Funeral Sermon for Mildred Stensrud

 

Funeral Sermon for Mildred Joan Stensrud, by Pastor Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson, based on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; 1 Corinthians 13; and John 14:1-6, July 13, 2026, at Ryley Community Centre.

God’s ways are not our ways. God’s time is not always the same as our time. No one in this room today could have predicted that it was time for Mildred to get into a motor vehicle accident, which for her would result in death. And yet, and yet, our Bible passage from Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a right time for everything—a time to be born, a time to die, and a time for every stage of life, and a time for every experience of life between birth and death. 

For Mildred, after birth, there was a time for childhood, then a time for adolescence, a time for young adulthood, which involved a time to get married to her husband Walter, and time to give birth and raise her children, and times to watch them grow into adulthood, get married and raise Mildred’s grandchildren. There was a time to work on the farm, and times to enjoy the seasons of the natural world, times to plant seeds and watch them grow, and times to harvest gardens and crops. For Mildred, there were times to spend with family members—including her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, and great-great-great grandchildren! Mildred’s family were very important to her, and she loved spending time with them. 

For Mildred, there were times through the stages of life, to experience failures and successes, downs and ups, sorrows and joys. 

Throughout Mildred’s life, her faith in God was very important to her. Mildred devoted her time to living out her faith, and was an active member of Bethel Lutheran Church here in Ryley. She often, among other things, served as a communion assistant. The congregation shall certainly miss Mildred.

Mildred was a friendly, kind, loving person. She enjoyed socializing with her many friends, neighbours and members of the church. As she lived her faith and life journey, she reflected many of the qualities of love that the apostle Paul speaks of, in his what is often referred to as “the love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13. I like the way pastor and professor Eugene Peterson inThe Message paraphrases this passage. He puts it like this: “Love never gives up. Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best.” Paul goes on to say that the 3 greatest gifts of God are faith, hope and love, “and the greatest of these is love.” Mildred expressed these gifts of God—faith, hope and love in her actions, her relationships with her family, her fellow church members, her friends, and neighbours. She was able to do that because of her Christian faith in Jesus, who lived and died on the cross because he loves Mildred, and each one of us. Because he loves us, Mildred was, and we are able to love God and love others. 

For Mildred there were times to enjoy living to an old age, even though, of course, there were challenges that also came with growing older. As many in their 90s often feel that they have done everything in life that they needed to do, so they pray that God would take them home—so too, Mildred hoped and prayed that the Lord would take her to her eternal home. 

That brings us to our gospel passage from John. There are a couple of very important messages for us. Jesus gives those who trust in him, who believe in him, this promise: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” So the image of God’s eternal home is a very comforting one. God’s home with many dwelling places means that it is an inclusive home—there’s enough room for you, for me, for everyone! And, of course, God’s home is a place of unconditional love, for you, for me, for everyone. When our temporary home here on earth is a loving home, we feel accepted, safe, secure and loved—how much more we will be accepted, safe, secure and loved, and at peace in our heavenly home! 

Jesus goes on to speak further about our heavenly home with this promise: “If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” I’m sure that Mildred is filled with joy now as she meets up with her Lord and Saviour Jesus, whom she will be with eternally, along with those loved ones who have gone before her! 

The promise you and I share here today which Jesus gave us is this: when we mourn, when we grieve, we are comforted by Jesus and by our fellow Christians. We find out the strength and love that can come from our God. And we learn again that those who die in the Christian faith, the baptized believers, are provided for beyond the grave. 

Mildred, I’m sure, would want each one of you to have faith in God, to be involved in the life of the church, and to live out your faith in acts of loving-kindness. Trusting in God’s all-inclusive love, so that one day, you will be with your beloved Mildred again.

Remember: God hath not promised/Skies always blue,/Flower-strewn pathways/All our lives through./God hath not promised/Sun without rain,/Joy without sorrow,/Peace without pain./But God hath promised/Strength for the day,/Rest for the labour,/Light for the way,/Grace for the trials/Help from above/Unfailing sympathy/Undying love. (Poem by Annie Flint) For that thanks be to God! 

Book Review: The Classical Music Book

The Classical Music Book

Authors: Steve Collisson was the consultant, Katie Derham wrote the Foreword, and many other musicians, composers, professors of music, and writers contributed to this volume.

