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Loss –
grief – change. Cousins, all. They follow one another like “And also
with you” follows “The Lord be . . .” (do I even have to finish it?).
Let me
tell you about Mr. Dunkle. He is associated with one of my first
memories of those three words impacting my life. Mr. Dunkle was my
music teacher, from fifth grade up into senior high. He was also a
friend. He took me under his wing, taught me the proper way to breathe
and sing, helped me understand diction in singing, and nurtured a love
of music in me. He led me to two district choruses, one state chorus
and many opportunities to use this gift in service, both in church and
in our community.
It was the
summer going into my senior year when Mr. D told me that he wouldn’t be
coming back to the high school next year. He had felt a calling to do
missionary work for the Church of the Brethren and would be going to
Japan to teach music and English there. I was devastated. It was the
year every student looks forward to, and one of my major mentors would
be gone. It was the biggest loss I had ever felt.
Although I
didn’t have the words for it then, it was grief I was feeling. Things
were about to change, and I didn’t like it one bit. There would be a
new music director and I was President of the Glee Club and would need
to work with her, while missing Mr. D.
So, as a
result, I realized I had choices to make. Do I continue singing in the
chorus, or just quit? Do I find a way to continue to use the gifts in
music I was given and that Mr. D helped bring to light, or do I ignore
those gifts, choose not to use them, and let them wither without the
light of day?
You see,
Mr. D left me with a choice. Do I honor his legacy, dedication and love
of music, or do I just stop my involvements in music, glee club, school
musicals, and church choir?
But if I
had done the later, I would have done more than lose Mr. D. I would
have lost all he taught, nurtured, stood for, and passed on. I would
have dishonored his memory and dismissed his legacy in my
grief-reaction.
Do I need
to spell out the parallels here to Trinity Lutheran Church? You were
served faithfully and with extreme excellence by a pastor for many
years, who understood his calling to be the preaching and teaching of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He accomplished that with dedication and
passion.
And now,
TLC has a choice, just like I did – to honor the legacy and see beyond
the loss, or to dishonor his memory and forget “what” Pastor H preached,
taught, and lived all those years, because the loss, grief, and change
it brings are too much to face.
Is Trinity
Lutheran Church different without Pastor Hardy? Of course: yes and
no. Yes, his presence, gifts and personality are surely and sorely
missed. But the Gospel is still being proclaimed, the sacraments are
still faithfully presented, and the love of God is still being passed on
through the many outreach ministries of this place.
So, my
prayer for you: that this shared mission will continue far into the
future, so that new generations will hear of the love and grace of God
known in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. I’ll do
my part. What choice have you made?
The Reverend Glenn E. Ludwig |