My old journal. Notice the price in the bottom right: 89¢.

I have been transcribing an old journal from 1976. It is amazing to see: a) how far I’ve come in my faith walk in the nearly four decades since; and b) how I still wrestle with some of the same issues I was dealing with at the beginning; and c) how God has not changed over the decades, and that the One I was first discovering then still holds my future and my hope.

The occasion of the journal review and transcription was my daughter’s recent return from a post-college “grand tour” of Europe. She asked if I had a journal from my college trip, and if so could she read it. I had to find it, dig it out, and read it myself, which was both a pleasant and a painful experience. It was also a reminder that my handwriting is much more like a private code than it is a medium for communication. So I determined that I would attempt to decipher and digitize my descriptions of the trip, so I could share them with her without confusion or eyestrain.

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For some reason, I’m particularly struck this year by the contrast between the “holiday” being celebrated around me, and the “holy day” of Christmas which lies somewhere behind—WAY behind—all the hype and hoopla. It’s a b-i-g g-a-p, and it’s a bit overwhelming and discouraging at times.

The Shepherds and the Angel, by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1879)

Perhaps it was reading about the first century shepherd-priests who would have recognized in the angel’s announcement that the baby born in Bethlehem, who was “wrapped in swaddling cloths” (just as were their newborn lambs—those intended for temple sacrifice were likewise wrapped to protect them from injury and blemish). He was destined for eternity-altering events, as evidenced even by His manner of birth (details in our ministry Christmas letter). This is real stuff and it happened in history. AMAZING! It has nothing, however, to do with shopping and extended hours and traffic congestion and lights and tinsel.

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“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

Rick and Neil at MSP… What a couple of old codgers!

Well, actually, it was in this galaxy; and it was in about 1975, so it was not really that long ago.

After high school, I worked for a few years before attending college. One of my old friends from school (Neil) happened to be in town one day in the summer of 1975, home from university. He happened to look me up, and happened to find me at home. When he unexpectedly knocked on my door, he found that I was a miserable mess, having recently experienced some severe interpersonal relationship distress.

The rest, as they say, is history. Continue reading →