming a mile 3 times a week. This year she decided to bite the bullet and have spinal fusion surgery (if they're still doing elective surgeries), on December 9, for a slipped vertebra. We continue to enjoy our grandson Tom's improved performances at BHS (via streaming), and visit with Dan and Kris (via Zoom), and church (Vimeo). Before the lockdown, I volunteer for the Warren campaign making phone calls and have enjoyed watching the primaries and general election. In February I did a review of calculus from the University of Illinois days and wasn't too surprised to learn that Isaac Newton had invented calculus during the first pandemic-bubonic plague-in 1665. Go figure.
Blessings
The Hougens.
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