Dancing Devils and the Body of Christ

On December 6, 2012, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) granted Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity status to Venezuela's “Diabolos Danzantes” (Dancing Devils), With this decision, the Dancing Devils take their place alongside such cultural manifestations as Spain’s flamenco dance, Turkey’s Mevlevi Sema ceremony, and, Mexico’s mariachi music.

For people who are not familiar with the custom, dancers wearing elaborate paper-maché devil masks accompany the traditional Corpus Christi day procession to the sound of heavy drumbeats. The dance stops in front of the doors of the local Roman Catholic church, where the dancers kneel to receive a blessing from the priest. This is supposed to symbolize the defeat of the evil spirits by the presence of Christ's body and blood. The Dancing Devils ritual is practiced in San Francisco de Yare and about 14 other towns and villages in the central states of Miranda, Guarico, Carabobo, Cojedes, Vargas and Aragua.

This is a prime example of the “folk Catholicism” found throughout Venezuela, practices not initiated by and usually not actively promoted by the Catholic hierarchy, but which have come to be at least tolerated by the Church as part of popular piety. The Dancing Devils are rooted in indigenous Latin American shamanism and African religious beliefs brought over by slaves of the Spanish. At first the Catholic Church tried to suppress the Dancing Devils rituals, but later incorporated them into the observance of the feast of Corpus Christi.

Feast of Corpus Christi Procession, Piazza di San Marco (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Corpus Christi” is Latin for “Body of Christ.” The feast of Corpus Christi was first celebrated in 1246 in the Diocese of Liége in what is now Belgium. In 1265, by decree of Pope Urban IV, it became a feast day throughout western European Christendom. It is celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, or often nowadays, on the following Sunday. Celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi involves a procession to the church with a wafer of communion bread displayed in a special vessel called a monstrance, usually of a sunburst design.

 The rationale behind the feast of Corpus Christi is this: According to the liturgical calendar of the ancient church, Maundy Thursday was the day to celebrate the institution of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper by Christ. However, this aspect of Maundy Thursday often was overshadowed by the great drama of Holy Week (His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, trial before the Sanhedrin, accusation before Pontius Pilate, examinationn by King Herod, torture and crucifixion, and resurrection on Easter Sunday). The feast of Corpus Christi was intended to reaffirm the importance of the sacrament and the real presence of Christ' s body and blood. The feast of Corpus Christi became quite an important event in the late Middle Ages and there are many traditions associated with it in many countries.

A stained glass window, Confessio Augustana, a symbol of the faith of the Church Catholic epitomized in the Augsburg Confession. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the presentation of the Augsburg Confession to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, the northern European princes who had signed the confession refused the Emperor's command to join in a Corpus Christi procession. The observance was banned in Lutheran territories, until mandated by imperial authorities under the infamous Leipzig Interim of 1548. This decree was overturned by the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, but the feast of Corpus Christi continued to be marked on some Lutheran church calendars until 1600. In more recent times, there has been a revival of interest in the feast of Corpus Christi among more “high church” Lutherans.

Lutherans, along with many Anglicans, reject the idea that the bread and wine are only symbols of the body and blood of Christ. However, Roman Catholics, along with the Greek Orthodox churches and some Anglicans, believe in transubstantiation. This means that the bread and wine are completely and permanently transformed into the body and blood of Christ when the priest speaks the words of consecration. The bread and wine actually vanish and what's left on the altar is the body and blood of Christ, even though it retains all the outward aspects (taste, smell, texture) of bread and wine. You might put the elements of the sacrament under an electron microscope where they would appear to have the molecular structure of bread and wine, but they really would be the body and blood of Christ.

The Lutheran view often is incorrectly described as “consubstantiation”, that is, the body and blood are somehow fused to, or merged with the bread and wine. The writings of some Lutherans of a more “high church” bent might suggest this, but mainstream Lutherans believe that the body and the blood, and the bread and the wine, are all present at the same time, without the body and blood ever ceasing to be completely the body and the blood, or the bread and the wine ceasing to be completely bread and wine. There is a lot more to the different doctrines of the sacrament, but suffice it to say that from a Lutheran perspective, adoration (worship) of the visible elements (bread and wine) is wrong. The feast of Corpus Christi is all about the adoration of the visible elements. A few Lutherans think that you can have something like a Corpus Christi procession without tempting people to worship the communion bread, but strictly confessional Lutherans do not. And I have not even touched on the wisdom incorporating into this ceremony music and dance so firmly associated with shamanism.

 The UNESCO decision is ironic in light of the fact that is something of a “Ban Halloween” movement here in Venezuela. The argument is that Halloween is an “imported” North American holiday with pagan origins in the ancient Irish harvest festival of Samhain. The first point is fairly accurate, most of the customs that we associate with Halloween gained currency in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Whether that means anything given the European and African background of the “authentically Venezuelan” Dancing Devils is another question. The second claim is a misconception that has become very widespread. In fact, the Christian observance of All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day (including the dates) developed far outside any Irish sphere of influence, and became universally practiced throughout eastern and western Christendom even before St. Patrick set foot in Ireland.

This illustrates that while as Christians we should be well-informed and constantly pray for discernment when evaluating whatever human traditions that we encounter. When I was preparing to leave the United States on my first mission trip, we were told that we must be able to distinguish between what is good and bad (with the Holy Scriptures as our rule) and what is simply different from what we are accustomed to. This is not always easy, especially because, as St. Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 8, certain things may not be forbidden to the Christian by God's express command, nevertheless within certain cultural contexts be so strongly associated with false beliefs and practices that is best for us to avoid them, lest we send the wrong message to others.

Like Venezuelans today, the early Christians of Corinth were surrounded by a highly syncretistic society. “Syncretism” means extractingcustoms, phrases and symbols from fundamentally irreconciliable belief-systems and claiming that you have reconstituted them into a harmonious whole. Not only is syncretism intellectually dishonest, but the Bible roundly condemns it, starting with the First Commandment (“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me”). The point of most of the ceremonial laws set forth in the books of Moses was to thoroughly distinguish the worship of the God of Israel from that of other gods.

The principle is affirmed many times throughout the Old Testament.  “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.” 1 Kings 18:21.