Publisher: Penguin Random House, hardcover, 352 pages, including: 8 chapters, Foreword, Introduction, Directory, Glossary, Index, Quote Attributions, and Acknowledgments

The authors/contributors are primarily from Britain and America, coming from a variety of musical backgrounds, skills and academic and experiential qualifications. 

Contents

In addition to the Foreword, Introduction, etc., the main body of this volume consists of 8 chapters, which focus on specific periods of musical history, they are: Early Music 1000-1400, Renaissance 1400-1600, Baroque 1600-1750, Classical 1750-1820, Romantic 1810-1920, Nationalism 1830-1920, Modern 1900-1950, Contemporary post-1950. In each of these chapters the writers highlight several composers, sometimes providing brief biographical sketches, and they analyze their compositions.

Significant Quotations mostly by Composers

“Music is the social act of communication among people, a gesture of friendship, the strongest there is” -Malcolm Arnold (p. 14). 

“We should sing Psalms on a ten-string psaltery” Ordo Virtutum (c. 1151), Hildegard of Bingen (p. 26).

“That is the nature of hymns—they make us want to repeat them” -Great Service (c. 1580/1590), William Byrd (p. 52).

“The end of all good music is to affect the soul” -Claudio Monteverdi (p. 67). 

“What the English like is something they can beat time to” Water Music, HWV 348-350 (1717), George Frideric Handel (p. 84).

“Handel is the greatest composer that ever lived...I would uncover my head and kneel down on his tomb” -Ludwig van Beethoven (p. 86). 

“Handel understands effect better than any of us—when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt” -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (p. 88). 

“The end and final aim of all music should be none other than the glory of God” St. Matthew Passion(1727), -Johann Sebastian Bach (p. 98). 

“Not “brook” [in German: Bach], but “sea” should he be called because of his infinite, inexhaustible richness in tone combinations and harmonies” -Ludwig van Beethoven (p. 101).

“One who has completely forgotten Christianity truly hears it here as Gospel” -Friedrich Nietzsche, commenting on J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (p. 103). 

“Ceaseless work, analysis, reflection, writing much, endless self-correction, that is my secret” -Johann Sebastian Bach (p. 110). 

“We must play from the soul, not like trained birds” Flute concerto in A major, WQ 168 (1753), Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (p. 120).

“A musician...must feel all the emotions that (s)he hopes to arouse in his (or her) audience” -C.P.E. Bach (p. 121). 

“Mozart’s music is so pure and beautiful that I see it as a reflection of the inner workings of the universe” -Albert Einstein (p. 131).

“We walk, by the power of music, in joy through death’s dark night” The Magic Flute (1791), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (p. 134). 

“I live only in my notes” Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, “Eroica,” OP 55 (1804), Ludwig van Beethoven (p. 138). 

“Music is truly love itself” Der Freischütz (1821), Carl Maria von Weber (p. 149). 

“My compositions spring from my sorrows. Those that give the world the greatest delight were born of my deepest griefs” -Franz Schubert (p. 153).

“To play a wrong note is insignificant. To play without passion is inexcusable” -Ludwig van Beethoven (p. 161). 

“To send light into the darkness of (wo)men’s hearts—such is the duty of the artist” -Robert Schumann (p. 168).

“I live in music like a fish in water” Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor (1868), Camille Saint-Saens (p. 179). 

“A symphony must be like the world, it must contain everything” Also Sprach Zarathustra (1896), Richard Strauss (p. 192). 

“If a composer could say what (s)he had to say in words, (s)he would not bother saying it in music”Das Lied Von Der Erde (1908-1909), Gustav Mahler (p. 198). 

“I am sure my music has a taste of cod fish in it” Peer Gynt (1875), Edvard Grieg (p. 208). 

“The more he saturated his mind with [Peer Gynt], the more clearly he saw that he was the right man for a work...so permeated with the Norwegian spirit” -Nina Hagerup, Grieg’s wife (p. 209). 

“The music of the people is like a rare and lovely flower” Symphony No. 9, “From The New World”(1893), Antonin Dvoṝák (p. 212).

“The art of music above all the other arts is expression of the soul” The Dream of Gerontius (1900), Edward Elgar (p. 218). 

“I want women to turn their minds to big and difficult jobs” The Wreckers (1904), Ethel Smyth (p. 231). 

