Objects in the Mirror

Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. True enough. I seem to have been spending an inordinate amount of time lately reflecting about LCPC (La Crescenta Presbyterian Church) and CLW (Church of the Living Word) people and the memories I have of them. I didn’t spend this much time ruminating about things as I approached retirement from AT&T after 35 years and this makes me wonder what’s going on. Am I getting ready to make a change, a move? Is there going to be a push in another direction? Who can say? I try to keep my mind and spirit open to the next thing hoping and praying that God is leading the way.

Today I’ve been going through a lot of old MAZ (Mission Arizona) paperwork; old medical releases, expectations contracts, questionnaires, and my old notes and photos in preparation to hand them over to our new director, Kimberly Cox. So many incredible young people have been with me through MAZ that I feel more fortunate than I’ve any right to expect. There’s not one of them that came to mind that brought a frown although I did wince when I thought of Jacob Sinclair from last year and Matt Kelly from so many years ago. Those boys gave me a fright, especially Jacob going to the emergency hospital when I couldn’t be with him; some old ghosts arose and freaked me out. With Matt we knew it was a broken arm and had it set in a couple of hours so the anxieties associated with not knowing were not so severe. I’d go back with any of them.

          I couldn’t possibly name them all, handfuls of Harters, Chambers, and Gossetts; sets of Cox kids, Doedings, Whites, and Grays; a whole boxful of Fernandezes; a pair of Schwings and their mom, and not to mention my own nephews and in-laws. And the adults…every one of them a hero to me, each of them finding their youth ministry grove for the trip having brought skill sets that they found out about some time before or during the trip - some of them called to a lifetime of youth work, some for a year or so. And the current batch, Kim Cox returning as director as an alumni from Jr. High/High School, the roof wrecking and placing ladies from last year, Ashley and Rachel and the ultimate in cool heads, Amanda who calmly took care of Jacob… Our friends on the reservation; my dear friend Roland, Wallace, Eugene, Natalie, and the neighborhood kids. Oh, and the dogs, foremost among them is Buddy, nee Ne Ne. I’ve left dozens of names out and they keep popping up in pictures and each picture brings even more to mind. I cannot possibly do all of the MAZ people justice.

On the heels of my hymnal dedication research I stumbled upon the Bible dedication in the student center. It was a sobering moment for me that came just as Josh opened the lesson this past Sunday about the Sixth Commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Murder”. The Bibles were given “In Loving Memory of Christopher McCulloch a 13 year-old boy who slipped through our program and became involved with a rough crowd and paid the ultimate price for it on 7/22/2000. It’s hard for me to relate to – I know it would be nearly impossible for twelve and thirteen year-olds today to understand what happened nearly fifteen years ago.

          With the exception of the memories of Chris all those that have wondered through my thoughts have been pleasant recollections and were easy for me to give thanks for. When I look in the mirror, even the flashbacks to the CLW days some forty years ago are not really so far back. I have a bunch of those kids in my cover photo on Facebook right now, though it’s nearly time to change it. Those ‘kids’ have been incredibly good to us and have said some really nice things about Cindy and me from back then. God is good.

          I guess it is okay to look in the rearview mirror and remember things as long as we remember that they are closer than they appear and as long as we don’t stare for too long and forget to watch where we are going. Check the review mirror once in a while but keep your eyes on the road.

         

In His grip, jerry

LCPC Memories Evoked

          My review of the hymnal and room dedications at the La Crescenta Presbyterian Church has evoked memories that I’d like to share. First though, the data in no particular order of importance:

293 Hymnals were reviewed

60 different combinations of donors and dedications

58 Hymnals were not donated

43 Hymnals have lost their donation slips leaving a patch of yellowed glue

19 donors did not make a dedication in 76 hymnals

13 hymnals were provided from the General Memorial Fund

19 hymnals were provided by The Cathedral Choir

4 were dedicated to “Our Parents” with one of them as “Our Singing Parents”

1 was to “Our Mothers”

1 couple donated 27 hymnals spread over 4 dedications

Those are the raw numbers; now for some personal observations. Regarding the number of hymnals found, a total of 293 in the sanctuary, Koopman’s Hall, The Chapel, Choir Room, Bell Room, The John Estelle Room, and the Robert E. Rumer Youth Center; I don’t believe Presbyterians are capable of purchasing any type of item in any prime number like 293 except for possibly 2 and therefore I draw the conclusion that 300 were purchased and that the missing hymnals have found their way into the great hymnal heaven or folks’ home concert halls.

The dedication from Estelle Potter is as sweet as any: “In Appreciation for the Choir’s Dedication”, 4 hymnals are labeled thusly. I remember Estelle as a beautiful spirit who took great joy when our youth groups caroled at her house. Her helper would wheel her to the doorway and we sang. At the end of our singing she always gave us the best prayer and blessing.

Ted and Valerie Pfeifer’s donation evoked the memory of singing in the choir as a high school student along with my dad and how much fun that was. I think my friend Jim (wrong) as there as well and we sang for Art Baker at some point in time. It wasn’t until my second LCPC stint and well into adulthood that I got the message that I really can’t sing. It took a while after that but I’m worshipping just fine again for a human, thank you very much.

Broberg and Cathedral Choir

The dedication from Gene and June Broberg for their son Dennis has to be the most poignant for me. Dennis had been a childhood friend and while we were into different things while at CVHS, he into cars and me into basketball, we remained friends. Dennis and another friend, Jeff Barnes, were killed and Dennis’ high school sweetheart (they planned on getting married) was crippled in an accident by a drunk driver on La Tuna Canyon Road during our senior year. We still talk about it at reunions; I remember the shock and going from group to group in the quad trying to process our loss for many days afterwards.

