Sunday Wrap Up 5/6/2012
Several weeks ago, in connection with our high school's singing program, I referred to a student-led initiative to collect funds to send to Charity Water, a charitable organization that supplies clean water to people who would not have access to it otherwise. After all three programs were over, the fund had grown to over $780.00. At $20.00 required to supply one person for a lifetime, that money should provide water for 39 people.
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This morning after church Hans took pictures of our entire congregation for Corey Anderson's new book on Amish Mennonite churches. I'm not sure of what all the book is to contain, but pictures of the buildings and information about the churches will presumably also be included.
At our church Hans set up a step ladder on the platform at the front of the church and climbed it and then set his camera to take a delayed picture, thrust the camera up high and we all held our pose till we heard the click. Then we trooped outside, row by row, and clustered on the ball field for another picture. This time Hans climbed the ladder again, with his camera on a tripod, and thrust the tripod and camera high up from there to get the picture.
The ministers came trailing back indoors later, presumably after having their picture taken also.
A few people with mobility issues did not make the trek outside, and some of those who did needed help to walk. Like all posed family pictures, there's probably never a good time to do church family pictures, but today it wasn't too hot or too bright or too fiercely windy. I hope the historical record is worth it.
**********************
Calling hours and burial for Uncle Harry took place yesterday afternoon. A memorial service, with a meal following, will happen this coming Saturday at 11:30.
These end-of-life events had an unusual combination of tradition and innovation. In a conversation with Yvonne yesterday, I learned that Mike and Arlyn and their spouses have been quite involved in discussions about death and dying in their church group. Mike had contacted a local mortuary earlier to get information on some of the options, and Harry's family had conversations about what might be appropriate when Harry dies. In general, Mike and Arlyn felt that the typical handing off of all the post-death procedures to a mortician represented straying pretty far from the "dust to dust" scenario of Scripture.
Harry's family decided to forego embalming. They washed and dressed Harry's body at home on the day he died, (This proved to be a precious and meaningful time, according to Yvonne.) and Wesley and Arlyn (the only two family men at home at the time) took the body to the funeral home for refrigeration. The mortician had assured them that Saturday burial would be fine, under the circumstances. Sunday might have worked, but would have been the outside limit of the suitable time frame. Yesterday morning, before the calling hours, Leon, who had come from Ohio by then, and Arlyn went to pick up the body. They used a locally-made coffin. As is usually done, church people had dug the grave and saw to all the details of burial.
Orpha's nephew Ken M., and Harry's nephew, Gary M. had part in the graveside service. The pallbearers were sons, a son-in-law, and grandsons. These people helped fill in the grave, alongside many others who took a turn: family members, pastors, and friends. I always love seeing the cross-section of people connected with the deceased--young grandchildren, fellow-dairymen, lawyer, doctors, teachers, students, nurses, homemakers, accountant--all united in wishing to provide one last service to honor a precious life.
The long delay between burial and the memorial service is because of Erlis and Mike not being able to get home from Europe right away. Erlis and his wife Gesine live in England, and they were traveling with Mike and Lois and their son John in Germany, where John lives right now, and where Gesine grew up.
I value the end-of-life traditions we honor, but I also appreciate the thoughtfulness and purposefulness of Harry's family's choices in departing from some of those traditions. I suspect others may follow, now that this family has shown the way.
**********************
After the burial, while people were still standing around visiting, I had an impulse to join one conversation group--six of my old grade school classmates who were engaged in animated conversation. I resisted the urge because of decorum expectations I follow most of the time. Hiromi was not with me, and all those classmates were men--Gary, Oren, LaVerne, David, Leon, and Ellis. Linda, Arlene, and Marlene, the ladies of the class, were not there. Nevin had been at the viewing earlier, and Phil and the other LaVern live in other states.
*********************
While people were gathering at the cemetery, an accident 1/2 mile west on US 50 created some extra drama. I saw at least three emergency vehicles headed there, and shortly, a helicopter landed on the road nearby. When I went home, a car rested on its side in the south ditch, wheels and belly exposed to the passing traffic. I don't know many details, but Marian said the accident occurred when someone traveling west, who missed getting onto K61 where the highway divides tried to make a left turn to get back to K61 via Riverton Road. She thought the collision happened with another vehicle following the turning car.