“The whole English attitude toward women in fields of art is ludicrous....There is no sex in art. How you play the violin, paint, or compose is what matters” -Ethel Smyth (p. 237). 

“The expression “atonal music” is most unfortunate—it is on par with calling swimming “the art of not drowning” -Arnold Schoenberg (p. 243). 

“I haven’t understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it” Le Sacre Du Printemps (1913), Igor Stravinsky (p. 246).

“There is no difference in kind, but only in degree, between Beethoven and the humblest singer of a folk song” -Ralph Vaughan Williams (p. 253). 

“I have never written a note I didn’t mean” Parade (1917), Erik Satie (p. 256). 

“Life is a lot like Jazz...it’s better when you improvise” Rhapsody in Blue (1924), George Gershwin (p. 258). 

“Great music must come from the heart. Any music created by technique and brains alone is not worth the paper it is written on” -Maurice Ravel (p. 266). 

“If they cut off both hands, I will compose music anyway holding the pen in my teeth” -Dmitri Shostakovich (p. 277). 

“My faith is the grand drama of my life. I’m a believer, so I sing words of God...I give bird songs to those who dwell in cities...and paint colours for those who see none” -Olivier Messiaen (p. 282).

“So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning” -Aaron Copland (p. 286). 

“Composing is like driving down a foggy road” Peter Grimes (1945), Benjamin Britten (p. 288).

“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas; I’m frightened of the old ones” 4’33”(1952), John Cage (p. 302).

“Repetition is based on body rhythms, so we identify with the heartbeat, or with walking, or with breathing” -Karlheinz Stockhausen (p. 306). 

“The role of the musician...is perpetual exploration” Pithoprakta (1955-1956), Iannis Xenakis (p. 308).

“Once you become an ism, what you’re doing is dead” In C (1964), Terry Riley (p. 312).

“A Western tone walks horizontally but a tone of the shakuhachi rises vertically like a tree” -Toru Takemitsu (p. 315). 

“I was in that generation of people who could look beyond the borders of Europe and North...and South America” -Philip Glass (p. 321). 

“This must be the first purpose of art...to change us” Apocalypsis (1977), R. Murray Schafer (p. 322). 

“My music is written for ears” L’Amour De Loin (2000), Kaija Saariaho (p. 325). 

“I don’t think you should have to know anything about my music, or anything about music in general, to enjoy it...I look at music as a mirror” – Jennifer Higdon (p. 326).

The only critique I have of this volume is that it should have included more female composers, and composers from other nations and continents of the world! 

The Weekend in Black & White - June 12, 2026

 

                                                                            Pelicans on Mirror Lake

                                                        For Weekend in Black & White

The Weekend in Black & White - May 16, 2026

 

 

                                    Harpist playing requests for restaurant customers.

                      For the weekend in black and white

Brief Book Review: Daily Readings with a Modern Mystic

Brief Book Review: Daily Readings with a Modern Mystic: Selections from the Writings of Evelyn Underhill

Author: Delroy Oberg, editor

Publisher: Darton Longman & Todd, and Twenty-Third Publications, softcover, 179 pages, including: Acknowledgments, Dedication, Chronology, Introduction, 13 chapters, an Epilogue, Notes, and Sources

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Authors 

Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), an Anglican by faith, was a British, 20^th century pioneer author, scholar, lecturer, retreat leader, and spiritual director. A prolific author, she was one of the first women in the 20^th century to study and publish works on mysticism and spirituality. She studied at King’s College, the University of London, and later lectured there, as well as at Oxford University, and the University of St. Andrews. The Roman Catholic lay theologian, Baron Friedrich von Hügel was her spiritual director.

The editor of this volume, Delroy Oberg, has written numerous articles about Evelyn Underhill’s life and work. She is a teacher and tutor. She has a BA, BEd and an MLittStud, with her thesis titled ‘The Spirituality of Evelyn Underhill.’ Oberg lives in Queensland, Australia. 

Contents

Each of the chapters focus on a theme or themes in the spiritual and mystical life, and Delroy Oberg provides introductions to the chapters. The chapters consist of citations from Evelyn Underhill’s works. The chapter themes and titles are as follows: 1 Saints And Mystics, 2 The Spiritual Life And Mysticism, 3 The Church, 4 Homeliness, 5 Time Given To God: Retreats, 6 The Eucharist, 7 Prayer, 8 The Stages Of Prayer, 9 Prayer And Belief, 10 Intercession, 11 War And Peace, 12 Letters Of Direction, 13 The Cross, 14 Epilogue is Oberg’s very brief summary sketch of Underhill’s spiritual and mystical life, and those that were “pleased” with Underhill’s life and works. 