By New Testament times, the Jews had, within their own cultural enclaves, largely abandoned gross idolatry. But the “Hellenized” Jews (who had been more or less assimilated into Greco-Roman society) and the gentiles from whom would grow the early Christian church, had to deal with a society awash in syncretism. They constantly were under pressure to conform to such a society's expectations. The Greeks and the Romans considered themselves quite broad-minded when it came to religion. They were eager to hedge their bets, cover all the bases. No sect or cult should be slighted, in case those devotees might actually have the ear of a powerful god or goddess.

St. Paul called attention to this when he visited Athens: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you...” (Acts 17:22-23).

The city of Corinth, as St. Paul knew it, was considered “the Empire in miniature.” It was a thriving, multi-cultural center of trade, where every nationality under the power of Rome was represented. Corinth also was filled with pagan temples of every description.

One practice common to nearly all the pagan cults was animal sacrifice. However, when the flesh of these creatures was not consumed as a burnt offering, it remained fit for human consumptions. Usually the priest and priestesses of the temple would be given the choice of the finests cuts of meat. But there still would be a lot of meat left over, and much of it would be consumed as part of the religious celebrations in the dining halls that were attached to most of the temples. Still there would be meat unconsumed, so there usually was a meat market or butcher's shop located in the vicinity of every pagan shrine. Moreover, when not in use for specifically religious purposes, the dining halls would be rented out for public or private parties. The main course at these banquets, of course, would be the meat that had been sacrificed on pagan altars.

 In other words, as a matter of everyday life in Corinth, it was difficult for Chritians to avoid eating meat that had been sacrificed to pagan gods. This was just one example of how pervasive paganism was in the culture in which they found themselves, indeed, the culture in which most of them had been raised. One the hand, the Christians wanted to be free of the spiritual bondage of paganism, yet they also believed they had a mission to proclaim the Gospel to their unbelieving neighbors. So what were they to do?

Some Corinthian Christians thought that, since they no lonber believed in the old gods, not only was eating meat purchased from a public market not a problem, attending a feast at the pagan temple wasn't, either. Even if a public banquest were to begin with the invocation of a god or goddess, but since the pagan deities didn't exist, so what? Paul's answer to these people is while, in an objective sense, pagans gods do not exist and are therefore powerless over the Christian, the invocation and worship of these gods does mean something to those nvolved. They are in spiritual bondage, for they have substituted the worship of created things for the worship of the true God. Those who engage in idolatry (worhip of false gods) show that they are enslaved to sin. Enslavement to sin means enslavement to Satan and his angels; therefore, pagan sacrifices are offerings to spirits in rebellion against God, that is to say, demons (1 Corinthians 10:20).

Verse 6 of 1 Corinthians 8 is most likely an early Christian creed or confession that was recited as part of Christiann worship:

There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for Whom we exist.
There is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things for for Whom we exist.

One cannot publicly confess this truth and yet even silently acknowledge the invocation of a pagan god, for to do so is to deny the liberty that we have gained through baptism into Christ. In chapter 10, Paul ties the issue of meat sacrificed to idols to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper by way of emphasizing that full communion in the life of the church is not open to those who participate in syncretistis worship: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread....You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-21)

But beyond an absolute prohibition agains participation in pagan religious ceremonies, the Christian must connsider the context of a particular situation and whether a particular action clearly confesses faith in Christ alone, or whether it will mislead others into thinking faith in Christ is only one of number of equally valid “spiritual paths.” Eating meat is not wrong in itself, regardless of whether the meat originated in a pagan temple, but Paul says it would be better never to eat meat than to tempt “the weaker brother” into a relapse into paganism.

Finally, the Lutheran Reformers had ths to say in the Formula of Concord, published in 1577, in response to the Leipzig Interim and other attempts to force observance of the feast of Corpus Christi and other rites: “We believe, teach, and confess that in time of persecution, when a clear-cut confession of faith is demanded of us, we dare not yield to the enemies in such indifferent things,... In such a case it is no longer a question of indifferent things, but a matter which has to do with the truth of the Gospel, Christian liberty, and the sanctioning of public idolatry, as well as preventing offense to the weak in faith. In all these things we have no concessions to make, but we should witness an unequivocal confession and suffer in consequence what God sends us and what he lets the enemies inflict on us.” (Epitome of the Formula of Concord, Article X. Church Usages, paragraph 6.

God of grace and God of glory, grant us wisdom and courage for the living of these days. Amen.

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How some children see Him

Some children see Him lily white, the baby Jesus born this night.
Some children see Him lily white, with tresses soft and fair.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown, The Lord of heav'n to earth come down. Some children see Him bronzed and brown, with dark and heavy hair.
 by Wihla Hutson and Alfred S. Burt, 1951

Nobody now living really knows what Jesus looked like. The closest thing we have to a physical description in the Bible is the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 53:2, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.” Which generally is interpreted to mean that the Messiah would have no distinguishing physical features and be an ordinary-looking man of His time, and norhing in the New Testament contradicts this.

Nevertheless, we have a picture of Jesus on one wall of our preschool. It is a framed copy of a poster that someone found, and is clearly an imitation of Warner Sallman` s “Head of Christ.” Even if you have never heard of Warner Sallman (1892-1968), rest assured you have seen this picture somewhere. More than a billion copies of the painting have been reproduced and distributed around the world. Newsweek magazine reported on July 9, 2007.

Warner Sallman was born in Chicago to parents of Swedish/Finnish immigrant background. Inspired by the Christian art of Gustave Dore, Sallman was trained as a commercial artist at the Chicago Art Institute. Sallman worked as a freelance illustrator, producing religious imagery for a variety of publications.

The Head of Christ painting by Warner Sallman, 1941. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In 1924 Sallman made a charcoal sketch called "The Son of Man," which appeared on the cover of the Covenant Companion magazine, and in 1940 painted a color version in oil. A deal was made to market inexpensive lithographed copies in various sizes. During World War II, the Salvation Army and the YMCA handed out pocket-sized versions of the picture to American soldiers leaving for Europe and Asia.

Sallman`s artistic technique was well-suited to mass reproduction. He claimed to have used no model, yet the painting skillfully mimics the portrait lighting e ffects of a modern photographic studio. This produced a style that was to an extent, casual and accessible to many people. At the same time, it was a reverent and dignified portrayal of what Jesus might have looked like.

Well, what He might have looked like had He been a dark-haired Swede. Some have criticized the work for this reason, yet here I am musing over how Sallman s portrayal of Christ certainly does not look Latin American and yet it is instantly recognized as “Jesus” in Venezuela.