*********************
When I got home, Dale C. was waiting here to pay for his community concert ticket. I told him where I'd been, and he shared a memory he had of getting some straw bales from Harry. Dale needed them for a "decorations" competition in which he ended up winning first prize. I told Dale about some of Harry's recent health challenges, and Dale sympathized and ended by affirming what is a comfort to all who know Christ and part with another who also knows Him: life is better after death than the day before death. Dale's mother died fairly recently, and he was her caregiver. A dear church friend also died recently, and Dale has apparently talked to others about his Source of comfort. Dale told me his son said recently that if he keeps talking like "that" he'll have to make him a pulpit.
Good for Dale. He grew up down the road from us, and the stories I remember from high school days did not point directly to what I see now--a man at peace with his Creator, and having heaven to look forward to.
*******************
In Washington, Rosalyn (Miller) D. gave birth to a baby, Annabelle Marie. Rosalyn was a former Pilgrim student who moved to Washington when she got married. The baby's grandmother, Ruth, showed us a picture of the baby on her cell phone on the day she was born. She has loads of thick dark hair. Ruth was about to leave for Washington to help out and get acquainted with the new granddaughter.
This week a farmer's market vendor, Pam, who must have known about the expected baby, asked Hiromi if the baby had arrived. He said yes, but he couldn't remember whether it was a boy or girl. Rosalyn had a loyal set of friends at the market.
*******************
Betty Schrag was back in church today after an absence of a month or two from having fallen and broken her hip. She was at the Manor for recovery and rehab. Her husband, Dan, is still there. He had a similar accident only a short time before Betty's, but his rehab and recovery is taking a little longer.
*******************
At school, we've gotten along for almost two days without our principal being there, but it will be wonderful to have him back tomorrow. We're discussing a possible alternative to the usual Saturday morning awards assembly for the high school. While a small schedule adjustment would make it possible to have the assembly before the memorial service, I can't imagine how Wesley would be able to get ready all that he needs to do before then, plus spending necessary time with Jean Ann's family, and getting some sleep along the way. I'm voting for an evening awards assembly the following week.
*******************
Tristan was not a bit impressed with the church house cleaning the Iwashiges did this week. Putting him into a modern version of the walker I used to use for my babies at such times did not fill the bill at all. He was overwhelmed by the strangeness of it and the strangeness of the big empty spaces, and no one but his parents could comfort him. Part of the time he even wasn't too sure that his daddy would do. We all missed Joel and Hilda's company and help. But we got it done, and can wait a bit now for the next round. By then Joel and Hilda will likely be gone to Asia and we won't have their help for that event either.
They're coming home in two weeks, and will leave again near the beginning of July.
*********************
Shane had devotions in church this morning and said, while introducing the writings of Solomon in Ecclesiastes, that his wife tells him that he is both an incurable pessimist (believing that anything that can go wrong will go wrong) and an unreasonable optimist (believing that everything will all work out in the end). When he said that, I whispered to Grace, who was beside me, "He gets that from his dad." Solomon was a little bit like that--going from the pessimistic "all is vanity" expression to the settled conclusion of what it would take to end well: "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
Shane also referred to something he read in the book From Good to Great, which is actually a book on business. The book contains some of the wisdom acquired from a POW during the Viet Nam war. He was the highest ranking naval officer imprisoned, and it lasted for seven years, as I recall. He believed that he survived by acknowledging honestly the horror of his circumstances (He was tortured at least 20 times.), but always hanging on to the belief that, in the end, things would be OK. In the meantime, he did what he could to encourage his fellow-prisoners. Others, by contrast, would put on an optimistic air, repeatedly saying things like "We'll be out by Christmas," but dying a little when the hoped-for deliverance failed to materialize. Most of them didn't survive till the end of the war--dying heartbroken because their optimism could not be sustained.
********************
Yesterday I listened to a "personality types" speech online, which I found interesting. This guy, Dr. Rohm, made it look pretty simple to identify your own and others' basic personality type. Everyone fits first into one of two categories: Outgoing or Reserved. He represented this by a circle divided horizontally, with the "reserved" category on the bottom. Each of those two categories divide further into "Task oriented" and "People oriented." This was represented by a vertical line through the circle, with the task oriented on the left and the people oriented on the right. Each quadrant had descriptors beginning with the same letter. I remember only the first of them: Upper left (outgoing-task)--Dominant; Lower left (reserved-task)--Competent; Upper Right (outgoing-people)--Inspirational; Lower Right (reserved-people)--Supportive. People who answer a set of applicable questions can sort themselves into these categories and gain insight into their own way of operating and learn something about how to relate effectively to others who are different from themselves.