Three Quotations

To stimulate the curiosity of readers of this short review, as an encouragement to read this volume, here are three quotations from Underhill’s works. 

The first one is from chapter 2, and comes from Underhill’s The Spiritual Life, pp. 30-32: “Indeed, if God is All and His Word to us is All, that must mean that He is the reality and controlling factor of every situation, religious or secular; and that it is only for His glory and creative purpose that it exists. Therefore our favorite distinction between the spiritual life and the practical life is false” (p. 28). 

The second quotation is from chapter 7, and comes from Underhill’s The House of the Soul, pp. 110-11: “For real prayer is simply the expression and the experience of Faith, Hope, and Charity, each penetrating and enhancing the other, and merging to form in us that state of energetic and loving surrender, in which our spirits have according to their measure communion with the Spirit of God” (p. 97). 

The third quotation is from chapter 13, and comes from Underhill’s The School of Charity, pp. 59-60: “Every Christian is required to be an instrument of God’s rescuing action; and His power will not be exerted through us except at considerable cost to ourselves. Muzzy, safety-first Christianity is useless here. We must accept the world’s worst if we are to give it of our best” (p. 171). Given “the world’s worst” today, there are infinite opportunities for every Christian “to be an instrument of God’s rescuing action”! 

Book Review: Time’s Echo: Music, Memory, and the Second World War

 

Time’s Echo: Music, Memory, and the Second World War 

Author: Jeremy Eichler

Publisher: Vintage Books A Division of Penguin Random House LLC, softcover, 386 pages, including: Prelude, Part I, Part II, Coda, Acknowledgements, Notes, and Index

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

Contents 

Part I contains Chapter One: Emancipating Music; Chapter Two: Dancing in the Thorns; Chapter Three: Torn Halves; Chapter Four: Beneath the Waves; Chapter Five: The Emancipation of Memory; Chapter Six: Moses in Albuquerque; Part II contains Chapter Seven: From the Other Shore; Chapter Eight: Angels of History; Chapter Nine: The Light of Final Moments; Chapter Ten: Monuments; Coda: Listening to Lost Time.

The Author 

Jeremy Eichler is a writer, scholar, critic, and educator, and served as chief classical music critic for The Boston Globe. He teaches music history and public humanities at Tuft University. He earned his PhD in modern European history at Columbia University.

Brief Observations 

In his Prelude: In the Shade of the Oak, Eichler contrasts the tragic irony of Germany’s great poet, Goethe enjoying a banquet-like breakfast in the shade of an oak tree, where the Nazis built the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Eichler also states in the Prelude: “The role of music in particular as an “unconscious chronicle”--as a witness to history and as a carrier of memory for a post-Holocaust world—is the subject of this book” (p. 7). 

The author focusses, in particular, on these four composers: Arnold Schoenberg and his A Survivor from Warsaw, Richard Strauss and his Metamorphosen, Benjamin Britten and his War Requiem, and Dmitri Shostakovich and his Babi Yar. Eichler provides some of the social, political and musical contexts that influenced these four composers and their works. He also goes into detail explaining and analyzing the four compositions, and cites other art, music, and cultural pundits, politicians, and others who commented on the four works—indeed, there are some fairly extensive citations in this volume. Eichler also personally interviewed people such as Shostakovich’s third wife. Thus a substantial amount of research went into Time’s Echo.

One of the haunting ironies Eichler underscores is that even though these four composers and their four compositions were accepted by many as part of the status quo, they were perhaps more implicitly than explicitly critiques of the status quo. 

Eichler suggests possibilities will open: “...when we attempt to hear music as culture’s memory” (p. 15). He also states: “...this book is also implicitly an argument for what I call deep listening—that is, listening with an understanding of music as time’s echo” (p. 15).

The author underscores the irony of the Jewish composer, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy popularizing German music by first conducting J.S. Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion in 1829, and later as the conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig—a post he held for the rest of his life.

Another irony, according to Eichler, was that Arnold Schoenberg, a Jew, was influenced by Richard Wagner, an anti-Semite.