Or, perhaps I should say the picture does not fit my preconceived idea of what a Latin American looks like. But even as the reality of Jesus Christ is larger than Warner Sallman`s personal vision, the reality of Latin America is larger than what I was brought up to think as well. Once when I was a boy, my family visited Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, but Ciudad Juarez is not all there is to Mexico. Years later I was surprised to hear a young man from Mexico City declare how much he enjoyed fish prepared in “the Norwegian style.” He was, of course, talking about lutefisk, a dish that was considered a delicacy by my ancestor, but for which I have never acquired a taste.

Furthermore, Venezuela is not Mexico. Unlike Mexicans, for example, Venezuelans generally do not like spicy food. Here, “salsa picante” means something that tastes like pesto, and “salsa roja” often means Heinz 57 ketchup (which may be served over tuna). Luz Maria, tells me Mexican movies and music are more popular in Venezuela than Mexican food.

Perhaps Sallman`s “Head of Christ” does not look exotic to the 11,500 Venezuelans of German ancestry. Or to the 10,000 Ukrainian Venezuelans, the 8,900 Polish Venezuelans, the 5,000 Russian Venezuelans, or the 1,700 Romanian Venezuelans. I obtained these figures from the Joshua Project, an organization which tracks ethnic groups around the world, and keeps tabs on which have the most and which have the fewest professed Christians.

There is a much greater representation of southern European and Mediterranean ethnic groups: 384,000 Venezuelans of Italian ancestry: 269,000 Portuguese; and 89,000 Spaniards. In contrast, Venezuela has a rather low proportion of full-blooded indigenous peoples compared to other Latin American countries. The largest tribes are the Warao (39,000), whose ancestral homeland is the Orinoco River delta in eastern Venezuela, and the Wayuu (230,000), who are concentrated on the shores of Lake Maracaibo on the far western edge of Venezuela.

Venezuela has had close ties to the Middle East for many years because of its involvement in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). There are 136,000 Venezuelans of Arab descent, both Muslim and Christian, 30,000 Turkish Venezuelans and 12,000 Venezuelan Jews. In fact, in Caracas the main synagogue, central mosque and San Charbel Maronite Church lie in close proximity to each other. The Maronites are an ancient Christian sect that originated in Lebanon and Syria.

Venezuelans categorize each other as “white”, “brown” or “black” (a color scheme that excludes Venezuela`s 30,000 ethnic Chinese). This classification is rather subjective, depending on how light-skinned you think a person has to be in order to be “white”, or how dark they have to be in order to be “black.” However, it would be fair to say the majority (perhaps 75 to 80 percent) of Venezuela's 29.891,000 people are a ethnically indistinct mixture of European, African and indigenous blood.

 Many indigenous tribes perished from disease, famine or the harsh conditions of enslavement under Spanish rule. The more nomadic tribes of Venezuela s Amazonian region retreated further into the rainforest. However, because the Spanish conquistadores typically did not bring wives with them to the New World, so they would father children on a series of native women. Often the offspring of these unions would be recognized and provided for by their fathers.

 The importation of African slaves began in 1528 and continued until the beginning of the 19th Century. Even at its height, Venezuela's African slave population comprised only 1.3 percent of the total slave trade in the New World, compared with 38.1 percent for Brazil, 7.3 percent for Cuba, and 4.5 percent for the United States. Upon gaining independence from Spain, Venezuela in 1824 passed a law stating that all children born, whether of slave or free parents, were automatically free. Even before this, the offspring of Spanish masters and African slaves often was freed and might even have received some education and been named beneficiaries in the father's will. By March 24, 1854, the date of slavery's official abolition in Venezuela, less than 24,000 slaves remained. Not only did Venezuela abolish slavery before the United States, it did so without fighting a civil war over the issue and there never was a period of strict racial segregation. Persons of mixed race were not automatically considered outcasts.

This does not mean Venezuela is, or ever was, a paradise of racial/ethnic equality and harmony. Until the late 20th Century, Venezuela had a class system in which members of the upper crust generally were lighter-skinned with more classically European features, while darker skin and non-European features were associated with the poor and uneducated. Even this system has been breaking down under the pressure of rapid urbanization and increased immigration following the great wars of the 20th Century. But the racial/ethnic lines were never that firmly drawn to begin with.

Because of this history, Venezuelans look at racial/ethnic identity than North Americans. Perhaps it is not so important to them just what Jesus looked like. Certainly it is more important for everyone to know Jesus as Lord and Savior through baptism and the Holy Scriptures, and many in Venezuela do not. All of our attempts to picture God fall short of His glory, yet through faith we will in the end, see His true face.

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Stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted

"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities;upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:4-6

In "The Varieties of Religious Experience", William James' pioneering study of the psychology of religion, there is a contrast drawn between people James called the "once-born" and the "twice-born."

The "once-born", who James also described as the "healthy-minded", are people who by temperament are "positive thinkers". They prefer to see the world as a safe, sunny place and would rather not dwell on suffering and evil. Therefore, they think of religion as something that should make you feel good about yourself and others, and offer practical rules for living a well-adjusted life. The "once-born" see whatever problems there are in the world as relatively easy to solve, simply a matter of appealing to reason and good will. Most conflicts can be settled by people sitting down together and really listening to the other side. These people indeed may live productive, well-adjusted lives in a well-ordered and civilized society. But if events should shake their worldly order to its foundations, they have a hard time coping, because they do not understand the extent to which evil exists within themselves and the world, nor its horrifying power.

The "twice-born", on the other hand, are those whom James also called "sick souls." They by instinct sense that there is something profoundly wrong with the world and with themselves, and believe that happiness in this world is fleeting, at best, and can only be achieved at great cost. The "twice-born" can only find direction by being "born again", by which James meant and "experience of deliverance" involving surrender and sacrifice. For the "twice-born", a religion of vague platitudes, moralism and outward rituals can never be sufficient; they want something that will allow them to stare evil in the face. They may handle the encounter with evil better than the "once-born," but their weakness is the tendency to despair of any final victory of light over darkness and simply accept the existence of evil in the world with stoic passivity.

This, of course, is not what the Scriptures mean by being "born again" or "from above" by the Holy Spirit. Our salvation depends not on our feelings or inclinations, but on the objective truths of God's Word. Thus, God' s Word has something to say to persons of both these temperaments.  C.S. Lewis once said that the Devil encourages two equal and opposite errors about himself: One being not to believe in his existence, and the other to believe and be terrified. "Once-born" people might be described as people who are inclined to disbelieve in the Devil as well as the depth of their own sinfulness, while James' "twice-born" are those inclined to fear evil, or at least live without the joy and hope that might be theirs.

