From Merv Thompson: Letter I

I asked Merv if he minded if I cut and pasted his letters into this little blog.  He said "Cut and Paste Away"  So here is letter I. 

 From Merv Thompson

I had an “aha” moment a few days ago.  Jackie heard an engaging story on PBS about an elderly Jewish woman who, for some time, had set aside one day a week to write letters to loved ones.  For her it was a kind of religious obligation, a way to stay in touch with God, with loved ones, with herself and with the wider world.  She also wanted to leave a written legacy to others that would remain after she was gone.

Not being elderly (no wisecracks allowed), or Jewish, or a woman, it might be a stretch to find something here of relevance for myself.  Also as a Lutheran, I am not usually focused on religious obligations, we are, after all, centered in grace.  Yet the idea of setting aside some time each week to write letters had some existential appeal for me, for a whole host of reasons.  Some random rationales came to mind:

I seem to have some inherited gifts of writing, both my father and grandfather were writers, a daughter is writing books and at least one grandchild (so far, Linnea), has talked about becoming a writer.  In addition, like so many Type A’s, I have done an inadequate job of keeping in touch  with friends and relatives over my adult life—the press of the urgent has crowded out the important.  But now, being semi-retired, I finally have some discretionary time, a huge gift by the way.  And serendipitously, just when my penmanship abilities are in rapid decline, which would be a huge disincentive to writing (and reading), computers and e-mail have come along to change the equation.

And finally, with tongue firmly in cheek, a most compelling reason for writing is that I want someone to notice when I die.  Of course I have no intention of doing so any time soon, but when the time comes, I figure that if a critical mass of people are receiving more or less regular correspondence from me some of them might at least pause and remember when the letters stop.  One can only hope.

There are a variety of groups I hope to communicate with through these letters, and with the exception of this introductory letter, the rest of them be directed at specific groups.  In other words, when I talk about family roots with  my cousins, I will not bore my pastor friends.  And when I talk about “vision, structure, staffing with pastor friends, I will not lay this on my high school friends.  So the groups I will be sending letters to include:

Immediate family: Jackie, Deanna and Neal, Noel and Ann, grandchildren Linnea, Suriya, Annika, Evan, Ethan.   Then to my Tverberg cousins, at one time we were 28, now a few less.  Concordia College classmates/friends.  Minnehaha Academy classmates/friends.  Other friends.  Pastor friends.

I am not sure what I will be writing about, but I hope the letters will be somewhat engaging to the readers; sometimes humorous, sometimes serious, rarely boring.  I am reminded of the old joke about someone who crossed a Lutheran with a Jehovah’s Witness.  The result, this person was now absolutely terrific at knocking on doors, but the problem was that he had nothing to say.”  Hopefully, as a Lutheran I will have something to say.

Normally I will not spent time on biographical stuff, this will not be an amplified Christmas letter.  But for those with whom I have not communicated with lately, here is an update of our family life:

Jackie and I moved to Big Pine Lake near Perham, MN. In the mid-1990’s and built what we thought would be our retirement home.  Big Pine was the same lake where Jackie spent her summers as a child, and where her brother had a cabin.  We loved lake living, and we saw how our children and grandchildren loved hanging out at the lake.  Minnesota has this strong “up north” tradition, and we were excited to be a part of that.

However, after a good deal of soul searching, we decided in 2007 to pack up and move back to theTwin Cities, where we had spent most of our married life.  The major reason was to be closer to family and friends, and not spend as much time in the car.  We bought a home in Apple Valley, near the entrance to the Minnesota Zoo, just ten minutes from Noel and Ann and twenty minutes from Deanna and Neal.  Since returning we have become Plan B for our grandchildren, which kicks in whenever Plan A does not work.  We are also less than an hour from Merv’s mother, Swanee, age 91, who lives right between Como Park and the Fairgrounds in St. Paul. 

Another reason for moving was that about the time I was going to retire from the senior pastor “24/7” commitment, I received a call to be on the pastoral staff of Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, Iowa.  This church was exploding in growth, in many ways similar to the church I had served in Burnsville.  I began working about two-thirds time, but have cut back over the years to about 4-5 days a month in Des Moines, and then working at home as needed.  Of course the drive to Iowa is much closer from the Twin Cities than from Big Pine Lake.

I have the perfect job description for someone 69 years old.  I mentor a group of pastors and lay staff members.  I do some staff leadership development, I preach very occasionally, and then I am kind of a writer in residence, writing books and articles.  I find my involvement with Lutheran Church of Hope to be especially energizing, and am in conversations to sign a 30-year contract (we have not yet agreed on the signing bonus, I am waiting to see the actual details of LeBron’s new contract).

Jackie is the”always Grandma.”  You have heard the quote “Grandma always remembers.”  She finds the best children’s books in the world whenever we visit a bookstore, and then loves to read them with the children.  She e-mails Linnea and Suriya, cooks with Annika, and makes puzzles and plays games with Evan and Ethan.  She plays duets on the piano with several of the children and helps them put together picture albums of our times together.  And she always has an extensive stock of nutritious food to share; fresh, organic, and pleasing to the diverse palates of the four adults and five children.

Also we moved back to  the Cities for a reason we did not know about at the time we returned, the shocking news we received in December, 2008, that Deanna had been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. Because we were living so close, we were able to drop most of what we were doing and make ourselves available to Deanna and her family during the first painful months.  When six months later subsequent tests showed that the breast tumor had miraculously disappeared, we experienced joy and thanksgiving beyond all measure.  This joy continues today as her cancer markers are well into remission territory, so we give thanks during every moment of every day.  Praise God!

We are also especially grateful in this time of recession and economic hardship for so many that all four of our “children” have good jobs which challenge and fulfill them.  Deanna continues to teach religion at Hamline University, Neal is an attorney with Dorsey-Whitney in Minneapolis, Noel is a district manager for Traveler’s Insurance in St. Paul, and Ann runs a Montessori School in Prior Lake, opening a new facility this summer.  We have enjoyed helping Noel and Ann move into this wonderful new building.

(Deanna and Neal).  Linnea, age 14, just completed the eighth grade at a St Paul Magnet School for gifted and talented students.  We were pleased we could attend several year-end functions.  Next year she will attend Central High School.  Younger sister Annika, age 11, will be in sixth grade at Horace Mann Elementary, then for seventh grade she is strongly considering Murray Junior High, which just happens to be the school where Grandpa Merv and his siblings all attended about a century ago. 

(Noel and Ann).  Suriya, age 13, Evan, age 11, and Ethan, age 7 are students at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in West St. Paul. Suriya, who will enter high school next year, is considering Cretin High School, which, for those who are not from here and would not know, is the alma mater of baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor and future Hall of Famer Joe Mauer.  Since there are three children and just two parents, Jackie and I often help out with transportation to piano lessons, school events, ballet, soccer and baseball games.  Their family love spending weekends at their lake cabin just north of Danbury, Wisconsin, which the rest of us also enjoy visiting

Enough, already.  I hope you will not mind receiving an epistle from me whenever the Spirit moves.  If I write a letter or two per week, this means you will probably received one every other month or so. Of course this will be heavily influenced by what else is going on in our lives, some of which we cannot control.  I also want to make it clear that I do not expect you to respond in kind.  I am not trying to start a movement or suggesting that anyone follow my lead.  This is simply my inner voice stirring.  Hopefully you will just receive it as a very modest gift. 

Thanks for your friendship over many years.  Blessings to you.

Me

 I hope some others with inner voices decide to make them outer voices.  I'm always ready to cut and paste, or maybe you'd like to eliminate the middleman and just post directly.  Pictures work too. 

Mike