Both Arnold Schoenberg and Arnold Rosé converted to Protestantism in the evangelical church on the Dorotheegasse in Vienna. In the case of Schoenberg, it was one year after a pogrom in Vienna.

During World War I, Schoenberg composed an oratorio Die Jakob sleiter (Jacob’s Ladder), which he didn’t finish. His spiritual distress during World War II led him back to this work.

In 1919, British composer John Foulds composed World Requiem for all who mourned those who died in World War I. 

In World War I, German Jews fought along with the Germans, hoping the latter would accept them as equals. Instead, the German Jews were blamed for losing the war—they were scapegoated, claiming that they undermined and sabotaged the German forces.

In 1921, Schoenberg discovered the twelve-tone method of composition. He employed dissonance, contributing to the atonal nature in his works. During the 1920s, he was widely acclaimed and became quite popular as a musician across Europe and internationally. 

Schoenberg’s opera Moses und Aron is described by Eichler and he speculates about why Schoenberg did not finish composing the music for the final act. With the growing anti-Semitism under Hitler and the Nazis in the early 1930s, Schoenberg left Germany never to return. 

According to Eichler: “Strauss composed Metamorphosen, regarded today as an iconic masterwork of twentieth-century music, between August 1944 and March 1945 for the conductor Paul Sacher’s Collegium Musicum Zürich” (p. 105). Eichler also describes the work, suggesting there are elements of mourning and: “...a direct quotation from the sublimely tragic funeral march of Beethoven’sEroica Symphony” (p. 105). 

Arnold Schoenberg had converted to Lutheranism to be accepted by Germans. However, in 1933, with the growing anti-Semitism of the Nazis, he took refuge in France, and converted to Judaism, and supported Jewish nationalism. Also in 1933, he decided to move to the U.S.A. He had, before many others, prophetically foresaw the mass destruction of the European Jews, urging them to take refuge in safe nations.

Eichler points out that some countries tried to forget the Shoah. “In the United States, Elie Wiesel’s now iconic testimony [Night] was rejected by more than fifteen publishers” (p. 159). 

The author describes the world premiere of Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw by the amateur Albuquerque Civic Orchestra, conducted by Kurt Frederick as a success, and it was actually performed twice in that concert. Eichler also discusses how Schoenberg’s score was performed, accepted and critiqued in other places.

In Eichler’s discussion of the Holocaust memorialization, he states: “Art remembers what society would like to forget. It does so uniquely in ways that link mind, heart, and spirit” (p. 174). 

The author provides some biographical information on Benjamin Britten and analyzes some of his music. Britten’s War Requiem includes World War I poetry by Wilfred Owen, and was influenced by Verdi’s Requiem. It was commissioned for the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral. Ironically, Britten was a pacifist, yet in War Requiem, he memorialized the war dead. 

When Leningrad was under siege by the Germans on the day that the Germans thought they would end the siege and occupy Leningrad, the city’s musicians played Dmitri Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, and directed the loudspeakers toward the German troops as an act “...of both cultural pride and sonic-psychological warfare” (p. 248). 

Even though Shostakovich was an atheist and not a Jew, he included Jewish musical themes in some of his compositions.

Yevgeny Yevtushenko wrote the poem “Babi Yar,” and Shostakovich placed “Babi Yar” as his first movement of his Thirteenth Symphony. He also included other Yevtushenko poems in the score’s other movements. 

Eichler, like other compositions, describes “Babi Yar,” and how it was viewed by pundits and the Soviet government. 

Babyn Yar is the place where some 60,000 Jews and around 40,000 others were murdered by the Nazis. It has changed a few times since World War II, depending on the political ideology, as have the monuments at the site. 

Shostakovich eventually became a member of the Communist Party, yet, ironically, some viewed him as a secret dissident because of his Thirteenth Symphony.

Both Britten’s War Requiem and Shostakovich’s Babi Yar premiered in 1962, and the composers realized that they were quite similar. Both admired each other’s compositions, visited and corresponded with each other. According to Eichler: “...Britten and Shostakovich also shared a conception of a larger social mission for their art in society” (p. 271).

Perhaps it was providential that as Britten was dying in Aldeburgh, England, Leonard Bernstein was conducting the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Shostakovich’s Fourteenth Symphony,which incorporated death themes. 

In this volume, Eichler also discusses the, at times, complex and even controversial connections involving memory and monuments. 