I bring up this psychological typology only as a way of perhaps explaining the importance of the Lenten season. If the secular world today takes note of Lent at all, it may be as the basis of a "romantic comedy" about a young man abstaining from sex for "40 Days and 40 Nights". But those who are comfortable with the world and their place in it need to consider the words of the prophet Isaiah and the hymn those words inspired, "Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted", English words by Thomas Kelly (1804):

"Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice appointed!
See Who bears the awful load!
'Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God."

Christ suffered the punishment the each one of us merited, in order to obtain for us redemption and a new relationship with God.We all need to hear this. The solemn reflections of Lent are not to be forgotten in joy and celebration of Easter. Lent prepares us for Easter.

Especially for those "sick souls", who are all to aware of their own sins and the suffering of the world, must remember, "upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed."

"Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost.
Christ the Rock of our salvation,
Christ the Name of which we boast.
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built."

Bittersweet sound of the bell

Sometimes our mission receives gifts from people in Venezuela. Last year a woman sewed uniform pants for all of our preschool children (ordinarily the families must buy the required clothing). We also have received as donations, one six-stringed and three four-stringed guitars (we're still looking for someone with the skill, patience and dedication to teach our young people how to play them) .

Now we have been given a bell to signal the start of our services. Once, a long time ago, it was a schoolhouse bell. I actually can hold it in my hand, but its chime is strong and clear. We used the bell for the first time October 30, to begin our Reformation Sunday worship.

;The sound of the bell is bittersweet for me. It takes me back through the years to the church where I was confirmed, Immanuel Lutheran Church of Plymouth, Nebraska. Immanuel's bell was bigger; when it was my turn to ring the bell, I would have to pull down on the rope with all my strength. Then the rope would pull me off the ground as the bell rang.


Once I climbed up into the steeple to take a look at that old bell. I remember the steeple well, too. We lived in the parsonage next to the church, and late at night you could hear the steeple creaking in the wind. But, like the bell, that was a comforting sound. The steeple had withstood the storms of the prairie for 70 years, and I thought it would do so for at least 70 more.

The sad part is that, like many Midwestern rural congregations, Immanuel closed its doors in the 1980s. All that is left is the graveyard, with the old church bell set in a monument in front the gate. It still stands, as it were, as a sentinel over the tombs of the people it once called to worship. One can only hope that on that great and final day of the Lord, when the dead will be raised, that old bell will ring once more.

Built on the Rock the Church doth stand,
Even when steeples are falling;
Crumbled have spires in every land,
Bells still are chiming and calling,
Calling the young and old to rest,
But above all the soul distrest,
Longing for rest everlasting.

Hymn #467
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Eph. 2: 19-22
Author: Nicolai F.S. Grundtvig, 1837
Translated by: Carl Doving, 1909, alt.
Titled: "Kirken den er et gammelt Hus"
Composer: Ludvig M. Lindeman, 1871
Tune: "Kirken den er et"

Losing more than a companion

It has been nearly a month since our dog, Peluso, died. (“Peluso” is the masculine form of “pelusa”, which means “fuzz” or “hairball”.) He had lived with us since 2005. We think he died of a heart attack, since the one thing that terrified him was thunder and lightning and we found him without a mark the morning after a tremendous thunderstorm. Peluso was more than a companion, he was our watchdog. Every night he would patrol our property. The wall that we have built keeps humans and animals from casually strolling on and off the grounds, but a determined and able-bodied man can scale the wall, especially under cover of darkness. I believe that thanks to Peluso, we have been spared the losses due to theft that have plagued our community as the crime rate has spiraled. In the past few months, two large public preschools on the other side of town from us have been robbed of all their computer equipment. So has La Caramuca's elementary school.

Sure enough, late one night last week, someone stole the electric pump that we had installed to provide water for our new public restroom facility. Now we will have to replace the pump and beef up the security on the outbuilding we built to house the pump. We also are looking for a new dog, but for some reason watchdogs are in short supply right now.

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Reaffirmation of faith and fidelity

Depending on how you look at it, we closed the old year or began the new year with a reaffirmation of wedding vows. Luz Maria's daughter, Wuendy, and her husband, Jesus Mogollon, renewed their marital commitment at our New Year's Eve service, December 31, 2010.

Although they have been married since 2007, Wuendy and Jesus sought our prayers and God's blessing as they take another big step in their life together. They will move to Quebec, Canada, in March. Jesus is a software engineer who got in on the ground floor of a startup company that since has become quite successful. The entire company, all of its employees and their families, will move from Caracas to Montreal to take advantage of business opportunities up north.

One might wonder, what do Venezuela and Canada have in common? For one thing, petroleum production in both countries. Jesus' company specializes in the development of automated processing software, the programs which control the petroleum refining and other highly automated industrial processes.

                          Image via Wikipedia 

Wuendy and Jesus have been diligently learning French as a prerequisite for moving to Quebec. Luz Maria and I hope this will prove useful in finding a Lutheran congregation in Quebec, We don't know about any Latino outreach in Quebec by the Lutheran Church - Canada (Eglise Lutherienne du Canada), although we know the LCC has devoted a great deal of its resources to international mission work in Nicaragua. Also at least two Lutheran missionaries to Venezuela have been Canadian: Edmund Mielke, who is now pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Brandon, Manitoba, and Ontario native Ted Krey, who is now Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod regional director of missions for Latin America and the Caribbean. Pastors Mielke and Krey both spent a lot of time in Barinas, which is why the cross we have above our altar at La Caramuca Lutheran Mission is modeled after the official symbol of the Lutheran Church - Canada.
However, there are a number of French-speaking congregations in Quebec affiliated with the LCC. Lutheranism is not new to the province, according to David Somers, an LCC pastor in Montreal who was instrumental in the development of the new hymnal. Many early immigrants from France were Lutheran, escaping the Wars of Religion that pitted Protestants against Roman Catholics.

In November 2009, the LCC published Liturgies et cantiques lutheriens, the first complete French Lutheran hymnal in 35 years. Liturgies et cantiques luthériens includes 434 hymns, including never-before-published material from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, three settings of the Divine Service, Matins, Vespers, and Compline, Holy Baptism, marriage, and funeral services among many other liturgical resources.

More than 2,500 copies of the French hymnal are now in circulation and are used in Africa, Europe and Haiti, as well as Canada. There are growing numbers of Lutherans in French-speaking Africa, especially in Madagascar.