I know, of course, that people slice and dice variety in people in dozens of different ways, and I don't believe any one of them is a complete explanation. This page will give a little more information on Dr. Rohm's approach. If you have a chance, listen to some of Dr. Rohm's available video clips on youtube or elsewhere.
************************
This morning after church Hans took pictures of our entire congregation for Corey Anderson's new book on Amish Mennonite churches. I'm not sure of what all the book is to contain, but pictures of the buildings and information about the churches will presumably also be included.
At our church Hans set up a step ladder on the platform at the front of the church and climbed it and then set his camera to take a delayed picture, thrust the camera up high and we all held our pose till we heard the click. Then we trooped outside, row by row, and clustered on the ball field for another picture. This time Hans climbed the ladder again, with his camera on a tripod, and thrust the tripod and camera high up from there to get the picture.
The ministers came trailing back indoors later, presumably after having their picture taken also.
A few people with mobility issues did not make the trek outside, and some of those who did needed help to walk. Like all posed family pictures, there's probably never a good time to do church family pictures, but today it wasn't too hot or too bright or too fiercely windy. I hope the historical record is worth it.
**********************
Calling hours and burial for Uncle Harry took place yesterday afternoon. A memorial service, with a meal following, will happen this coming Saturday at 11:30.
These end-of-life events had an unusual combination of tradition and innovation. In a conversation with Yvonne yesterday, I learned that Mike and Arlyn and their spouses have been quite involved in discussions about death and dying in their church group. Mike had contacted a local mortuary earlier to get information on some of the options, and Harry's family had conversations about what might be appropriate when Harry dies. In general, Mike and Arlyn felt that the typical handing off of all the post-death procedures to a mortician represented straying pretty far from the "dust to dust" scenario of Scripture.
Harry's family decided to forego embalming. They washed and dressed Harry's body at home on the day he died, (This proved to be a precious and meaningful time, according to Yvonne.) and Wesley and Arlyn (the only two family men at home at the time) took the body to the funeral home for refrigeration. The mortician had assured them that Saturday burial would be fine, under the circumstances. Sunday might have worked, but would have been the outside limit of the suitable time frame. Yesterday morning, before the calling hours, Leon, who had come from Ohio by then, and Arlyn went to pick up the body. They used a locally-made coffin. As is usually done, church people had dug the grave and saw to all the details of burial.
Orpha's nephew Ken M., and Harry's nephew, Gary M. had part in the graveside service. The pallbearers were sons, a son-in-law, and grandsons. These people helped fill in the grave, alongside many others who took a turn: family members, pastors, and friends. I always love seeing the cross-section of people connected with the deceased--young grandchildren, fellow-dairymen, lawyer, doctors, teachers, students, nurses, homemakers, accountant--all united in wishing to provide one last service to honor a precious life.
The long delay between burial and the memorial service is because of Erlis and Mike not being able to get home from Europe right away. Erlis and his wife Gesine live in England, and they were traveling with Mike and Lois and their son John in Germany, where John lives right now, and where Gesine grew up.
I value the end-of-life traditions we honor, but I also appreciate the thoughtfulness and purposefulness of Harry's family's choices in departing from some of those traditions. I suspect others may follow, now that this family has shown the way.
**********************
After the burial, while people were still standing around visiting, I had an impulse to join one conversation group--six of my old grade school classmates who were engaged in animated conversation. I resisted the urge because of decorum expectations I follow most of the time. Hiromi was not with me, and all those classmates were men--Gary, Oren, LaVerne, David, Leon, and Ellis. Linda, Arlene, and Marlene, the ladies of the class, were not there. Nevin had been at the viewing earlier, and Phil and the other LaVern live in other states.
*********************
While people were gathering at the cemetery, an accident 1/2 mile west on US 50 created some extra drama. I saw at least three emergency vehicles headed there, and shortly, a helicopter landed on the road nearby. When I went home, a car rested on its side in the south ditch, wheels and belly exposed to the passing traffic. I don't know many details, but Marian said the accident occurred when someone traveling west, who missed getting onto K61 where the highway divides tried to make a left turn to get back to K61 via Riverton Road. She thought the collision happened with another vehicle following the turning car.
*********************
When I got home, Dale C. was waiting here to pay for his community concert ticket. I told him where I'd been, and he shared a memory he had of getting some straw bales from Harry. Dale needed them for a "decorations" competition in which he ended up winning first prize. I told Dale about some of Harry's recent health challenges, and Dale sympathized and ended by affirming what is a comfort to all who know Christ and part with another who also knows Him: life is better after death than the day before death. Dale's mother died fairly recently, and he was her caregiver. A dear church friend also died recently, and Dale has apparently talked to others about his Source of comfort. Dale told me his son said recently that if he keeps talking like "that" he'll have to make him a pulpit.