Musicians, composers, and historians will most likely benefit the most from this volume. 

The Weekend in Black & White - February 7, 2026

 

                

                                                                          Canmore

                                 For the Weekend in black & White

Wordless Wednesday - January 7, 2026

 

                                                       For Wordless Wednesday

The Weekend in Black & White - December 12, 2025

 

                                           A cloudy winter day.

                                For the weekend in Black & White

Wordless Wednesday - November 5, 2025

 

                                                    For Wordless Wednesday

Funeral Sermon for Rose Ross

With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation. Psalm 91:16

Funeral Sermon for Rose Philomene Ross, Bethel Lutheran Church, Ryley, AB, October 30, 2025, one o’clock by Pastor Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson, based on Psalm 91:14-16 and Matthew 5:14-16. 

Even though I never had the privilege of meeting Rose Philomene Ross, the first thing that comes to my mind, after learning about her from her family is the phrase “blessed to be a blessing.” Rose was blessed in so many ways, and her life, in turn, was a blessing for others. Indeed, Rose lived a long, happy, and useful life, she has put so much goodness, kindness, love and service for others into her years. 

Speaking of long life, the psalmist reassures us that God blesses us, and God blessed Rose with this promise: “I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honour them. With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation.”

I’m sure God was with Rose in troubled times, and enabled her to get through those troubled times by rescuing her from difficult situations. God honoured Rose too with a life filled with meaning and purpose in order that she could do all of the things she did that made such a difference in her family members lives and the lives of others too. God blessed Rose by giving her the gift of long life. Just as the older palm trees produce the best tasting dates; and just as old wine produces the best taste; so Rose’s long life was a productive one. The Lord gave her many, many years to be productive, and she was—working hard on the farm, in her home, and as the head housekeeper at Tofield Hospital. 

That brings us to our passage from the Gospel of Matthew, which is part of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. I’d like to share the way Eugene Peterson in The Message renders this passage. Jesus said: “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” 

During the course of Rose’s 100 years of life, she did shine. She offered her loved ones, friends, neighbours, and probably even strangers hospitality, kindness, a calmness bringing peace and strength in difficult times, she was a mentor for her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great, great grandchildren, offering words of wisdom and inspiration, and sharing special times with them, often over cookies she made along with tea. 

The words of verse 16 in the NRSV are spoken during baptisms, they instruct all baptized Christians to: Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

Just as Jesus, in the Gospel of John says: “I am the light of the world” (8:12), as his followers through our baptism, we too are called to be lights in this world. The image that comes to mind is a sunset. You know if you’ve watched sunsets that right after the sun goes down, there is still a bit of an afterglow, rays of light. So in death we think of life’s afterglow. Every life leaves after life’s day is over some inspiration of goodness, beauty, truth, love and grace, that remains to comfort and sustain those with sorrowing hearts. So too, Rose’s long life afterglow will remain with you. So thanks be to God for giving Rose the gifts of: kindness, hospitality, a peaceful calmness, a strong work ethic, contentment, a servant heart, and most of all love. By God’s grace, may these gifts remain with you, so that you, like Rose, can let your light shine, and one day you’ll see her in her permanent home with the Lord. 

Brief Book Review: Paul for Everyone: 2 Corinthians

Paul for Everyone: 2 Corinthians 

Author: Tom Wright

Publisher: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and Westminster John Knox Press, paperback, 164 pages, including an Introduction, Map, and Glossary

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author 

At the time of this publication, Tom (N.T. Wright) was the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England. A prolific author and noted New Testament scholar, Wright was named by Christianity Today as one of the top five theologians in the world. He has written over thirty books, both at the scholarly level (including Jesus and the Victory of God and The Resurrection of the Son of God) and for a popular audience (including The Meal Jesus Gave Us).

Brief Observations 

In his “For Everyone” New Testament series, Tom Wright states that he has deliberately written “for everyone,” and not for religious and intellectual elites. Therefore he does not include footnotes and Greek words. Rather, there is a Glossary of pertinent words and phrases, containing simple descriptions of them. However, words that Wright has omitted, which this reader believes are very significant are: sin, evil, hope, joy, and thanksgiving. One wonders why he failed to include them?

His own translation of 2 Corinthians, which seems somewhat folksy, reminds this reader a bit of Eugene Peterson’s The Message. Yet one may quibble about the occasional passage, even though Wright does try to remain faithful to the original text in his translation. 