We can only hope that one day we will have a Spanish hymnal that surpasses Culto Cristiano, first published in 1964. Culto Cristiano contains 476 hymns, all the propers based on the historic one-year lectionary, orders of public and private confession, the Divine Service, Matins, Vespers, the Psalms, prayers for various occasions, the Small Catechism, and special orders of service for weddings, funerals and other events. However, it does not contain orders for some of the liturgical practices that have been revived in the last 45 years, such as imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday and the Good Friday tenebrae service, and some practices that are typical here in Venezuela, such as the blessing of a new house. Of course, we do have a supplement, Ritual Cristiano, that covers the blessing of a new house, and even such things at the dedication of a cemetery or a baptismal font, but it would be nice to have all these things in one volume. Culto Cristiano also does not contain a number of excellent songs that we have found useful in teaching children and young people, such as "Alabare, alabare", "Padre Nuestro" (a metrical version of the Lord's Prayer), "Creo en Dios el Padre Eterno" (the Apostle's Creed set to music), "Dios es nuestro amparo" and others.

The reaffirmation and blessing of the marriage of Wuendy and Jesus was an opportunity to just what marriage is in God's eyes. What it is not: A private contract between two individuals for their personal pleasure, no matter how mutual the satisfaction might be. If it were, it might not matter if both partners were of the same sex, or how many partners a person might have. However, marriage is the most public institutions, instituted by God in the beginning as part of His order of creation. Because God also instituted civil government to restrain immorality, the administration of laws upholding the sanctity of marriage and family fall within the domain of secular authorities. Those who do not respect what God has ordained regarding marriage are rightly subject to punishment by the state and by God. Furthermore, a government which fails to conform the civil law to the divine law invites the judgment and wrath of God upon the entire nation.

Our New Year's Eve service also provided the opportunity to reaffirm the importance of placing all your plans in God's hands. Because of Christ's atoning suffering and death, those who believe are restored to a right relationship with God. Thus we may pray to Him with confidence, trusting that He intends for us "a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11) and that "all things work for the good of them that love God, for those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). Above all else, we have the promise in baptism that, no matter what happens to us in life, we are assured of eternal happiness with Christ in the life to come. Amen.

Goodbye, Grandma, God bless you

She was born Clara Helen Viola Kurth, January 16, 1917, in Haakon County, South Dakota. Years later she would tell me that, as the last of seven children, her parents gave her all the names of female relatives for whom they had yet to name a girl.

She died November 27, 2010, having outlived her parents, all of her siblings, two husbands and two of her five children. She was my last surviving grandparent and one of the greatest of the great cloud of witnesses that have surrounded me all my life.

Grandma grew up on the Kurth homestead southeast of Philip, SD. As a teenager, she would cook for the men that her father hired for his threshing crew. One of the young men was my grandfather, Anthony Hollis Hemmingson. They were married on September 29, 1935, and stayed together until Grandpa´s death on November 11, 1979.

The Kurth homestead still stands.

During the late 1930s Grandma and Grandpa lived on a farm south of Belvidere, SD.They moved to the town of Kadoka, SD, in 1942. Grandma continued to develop her talent for cooking. She worked as a cook at the H&H Restaurant, the Kadoka hospital and nursing home, and the Kadoka high school and grade school. For a time, she and Grandpa managed their own restaurant on Main Street.

Anthony Hollis Hemmingson

In 1969 Grandma and Grandpa moved to Lovington, New Mexico, as the South Dakota winters were becoming hard on my grandfather's arthritis. Grandpa passed away in New Mexico, as did my Uncle Tony (Anthony Richard) Hemmingson in 1996, her second husband, Orville "Tim" Long in 1997, and my Uncle Loren Hemmingson in 1998. Nevertheless, she continued to live in New Mexico until 2004.

Grandma's faith was a never-failing source of consolation to her during those years of loss. She and Grandpa were both baptized and confirmed as Lutherans and received Word and sacrament regularly, first at Zion Lutheran Church in Kadoka and later at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Lovington, NM. I consider this shared faith their best legacy to me.

I last saw Grandma in 2006 when Luz Maria and I visited her at my Uncle Arnie's house in Spearfish, SD. We both knew it probably would be our last meeting in this life, and she was moved to tell me how glad she was that I had found Luz Maria.

Grandma's body will be buried next to that of my grandfather in the Lovington, NM, cemetery. Their common epitaph, “For by grace are you saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). This also is the basis of the hymn, “By Grace I'm Saved, Grace Free and Boundless,” by Christian Scheidt, 1709-1761.

By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Hath Scripture ever falsehood taught?
Nay; then this word must true remain;
By grace thou, too, shalt heav'n obtain.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit;
Our works and conduct have no worth.
God in His love sent our Redeemer,
Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth;
His death did for our sins atone,
And we are saved by grace alone.

By grace! Oh, mark this word of promise
When thou art by thy sins opprest,
When Satan plagues thy troubled conscience,
And when thy heart is seeking rest.
What reason cannot comprehend
God by His grace to thee doth send.

By grace God's Son, our only Savior,
Came down to earth to bear our sin.
Was it because of thine own merit
That Jesus died thy soul to win?
Nay, it was grace, and grace alone,
That brought Him from His heavenly throne.

By grace! This ground of faith is certain;
So long as God is true, it stands.
What saints have penned by inspiration,
What in His Word our God commands,
What our whole faith must rest upon,
Is Grace alone, grace in His Son.

By grace to timid hearts that tremble,
In tribulation's furnace tried,--
By grace, despite all fear and trouble,
The Father's heart is open wide.
Where could I help and strength secure
If grace were not my anchor sure?

Making the most of Mother's Day

Mother's Day is quite a big deal in Venezuela. In terms of sales volume of cards, gift, food and other items, Mother's Day is nearly equal to Christmas as a commercial holiday. But celebrating Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May is not a native Venezuelan tradition. Rather, it is the modern, secular version of Mother's Day which originated in the United States during the early 20th Century.

For a long time in western Christendom, the special day for honoring mothers was the fourth Sunday of Lent, still marked on the historic liturgical calendar as Laetare Sunday.Depending on the year, Laetare Sunday may fall on any date from March 1 to April 4. "Laetare" is Latin for "rejoice". The introit for Laetare opens the service with words from Isaiah 66:10, “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her..."