Good for Dale. He grew up down the road from us, and the stories I remember from high school days did not point directly to what I see now--a man at peace with his Creator, and having heaven to look forward to.
*******************
In Washington, Rosalyn (Miller) D. gave birth to a baby, Annabelle Marie. Rosalyn was a former Pilgrim student who moved to Washington when she got married. The baby's grandmother, Ruth, showed us a picture of the baby on her cell phone on the day she was born. She has loads of thick dark hair. Ruth was about to leave for Washington to help out and get acquainted with the new granddaughter.
This week a farmer's market vendor, Pam, who must have known about the expected baby, asked Hiromi if the baby had arrived. He said yes, but he couldn't remember whether it was a boy or girl. Rosalyn had a loyal set of friends at the market.
*******************
Betty Schrag was back in church today after an absence of a month or two from having fallen and broken her hip. She was at the Manor for recovery and rehab. Her husband, Dan, is still there. He had a similar accident only a short time before Betty's, but his rehab and recovery is taking a little longer.
*******************
At school, we've gotten along for almost two days without our principal being there, but it will be wonderful to have him back tomorrow. We're discussing a possible alternative to the usual Saturday morning awards assembly for the high school. While a small schedule adjustment would make it possible to have the assembly before the memorial service, I can't imagine how Wesley would be able to get ready all that he needs to do before then, plus spending necessary time with Jean Ann's family, and getting some sleep along the way. I'm voting for an evening awards assembly the following week.
*******************
Tristan was not a bit impressed with the church house cleaning the Iwashiges did this week. Putting him into a modern version of the walker I used to use for my babies at such times did not fill the bill at all. He was overwhelmed by the strangeness of it and the strangeness of the big empty spaces, and no one but his parents could comfort him. Part of the time he even wasn't too sure that his daddy would do. We all missed Joel and Hilda's company and help. But we got it done, and can wait a bit now for the next round. By then Joel and Hilda will likely be gone to Asia and we won't have their help for that event either.
They're coming home in two weeks, and will leave again near the beginning of July.
*********************
Shane had devotions in church this morning and said, while introducing the writings of Solomon in Ecclesiastes, that his wife tells him that he is both an incurable pessimist (believing that anything that can go wrong will go wrong) and an unreasonable optimist (believing that everything will all work out in the end). When he said that, I whispered to Grace, who was beside me, "He gets that from his dad." Solomon was a little bit like that--going from the pessimistic "all is vanity" expression to the settled conclusion of what it would take to end well: "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
Shane also referred to something he read in the book From Good to Great, which is actually a book on business. The book contains some of the wisdom acquired from a POW during the Viet Nam war. He was the highest ranking naval officer imprisoned, and it lasted for seven years, as I recall. He believed that he survived by acknowledging honestly the horror of his circumstances (He was tortured at least 20 times.), but always hanging on to the belief that, in the end, things would be OK. In the meantime, he did what he could to encourage his fellow-prisoners. Others, by contrast, would put on an optimistic air, repeatedly saying things like "We'll be out by Christmas," but dying a little when the hoped-for deliverance failed to materialize. Most of them didn't survive till the end of the war--dying heartbroken because their optimism could not be sustained.
********************
Yesterday I listened to a "personality types" speech online, which I found interesting. This guy, Dr. Rohm, made it look pretty simple to identify your own and others' basic personality type. Everyone fits first into one of two categories: Outgoing or Reserved. He represented this by a circle divided horizontally, with the "reserved" category on the bottom. Each of those two categories divide further into "Task oriented" and "People oriented." This was represented by a vertical line through the circle, with the task oriented on the left and the people oriented on the right. Each quadrant had descriptors beginning with the same letter. I remember only the first of them: Upper left (outgoing-task)--Dominant; Lower left (reserved-task)--Competent; Upper Right (outgoing-people)--Inspirational; Lower Right (reserved-people)--Supportive. People who answer a set of applicable questions can sort themselves into these categories and gain insight into their own way of operating and learn something about how to relate effectively to others who are different from themselves.
I know, of course, that people slice and dice variety in people in dozens of different ways, and I don't believe any one of them is a complete explanation. This page will give a little more information on Dr. Rohm's approach. If you have a chance, listen to some of Dr. Rohm's available video clips on youtube or elsewhere.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
8:28 PM
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