All-in-all though, this wee volume is a worthwhile read. Wright’s prose is easy to read, inspiring and insightful—he reminds me here a lot of the William Barclay commentaries, which perhaps inspired him. I especially appreciated his opening each segment with a down-to-earth contemporary example, which preachers and laity will appreciate for sermons and Bible studies. 

Book Review: Great Canadians

Great Canadians: Twelve Profiles of Extraordinary People 

Author: Angela Murphy

Publisher: Folklore Publishing, paperback, 142 pages, including Acknowledgements, Introduction, and Notes on Sources

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author 

Angela Murphy, at the time of this volume’s publication, was, among other things, a full-time writer with an extensive and varied background in education. She held positions as a university lecturer, public school administrator and curriculum consultant before deciding to pursue a career in writing. She has written children’s books, magazine articles, and as a freelance literary reviewer for Canadian newspapers. Her previous book, Notorious Escapades, was one of the first books in the Great Canadian Stories series.

Contents

In addition to the Acknowledgements, Introduction, and Notes on Sources, there are 12 chapters. The chapters include: Chapter 1: Margaret Atwood, Chapter 2: Tommy Douglas, Chapter 3: Terry Fox, Chapter 4: Wayne Gretzky, Chapter 5: Sir John A. MacDonald, Chapter 6: Nellie McClung, Chapter 7: Marshall McLuhan, Chapter 8: Emily Murphy, Chapter 9: Lester B. Pearson, Chapter 10: Louis Riel, Chapter 11: David Suzuki, Chapter 12: Pierre Elliott Trudeau. 

In her Introduction, Murphy observed five “common threads” present in the lives of these 12 Canadians. Readers will notice that of the 12, only 3 of them are women. At the end of her Introduction, after providing a number of reasons why more women were not included in this volume, Murphy states: “If you would like to suggest names for a future book on Great Women of Canada, please forward your ideas by e-mail...” (pp. 10-11). There is, in this Great Canadian Stories series, a volume entitled Canadian Women Adventurers: Stories Of Daring & Courage, by Tamela Georgi & Lisa Wojna. 

One of the features of this volume, which yours truly appreciated was a quotation attributed to each of the “Great Canadians” at the beginning of each chapter. Margaret Atwood’s reveals the quintessential Canadian trait of doing what one does without making a fuss or drawing attention to one’s self: “I am a writer, and a reader, and that’s about it” (p. 12). Sir John A. MacDonald’s highlights his sense of humour in the face of difficulties: “Be philosophical, and if Fortune empties a chamber pot on your head, just smile and say, ‘We are having a summer shower’” (p. 45).

Brief Observations

To encourage readers of this review to read this volume, here is a tidbit from each of the 12 extraordinary people. 

In addition to being a highly acclaimed novelist, poet, and literary critic, Margaret Atwood has been a peace and social justice advocate for Amnesty International and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Tommy Douglas was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, and may have had his leg amputated. However, a doctor performed an experimental surgery for free, which saved Tommy’s leg. Tommy may have been highly motivated to introduce medicare in Canada because of that free surgery. 

Terry Fox’s 5376 kilometre Marathon of Hope raised $24.7 million dollars for cancer research, and his legacy lives on around the world as people in 60 countries run every year to raise money for cancer research.

In the 1980s, Wayne Gretzky won the NHL Hart Trophy every year for 8 years as most valuable player, as well as the Art Ross Trophy as NHL’s leading scorer 6 years in a row. 

In addition to Sir John A. MacDonald’s political vicissitudes, his 13 month-old son died, his first wife Isabella Clark struggled with her health and eventually died, and his daughter Mary that he had with his second wife, Susan Agnes Bernard, was physically and mentally disabled, and his law practice went bankrupt. All of these factors led him to turn to the bottle. 

Nellie McClung had a life-long passion for reducing the inequalities between girls and boys, women and men, and was one of the famous five who successfully advocated for women to gain the right to vote and be regarded as persons. In addition to being a wife, mother, teacher, and social justice advocate, Nellie was also a successful author, and the first woman to become a member of the CBC board of governors in 1936.

Marshall McLuhan was an intellectual’s intellectual. He earned a BA and PhD from the University of Cambridge, was a professor and expert on the media and communication, and became a Roman Catholic convert. 