However, the tradition of celebrating the fourth Sunday in Lent as " target="_blank">"Mothering Sunday" apparently only survives in Great Britain, Ireland and perhaps a few other places. With a few other exceptions, a majority of nations have officially accepted the second Sunday in May to be Mother's Day since President Woodrow Wilson established this date as a U.S. holiday in 1914.

We observed Mother's Day on Sunday, May 9, with activities after the service, and in the preschool Monday, May 10. Both times there was cake and refreshments. There were two cakes on Sunday. One was for all the mothers in attendance and the other was a birthday cake for Luz Maria (her birthday is May 5).

For Sunday's sermon text, I used the epistle for Rogate Sunday (the fifth Sunday after Easter, or the sixth Sunday of Easter, depending on how you phrase it), James 1: 22-27, especially verse 27, which says, "Religion pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: To visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

It says in part, "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels...Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her."

According to the book of Genesis, Eve, the first woman, was created to be a blessing to her husband and her children, and God intended all children to have both mothers and fathers. But sin entered the world, and now there are all sorts of unfortunate situations, such as single parents who do not have the resources to raise young children on their own, senior citizens who have no families to care for them, and, of course, children who have no parents at all. In the time of St. James, widows and orphans were the most marginalized members of society. It still is the mark of living Christian faith and love to care for those less fortunate than ourselves. Not that we are saved by our good works, but rather saving faith bears fruit in our loving others as God has loved us.

On Monday, I once again read from Proverbs 31 and lead an opening prayer, but the occasion was more just an opportunity for the mothers to enjoy presentations from their children (one being a song-and-dance number on proper table etiquette).

Beyond confirmation class



On Sunday, May 16, Noel Marquina received his certificate from the Juan de Frias Theological Institute for completing the course in "Basic Christian Doctrine". Noel is the first of our youth to complete a Bible study course beyond basic confirmation instruction.

A fine cassava crop

The rainy season continues and one result has been a reduction in the duration of our daily power outages to two hours or less. Another is the fine crop from the cassava that Luz Maria planted. Cassava is a tropical tuber that is often used as a substitute for potatoes here. They grow potatoes here, but mainly up in the mountains. You can order french-fried cassava instead of french-fried potatoes at McDonald's restaurants in Venezuela.

Another potato substitute is plantains. Plantains look like bananas, but are not as sweet. They taste more like, well, potatoes. Some people prefer plantain chips to potato chips as a snack.

Luz Maria also planted a small grove of papaya trees, but it may be another year before they start producing. Our avocado trees are in full production now, We still have plenty of limes, too.

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Stations of the Cross

Although we have a small group of people that have been baptized and confirmed as Lutherans, our mission actually serves a somewhat wider community. Because there are so few schools with any kind of Christian orientation here, some of the people who send their children to our preschool are devout Roman Catholics or Pentecostalists. The father of one of our little girls is the pastor of a Pentecostalist church, while two of our preschool teachers are Catholic (ideally, all of our teachers would be Lutheran, but Venezuelan law dictates that the preschool have a certain number of state-certified teachers and there are not that many state-certified Lutheran teachers here).

Of course we do not demand that faithful members of other churches join ours in order to send their children to our preschool. Attendance at our Sunday services is alway be invitation. Therefore, we strive to maintain a solidly Lutheran position in doctrine and practice while respecting the beliefs of those who subscribe to other confessions.

The preschool will be closed for Holy Week, therefore we are using this week to teach the preschool children that Holy Week means something other than vacation time. One of our teachers, Yosaira, had approached me with her huge family Bible. It was a "Catholic" Bible, including the "deuterocanonical" books in its Old Testament and some beautiful color-plate illustrations of the traditional Stations of the Cross. Yosaira thought perhaps we could scan the illustrations and use them to teach the children about the events of Good Friday.

The Stations of the Cross were first mentioned in writings from the fifth and sixth centuries as a series of numbered stops for pilgrims to meditate and pray while retracing the Via Dolorosa, or Christ's path from the Garden of Gethsemane to Golgotha, in Jerusalem. Supposedly these were places where Jesus paused on His way to the Cross, except for the last four which involve Him actually being nailed to the cross, dying, and being taken down and laid in the tomb. Eventually a list of 14 "stations" became the accepted norm and every year to this day hundreds of Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem follow this pattern in following the Via Dolorosa.

Somewhat later, since relatively few people had the time or money to travel to Jerusalem, it became a devotional practice to recreate the path to the Cross with paintings or crosses along a circumscribed route in a church or elsewhere. For example, in Colonia Tovar, a German-Catholic enclave in the mountains north of Caracas, the main street of the town is marked with crosses representing the Stations of the Cross as it winds down to its end at St. Martin of Tours Church.

The imagery of the Stations of the Cross have provided inspiration for Christian art for centuries. Not only paintings and sculpture, but also Christian theater, as the European "Passion Play" tradition incorporates dramatizations of the various stations. This includes Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ," which is essentially a Passion Play on film (see postscript on Passion Plays).

However, there is a problem with the traditional Stations of the Cross: Not all of them are really part of any of the New Testament narratives. The traditional 14 Stations of the Cross are as follows:

1. Jesus is condemned to death
2. Jesus is given his cross
3. Jesus falls the first time
4. Jesus meets His mother
5. Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
6. St. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
7. Jesus falls the second time
8. Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem
9. Jesus falls the third time
10. Jesus is stripped of His garments
11. Jesus is nailed to the cross
12. Jesus dies on the cross
13. Jesus' body is removed from the cross
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb and covered in incense

Only eight of these stations have clear Scriptural foundation. Numbers 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9 do not and the traditional representation of Jesus' body being placed in His mother's arms as it is lowered from the cross in number 13 is an embellishment of the New Testament story. The Roman Catholic Church today recognizes this and, as I pointed out to Yosaira, in 1991 Pope John Paul II approved an alternative form of the Stations of the Cross that is completely consistent with the Scriptures. This form also was approved by Benedict XVI in 2007. This is the new pattern:

1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested
3. Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin
4. Jesus is denied by Peter
5. Jesus is judged by Pilate
6. Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns
7. Jesus takes up His cross
8. Jesus is helped by Simon to carry His cross
9. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
10. Jesus is crucified
11. Jesus promises His kingdom to the repentant thief
12. Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other
13. Jesus dies on the cross
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb
15. Jesus rises from the dead on the third day

I told Yosaira I would have no problem with using this form of the Stations of the Cross. We used most of the pictures from her Bible and I filled in the gaps with graphics from the Wisconsin Synod Web site.

