Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Dear Friends,

Did you catch the latest headline about Carver County?!? A research outfit called SmartAsset has ranked ours the “4th Happiest County in the U.S.” Of course, we’ve gotten kind of used to such accolades, right? Both Chaska and Chanhassen have been listed among the “Best” at something numerous times in the past ten years. “Best Small Town” and “Best Place to Raise a Family” (or something to that effect) are the ones that stand out in my mind. Good press!

According to SmartAsset, the overall happiness of a community is dependent to some degree on a mix of these factors:

• Family stability
• Physical health
• Personal financial health
• Economic security

Two of the four have to do with money. Not surprising.

Not long ago I had an experience in a different county that gave me cause for pause. I don’t know if it has anything to say about happiness per se, but I realized how grateful I should be for some basic services that I just take for granted.

Recently, I needed to transfer some funds to our ministry partners in El Salvador. The Western Union office best set up to handle the cash transaction was a few suburbs to our east. I had done extensive research on this so I didn’t expect the errand to take me more than a few minutes at the counter. To my great surprise, it ended up taking most of the afternoon…but that is another story.

As I stood in line waiting my turn to confer with the unsmiling young woman behind the bullet-proof glass, I got an education. One young woman – who looked like she had been up all night — paid $20 to send $300 to someone in Africa. A couple of tough-looking guys with eye-catching tattoos needed cashier’s checks in various amounts; they seemed to be very familiar with this type of transaction.  A young immigrant dad with a youngster in tow paid a $.75 fee to get a roll of quarters – to do the family laundry, was my guess. An older woman paid her electric bill at the window; she needed a roll of quarters, too.

Then a middle-aged couple came in. When they got to the window, they asked if they could send a telegram. “A what?” the clerk behind the porthole asked, her face screwed into a big question mark. “A telegram. I need to let people know about a death.” No lights went on for the 20-something clerk so I jumped in to bridge the generation gap. (I know it’s hard for you to believe, but unlike that  clerk, I AM old enough to remember telegrams.) “Telegrams were used to send bad news and good news, like a combat death or the birth of a baby.” I explained. “They used an electrical line called a telegraph with a system of dots and dashes to send a coded message that was read on the other end.” I turned to the puzzled couple: “I think they closed down the last telegraph office just recently. Now people use email or FAX, I guess. Or the telephone.” The woman could scarcely believe her ears. As they left the store I heard her husband say, “Guess we’ll have to make some phone calls.”

Money stores like the one I went to provide financial services that most of us would go to our banks for. I rarely need a cashier’s check because I have a checking account against which I can write checks as I need to. But not everybody has a checking account; not everyone qualifies for one. Since I have access to an array of financial services, I don’t often stop to think about how it is for a lot of other people. For example, not all of my family members are flush with cash, but no one is dependent on remittances made to them from a faraway country in order to put food on the table.

The world can be a frustrating place if you don’t have the resources to make things work for you and your family. On the other hand, if you do enjoy a measure of economic security – living within your means and able to prepare for a rainy day – happiness is something you can reach out for with some hope and expectation. And access to telecommunications is hugely important; in our wired world, access to the internet isn’t just nice to have…it’s essential to success in many areas of life. Some have called it a basic human right, up there along with food and water and personal safety and, well, the pursuit of happiness.

Enjoy these glorious summer days and nights. See you in church!

Pastor Kristie

Be Prepared

Dear Friends,

My mind has lately been spinning with all the parables of Jesus, because we are embarking on a summer series of preaching and teaching on these many texts.  The result of reading through all these colorful stories that Jesus told — thinking about them, studying them, getting ready to create sermons with them, finding songs about them – the end result is that I’ve begun seeing regular average everyday events through the lenses of these parables.

So it was that my wife and I were down to St. Olaf for our son, Bergen’s, graduation ceremony at the end of May.  On that Saturday night, there was a lantern lighting ceremony on the schedule, and we had been encouraged to go out ahead of time and figure out where his particular lantern had been placed.  That is because there were over 600 lanterns placed throughout the central courtyard of the college, along various sidewalks.  Might as well go out during daylight and find out where it was placed so that we could locate it later that night.  We dutifully walked around till we found his, and then each sighed with relief because all three of us genetically feel better when we’re as prepared as we can possibly be.

We enjoyed the internationally themed banquet that the college threw for all the seniors and their families.  You’d go to one banquet room and get the flavors of Africa.  Another room had cuisine from Europe, along with a strange-tasting frothy cucumber drink.  Another from the Americas.  For dessert we wandered into the Asian room where I tried a strange sesame based cookie which wasn’t half bad.  The whole thing was creative and fun with a wide variety of food choices.  At 9:30, we wandered down to the big auditorium for the start of the lantern-lighting ceremony which involved some music and a prayer, then some brief speeches by energetic  students.  They were all entertaining, but one fellow did an especially great job of using all the great stereotypes for graduates (first day of the rest of your life, best years of your life, etc.), debunking each one, but then in the end, showing how in some ways the stereotypes fit.  He was engaging and quite humorous and his fellow students enthusiastically applauded him.

At the end of the speeches, we received a benediction song and were then sent out for a procession in the darkness to find each student’s lit lantern.  It was quiet, and sentimental, and quite beautiful.  We had a moment of pictures and reflection and remembrance of four great years for our son.  But the moment was soon crashed, as that engaging student speaker suddenly breezed by us, with his entire family in tow, and he was crying out, ‘where’s my lantern, where’s my lantern!’  We had to laugh, which helped break up our tears.  And then, for me, with my mind entrenched in the parables, I suddenly recalled Jesus’ story of the five wise bridesmaids (who prepared their lanterns for a long wait of the bridegroom) and the five foolish bridesmaids (who didn’t bring enough oil such that their lanterns went out).

Most of the crowd now was breaking up, and we strolled toward the student center to listen to a jazz combo.  As we walked, here came that same guy still rushing around with his family, crying out in the darkness, trying in vain to locate his lantern.  Ah yes.  Be prepared, as the scouts say.  And as Jesus said too!  Be prepared.  Keep your lamps trimmed and burning!  Always do whatever it is you can to be best prepared to share God’s love, and share God’s Gospel.  May our summer study of the parables open your eyes to everyday lessons God wants to share with you.

See you in church, where this week we’ll hear about seeking treasure!

Pastor Josh