The dedication from Gene and Madeline La Clair brought to mind my start at LCPC as a third grader and how Mr. La Clair taught us the stories about Jesus and made that introduction in lessons and the way he lived his life. He seemed so very old to us eight year olds; maybe that’s why when Cindy and I came back to LCPC the first thing I did was to teach third grade Sunday School which included my future son-in-law. I actually had him in mind when I took on third graders at VBS this past summer.

Two of our named rooms are for people dedicated to Youth Ministry and/or Christian Education. Having just returned from the Reverend Walt Estelle’s memorial service where we had a chance to catch up with John Estelle and Woody Garvin, my old youth leaders are on my heart, Woody being the last one I had as we did the College Workers and Bums group after my CVHS graduation. I remember them all as will our youth today remember theirs. We had Gary Baker who played The Mad Baker to my dad’s Batman in a snow camp skit, fully costumed and priceless. There was Dale Cry (not sure of the spelling here) for high school and Dr. Rumer my senior year, Tom and Judy Theriault. There were many volunteers including the Estelles, my parents, and a great many of our existing Cruiser group; I love them all.

Regarding the Lost donor slips; where have they gotten off to? It made me a little sad each time I found one gone and I gave a fist pump when I found one thoughtfully tucked away in the pages of the hymnal so that I could re-glue it to the opening cover. When I found two in row gone I got a little miffed. Maybe some of them are stowed away somewhere in a drawer of the church.

In general, so many of the donors could have books and rooms named for themselves now. They are the friends of my parents and some of them became my friends in the care and feeding of the church family. Most of them led lives worthy of a dedication but never expected one and would have been embarrassed to receive one. We should all lead such a life and we should each take the time to express our appreciation for the servants of the church, from the servers at PEAK to the musicians in our services, to the maintenance staff, to the childcare providers…you catch my drift.

In His grip, jerry

Lest We Forget

          Lest we forget, let’s remind ourselves of those who’ve gone before us, paved the way for us, and set the bar for us to measure ourselves by; first among them is Jesus followed closely by the martyrs. It’s probably no coincidence that I started writing this post and doing some of the research for it on the weekend we recognize Martin Luther King Jr., nor is it any coincidence that I’m completing it after having driven nearly 3000 miles to honor the late Reverend Walt Estelle in Spokane.

“No man’s life starts with his own birth, for every man walks along the path of those who came before. Every warrior’s life starts with Child of the Water who came down onto the earth in the beginning times…” A quote attributed to Chief Cochise found on a quilt titled “Cochise – Once They Were Like the Wind” by Patricia L. Heacox in Green Valley, AZ. I ran across this quilt at a show the day after I had written the bulk of my narrative for this post and felt like it belonged here.

          While I think that it is good to remember the big names in history and especially Jesus, the First Fruits of those that have gone on before us, I am thinking about those names that are closer to home. Think for a moment about your schools, work places, churches, and any number of public places. There are names for the buildings, halls, and gardens; names for walls, rooms, and even park benches. The names are for people and families that have made significant contributions of time and effort; or yes, even money. Remember them for what they meant to you and the generations before. How did their names become associated with the dedication marker? Think about your own homes and the homes of your families. There is Dad’s Chair, Mom’s Sewing Room, the backyard inspired by the wedding, and Jerry’s Office, though I prefer to think of it simply as ‘The Office’, the place where I am happily typing now and hope to write something with meaning for someone.

          I need to point out something here that is close to my heart since I seem to be rapidly approaching this particular status myself. Some of these people are with us now in our churches, or alive now but have been relegated to full-time care facilities. Remember them now and appreciate them right now. I go so far as to believe that we should proffer projects to accommodate them and make access to our church easier over those projects simply designed to make things look nice and be attractive to outsiders or even to be nice for ourselves. I think that there is nothing more attractive than a community that remembers and takes care of those who have entered the winter season of their lives where the ravages of our human brokenness make every move difficult and requires that every trip to the church be planned out for parking and access.

What inspired this trip down memory lane? Here is where my post gets more focused on La Crescenta Presbyterian Church. One Sunday some months ago I opened up the hymnal because I prefer it to the screen. In this hymnal I saw that it was dedicated by my best friend Jim’s parents and I snapped a photo and sent it to him.* The idea for this post has been simmering since then and now I’ve gone back and photographed the hymnals and cataloged the names and dedications that were made in 1980 and 1983. I’ve also nosed around the church grounds for the various dedications. Koopman’s Hall and the John Estelle Room are the most widely known but did you know that the Student Center is dedicated to Dr. Robert E. Rumer? He’s one of the four youth pastors that I had as a kid who are nestled in my heart.

I have not figured how to attach the file of my catalog but would love to share it if you want to look it over; my next post will contain my personal thoughts that occurred as I gathered the information for the catalog Here is a link to the photos that I took for you to peruse if you would like. These photos can also be viewed on my Facebook page under LCPC Dedications.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/19081435@N03/sets/72157650633597252/

          Take a walk down your own memory lane, honor those who’ve gone before you. Look around you and take note of the trailblazers who even now walk haltingly among us or are being wheeled in and out by another servant. These are the ones who have heard or are destined to hear the words, “Welcome, my good and faithful servant.”

In His grip, jerry

*My how time flies. A subsequent review of my photo of the McClelland dedication show that I took that picture and have been thinking about doing this post in August of 2013. Proof positive that I am a world class procrastinator.