There is another problem with the Roman Catholic interpretation of the Stations of the Cross and that is this form of devotion still is considered an "act of reparation" or, in essence, a meritorious work.

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Reparation

"Reparation is a theological concept closely connected with those of atonement and satisfaction, and thus belonging to some of the deepest mysteries of the Christian Faith. It is the teaching of that Faith that man is a creature who has fallen from an original state of justice in which he was created, and that through the Incarnation, Passion, and Death of the Son of God, he has been redeemed and restored again in a certain degree to the original condition. Although God might have condoned men's offences gratuitously if He had chosen to do so, yet in His Providence He did not do this; He judged it better to demand satisfaction for the injuries which man had done Him. It is better for man's education that wrong doing on his part should entail the necessity of making satisfaction. This satisfaction was made adequately to God by the Sufferings, Passion, and Death of Jesus Christ, made Man for us. By voluntary submission to His Passion and Death on the Cross, Jesus Christ atoned for our disobedience and sin. He thus made reparation to the offended majesty of God for the outrages which the Creator so constantly suffers at the hands of His creatures. We are restored to grace through the merits of Christ's Death, and that grace enables us to add our prayers, labours, and trials to those of Our Lord "and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ" (Colossians 1:24). We can thus make some sort of reparation to the justice of God for our own offences against Him, and by virtue of the Communion of the Saints, the oneness and solidarity of the mystical Body of Christ, we can also make satisfaction and reparation for the sins of others."

Certainly Colossians 1:24 read in context does not support the above assertions. Paul writes in Colossians of the redemptive work of Christ as being sufficient to atone for all the sins of all men. In verse 24, he says that he is able to endure "the sufferings of Christ", that is, the difficulties that he, as a preacher of the Word, experiences above and beyond the normal problems of life for the sake of Christ, as being something that will benefit Christ's body, the Church. If he, Paul, is able to endure these sufferings, then perhaps the Church will be spared some suffering for the sake of Christ. But as in baptism Christians share in the resurrection of Christ, they also will share some of the same sufferings as Christ (persecution and rejection by the world). In no sense, however, do our sufferings add anything, or need to add anything, to the price Christ paid for our sins on the cross.

I addressed this issue in an introductory talk to parents and children on Monday and again in my presentation of the pictures on Wednesday, saying that our worship and praise during Holy Week were not required of us to earn His love and favor, but rather were our response to what Jesus did for us on the cross. Through His suffering and death on the cross He paid the full price for our sins and that therefore we are justified before God through faith in Him, not through any of our works. Therefore, the Stations of the Cross ares simply a tool for us to remember and appreciate Christ's sacrifice for us.

No preschool next week, but our Holy Week schedule includes services on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.


Postscript on Passion Plays

When Luz Maria and I visited my family in South Dakota in 2006, we stopped at the Spearfish Amphitheater in Spearfish, S.D., which for nearly 70 years was the main venue for the Black Hills Passion Play. The Black Hills Passion Play was presented on a 350-foot outdoor stage with seating for 6,000 people. Performances were Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays during the summer months.

In 1932 a troupe of Passion Players from Lünen, Germany, where a Passion Play had been presented since 1242, began touring the United States. One of them was Josef Meier,
a seventh-generation Passion Player. Their script was in German, which meant their engagements were limited to theaters and churches frequented by German-speaking immigrants. Because of political and economic conditions in Germany, Meier decided to stay in the United States. He had the script translated into English, hired American actors to replace the German cast, and while touring various towns, began looking for a permanent home for his Passion Play.

Spearfish was chosen in part because of the site's excellent natural acoustics. The amphitheater was built in 1939. During its heyday, the Black Hills Passion Play company not only made special appearances throughout the United States and Canada, but in 1953 established a winter home in Lake Wales, Florida, where the play was presented until 1998.

There were no performances scheduled for the winter of 2006, but Luz Maria and I were given a personal tour of the Black Hills Passion Play Museum by Guido Della Vecchia, husband of Johanna Meier, Josef's daughter. Guido spoke Italian while Luz Maria spoke Spanish, and they were able to communicate to a limited extent.

So I was saddened to learn that the Black Hills Passion Play gave its final performance in 2008. For me, the Passion Play was always part of the Black Hills, just like Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument and the Needles. I understand the museum is still open.

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A teaspoon of theodicy

More news on the Haiti front, or rather the frontier between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Last week Luz Maria and I met with Pastor Sergio Maita, who had just returned to Caracas following a week or two of volunteer service there. Sergio, a young Venezuelan man who was ordained with me in December 2009, traveled with Ted and Rebecca Krey, former missionaries to Venezuela who are now based in the Dominican Republic, to the bordertown of Jimani where they offered what assistance they could in a hospital that had become a refuge for earthquake victims. Sergio told us that he had taken a lot of pictures of trip to the Dominican Republic, but did not feel like sharing everything that he had seen in he hospital, for the suffering was very great.

On occasions like the earthquake in Haiti, there always are those try to draw grand conclusions about the misery. Some want to say that such suffering on a grand scale "proves" there is no God, or at least not a loving and merciful God. The problem for these people is that denying the existence of God does not relieve any of the pain experienced by earthquake victims or others one bit, or bring those that died back to life. Yet without an absolute point of reference, there is no basis for saying the pain and death in Haiti was "unjust" or "excessive" or anything else. The world is what it is, and apart from faith in God, there is little reason to think our efforts to change it will make any difference, that there is any hope for anything better (for even the concept of "better" has no significance) or that there is any point in helping those less fortunate than ourselves. Far from the existence of suffering on a grand scale disproving God's existence, only faith that God will one day provide recompense for those who have suffered unjustly, and judgment for the wicked who have evaded punishment by human courts and the natural consequences of their misdeeds, helps one make any sense at all of the whole business.

Image via Wikipedia

On the other hand, there are those who want to see the earthquake as a sign of God's wrath directed specifically at Haiti, perhaps for the worship of voodoo gods. In the same manner, the Maundy Thursday earthquake that devastated Caracas in 1812 was said by some to be a sign of God's displeasure with the Venezuelan War of Independence from Spain. This error, unlike the first, claims belief in the Holy Scriptures, but this is not true.