Emily Murphy was the first woman magistrate in the British Empire, and a member of the famous five. She was also the first female on the Edmonton Hospital Board, an author who, among other things, wrote popular articles under the pen name, “Janey Canuck.” 

Lester B. Pearson was the son of a Methodist minister. He studied at Oxford University, became a lecturer at the University of Toronto, met and married one of his students, Maryon Moodie, and in addition to becoming Prime Minister of Canada, he was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Louis Riel was a Métis spiritual and political leader. Even though Riel was regarded as a rebel and hanged as a traitor, his legacy lives on today as a hero who was a social justice advocate for his people. 

David Takayoshi Suzuki, even though being of Japanese descent, could not speak Japanese. His fishing trips, exploration of pristine forests and lakes and camping with his father most likely inspired David to learn more about the natural world and become a world-famous scientist and television personality. A long time spokesperson for environmental protection and preservation, David, along with his second wife Tara Cullis, also a scientist, created the David Suzuki Foundation. 

Pierre Elliott Trudeau, in addition to being Prime Minister of Canada, was the son of Jean-Charles Emile Trudeau, a millionaire Montréal lawyer. Pierre travelled widely around the globe. He went on a walking tour of Europe, the Middle East and Asia. 

This volume will inspire those interested in Canadian history. 

Wordless Wednesday - August 27, 2025

                                                             Pow-Wow

                                   For Wordless Wednesday

Weekend in Black & White - August 1, 2025

 

 The 7 Sacred Teachings of Indigenous Peoples

             For Weekend in Black & White

Book Review: Faceless Killers

 

Faceless Killers

Author: Henning Mankell

Publisher: Vintage Books, paperback, 298 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author 

Henning Mankell, at the time of this volume’s publication, was the prize-winning and internationally acclaimed Swedish author of the Inspector Wallander Mysteries, popular throughout Europe. Eventually, there were film and T.V. adaptations of his Kurt Wallander novels. He was a left-wing political social activist, and devoted much of his time to working with Aids charities in Africa, where he was also director of the Teatro Avenida in Maputo. He was married four times. His last wife, Eva Bergman, is the daughter of film director Ingmar Bergman. Mankell died on 5 October, 2015. 

Kurt Wallander is the protagonist of this novel. He is a police inspector at Ystad, in southern Sweden. Wallander is separated from his wife Mona, and alienated from his daughter Linda. He comes across as a workaholic, and neglects his health—eating too much fast food, not getting enough sleep, and sometimes drinking too much. He feels guilty about not visiting his dad often enough, there is tension between them, and he communicates with his sister who lives in Stockholm only occasionally. 

Wallander and other police officers work together to try and solve the brutal murders of a farm couple, Johannes and Maria Lövgren. The last word Maria uttered before she died was “Foreign.” Wallander questions Lövgren’s farm neighbours, the Nyströms. However, they are unable to share many helpful leads. Wallander and the other police team members are concerned that the media will blow things out of proportion if they discover the murderers are foreigners—they are worried that such information would play into the interests of far right political organisations and individuals opposed to immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees. 

In the meantime, another murder is committed, someone has killed a Somali man. Wallander has a “hunch” about a former policeman who retired early. After Wallander’s surveillance of him, and his association with another chap, the Somali murder is solved relatively quickly. Both of them had connections with far right organisations. Once again the police are worried about how the media would cover the murder, and if their coverage would negatively stereotype the police as having far right political leanings. 

Wallander continues his investigation of the Lövgren murders, with the assistance of other police personnel. They discover that Johannes Lövgren had lived a rather secret life unbeknown to his neighbours, the Nyströms. During World War II, he had made a lot of money selling meat to the Germans. He also had an affair with Ellen Magnusson. Eventually, the police discover, after continuous denials, that Ellen and Johannes had a son, Erik Magnusson. Later, after incorrectly suspecting them, they discovered that neither Ellen nor Erik had anything to do with the Lövgren murders. 

Wallander and other police personnel spend more time hoping that the discovery of a Citroën car would lead them to the murderers. After coming to so many dead-ends in the investigation, Wallander is getting very discouraged and almost ready to give up. Time passes, and nothing significant happens. Then, working with a bank employee, a wee bit of information motivates Wallander that might help in solving the murders. I encourage readers to check out the novel in order to discover how it ends.