According to the Bible, certain calamities were indeed signs of God's wrath against the wicked and the disobedient. Old Testament examples include the Great Flood, the Ten Plagues of Egypt. various afflictions suffered by the Israelites in the desert, the destruction of the Assyrian king Sennacherib's army (1 Kings 19:35), and many more. In the New Testament, we have the death of Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:21-25) and the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). But the entire book of Job and other passages of the Old Testament are devoted to refuting the idea that bad things only happen to bad people, and that the severity of the disaster reflects the level of God's wrath.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that God makes the sun to rise on both the evil and the good, and sends rain to both the just and unjust (Matthew 5:45). In Luke 21:25, He said the signs of the end-times will include "great earthquakes, and in various places, famines and pestilences," not to mention wars between nations and everywhere persecution of the faithful. These terrible events are not to be interpreted as specific judgments against the wicked, but rather as general signs that the great and final Day of Judgent is approaching.

We understand the significance of certain past events, such as the Great Flood and the Ten Plagues, based on the authority of divinely inspired Scriptures. Outside the Scriptures, there is no such authority and it is presumptuous to second-guess God. We know nothing of His nature and will outside of what He has chosen to reveal to us. The Bible contains all we need to know for our salvation, and there will be no more divine revelations until the glorious fulfillment of God's plan for the world in the second coming of Christ.

Thus we find the final word on this topic in Luke 13. Jesus was asked an event that caused a lot of stir and consternation back in that day. It was the massacre of Galileans in the Temple, ordered by Pontius Pilate (those that think the New Testament portrays Pilate as a fundamentally decent fellow, please note), such that their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices to God. Essentially, both questions were put to Jesus. If the Galileans had done nothing to deserve death, where was the just and merciful God during this massacre? And if they had done something especially deserving of God's judgment, what was it?

Image via Wikipedia

Jesus responded by reminding them of an even more puzzling event (the apparently senseless deaths of 18 men in the collapse of the tower in Siloam) and answered both questions in this way:

Neither the Galileans or the 18 men in Siloam deserved death any more than anyone else. However, all humans stand equally condemned under God's law, and deserve not simply physical death, but eternal damnation. By God's grace, all who believe will receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life through the blood of Christ, but with few exceptions, no one will escape physical death (the few exceptions being Enoch, Elijah and those still living when the Lord returns). While we may have the promise of eternal life in heaven, none of us are guaranteed one year, 20 years or 80 years on this earth. So the question we must ask ourselves is not why this individual or that group of people had to die at a particular time and in a particular manner, but why we ourselves still are drawing breath. If we still are alive, God still has a purpose for us here. We may not know everything about this purpose, but He has revealed enough in His Word wor us to respond in faith. So, as Jesus said, we must not allow ourselves to be distracted by the petty pleasures of the world, but remain alert and watchful for opportunities to serve God and our fellow man.

Mirror images talking to each other

Luz Maria and I spent the last week of January in Caracas at a seminar on "the means of grace." Our instructor was Pastor German Novelli. Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and confirmed in the Lutheran Church of Venezuela in 1983, German Novelli some years ago left his native country and embarked on on a geographical and spiritual odyssey that led him to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, and finally the Wisconsin Synod seminary in Mequon, Wisconsin. He now is the pastor of a Latino mission on Milwaukee's South Side.

Mequon, Wisconin, by the way, is also the location of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Concordia University, Wisconsin and Trinity Luth¡eran Church of Freistadt, the oldest Lutheran congregation in the state (and of which my great-great-grandparents were founding members).

I lived on Milwaukee's South Side from 1986 to 1995, so it was interesting to compare notes with Pastor Novelli on our impressions of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee area in particular. We were like two mirror images talking to each other: the Venezuelan serving as the pastor of a mission in Milwaukee and the former Milwaukeean serving as the pastor of a mission in Venezuela. I shared with him some of my fondest memories; the Lake Michigan shoreline in summertime, the Mitchell Park Conservatory, eating real Mexican food at the Acapulco Restaurant.

Pastor Novelli shared with me the thesis that he wrote for his masters in divinity degree on Wisconsin Synod mission work in Latin America. Active in the region since 1964, the Wisconsin Synod's missionary efforts in the past focused on Mexico, Puerto Rico and Colombia.

Today the Wisconsin Synod supports what it calls its LATTE team. LATTE stands for Latin American Traveling Theological Educators. Latin American because work is done in all of the mission fields in Latin America—Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Brazil. Traveling because visits are made to each field on a rotating basis. Theological Educators because missionaries serve as the seminary professors of the men who desire to be pastors in their national churches. The LATTE program has been functioning since 2003.

The Wisconsin Synod also has been active in Haiti earthquake relief.

Evangelical Lutheran Synod missionaries have been active in Chile and Peru for about 40 years. The ELS has established a seminary in Lima, Peru. Thirteen men have graduated and have been ordained and twelve vicars and students continue working with congregations and various groups.

Lutheran alphabet soup

The current-day ELS developed from a remnant of the old Norwegian Synod that refused to merge with other synods in an effort to form one national Lutheran church-body in the United States. The end-result of these mergers is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The philosopher Voltaire once said of the Holy Roman Empire, "It was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire." Much the same could be said of the ELCA, except that it definitely is headquartered in America. In fact, German theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg basically said as much:

"Here lies the boundary of a Christian church that knows itself to be bound by the authority of Scripture. Those who urge the church to change the norm of its teaching on this matter must know that they are promoting schism. If a church were to let itself be pushed to the point where it ceased to treat homosexual activity as a departure from the biblical norm, and recognized homosexual unions as a personal partnership of love equivalent to marriage, such a church would stand no longer on biblical ground but against the unequivocal witness of Scripture. A church that took this step would cease to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church."

My great-grandfather, Andrew John (A.J.) Hemmingson, was a member of the old Norwegian Synod, which in fact had declared full pulpit-and-altar fellow with the Missouri in 1872. Pulpit-and-altar fellowship had been established between the Missouri and Wisconsin synods in 1868. From 1872 until the late 1950s, Missouri, Wisconsin and the ELS were partners in the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference. The Synodical Conference was a strong voice for confessional Lutheranism in the United States and has never been entirely replaced. The federation broke up when the Missouri Synod began moving toward closer relation with the more theologically liberal American Lutheran Church (ALC).

Fellowship between the Missouri Synod and the ALC lasted only until 1981, when a majority of Missouri Synod delegates to its national convention voted to dissolve the relation because of a continued drift toward the theological left by the ALC. In 1988 the ALC was absorbed into the ELCA.

May God grant that the remaining confessional Lutheran church-bodies find the basis for doctrinally sound unity and strengthened mission work at home and abroad.