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Acts of giving thanks (Guest Writer: Walt Martzen)

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I've asked my son Walter to write a short thank you to everyone as well as further share my meal train link. Please enjoy, and happy holidays! My parents and I have felt your love, thank you! 💓 Something I observe is that in our modern world, simple acts can get overlooked in their ability to convey the most intimate and life-sustaining messages. Acts like these can seem simplistic or cliché or mushy or redundant, but they aren’t. They are the building blocks of connection, relationships, family, and community. It’s why my dad’s persimmon cookies don’t taste the same when someone else makes them, or why my mom’s soups really do seem to have magical elixir properties. When the spirit of God is with us, so is the spirit with the presence, gifts, and service that we make.  This might be new information for some, but my dad began at-home hospice recently to match his increasing medical needs. It's been a difficult new adventure for him and all of us, with many challenges yet oppor...
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Aragorn and the vocation of lament

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We first meet Aragorn as a tall, scruffy-looking guy, lurking in the shadows at the Prancing Pony, where Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, just beginning their journey, had stopped in for the night.  Initially in  Lord of the Rings , Aragorn was known to the locals only as Strider, probably because of his long legs. Since little else was known about him, it was assumed he was up to no good. Barliman Butterbur, the proprietor,  advised the hobbits to steer clear of him. Ironically, the man turns out to the direct descendent of Isildur, one of the great kings of old, and he was not just lurking in the shadows.  He and his Dunedain clan had been watching over and protecting the region from rising forces of evil, until that day when his true vocation would be revealed. Most of us have have had jobs of some sort to make money, to put food on the table, and a house where you can put the table.  But a vocation is a perspective that gives meaning to our activity, wheth...
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In praise of caregivers

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Today I celebrate caregivers.   Caregivers are volunteer or paid persons who care for someone who is ill or disabled, and sometimes advocate for them. I especially celebrate family members who are caregivers. Of course, parents spend years as caregivers for their children. Eventually, the roles reverse, and children often become caregivers in their parents’ last years. Spouses often end up as caregivers for each other.  Chin Cheak Yu, my wife of 32 years, is now my caregiver.     She reminds me that her gift of caring starts with the wedding vows - "for richer, for poorer, for sickness and in health."  We are a retired clergy couple, so we are both professionals in our field, and, up until recently, we have both shared the load at home, from cooking to cleaning to finances. Not now. While I can still take care of my basic needs, my breathlessness now makes most other household tasks practically impossible. I have to move slowly to conserve energy, and the slight...
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Merry, Pippin and agency

I enjoy watching Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck and Peregrine "Pippin" Took mature in Tolkien’s  Lord of the Rings  saga.  More than anyone else, these two young hobbits who follow Frodo and Sam from the Shire in their quest to return the ring, develop a strong sense of agency that makes important contributions to the plot.   Unlike other hobbits, Merry and Pippin actually looked forward to the adventure, though they had little idea of what they were getting into.  Nevertheless, for much of the story, they see themselves as useless baggage, because they don't have much experience, they don’t quite get the seriousness of the journey, and they make some unfortunate blunders.   Things changed when, through a series of mishaps, they ended up instigating the Ents (tree herders) to take on Saruman, the great wizard who was clearcutting the forest. From there they each ended up pledging service to the allied leaders, the King of Rohan for Merry and the Stew...
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CLOC Club and adapting to the ongoing adventure

I recently received an invitation to a reunion for the CLOC Club.  That invitation took me back to the school year, 1976-77.  It was my second year at Reedley College.  Reedley is a Jr. or Community college, and it easy access for those of us who hadn't quite made up their minds yet, or just needed to save some money.  It took just 15 minutes to drive there from my parents' home.  That year I was also president of the CLOC Club. The letters stand for Christian Living on Campus, and its a chapter of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.  We met twice a week for large group meetings and small group Bible study.  We also held several events, a weekend camp and a street theatre presentation of Noah's Ark by the Lamb's Players of San Diego.  While many of my friends scattered to distant regions after Reedley College, many of the CLOC Club members from those days stayed in close contact, and we tried to get together periodically.   I was happy fo...
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Conservation of Energy

My new phrase: conserve energy.   Yesterday we met with the Palliative Medicine folks at Kaiser Bellflower.  They gave us a lot of attention, heard my story, offered resources, invited us to call or message them with any further queries, and got me a wheelchair.  Conserve your energy, the doctor said. Don't walk if you don't have to.    Palliative care is not the same as hospice, which is for the patients who are not expected to live much longer. Because my goal remains to get a lung transplant, palliative care provides more holistic care to ensure my well-being along the way.  I am grateful that Kaiser has a palliative care department.  There are no drastic changes in my condition.  I can sense a slight deterioration of my lung condition, though the Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor is helping me sleep better.  I will be investigating another gut issue, whether I have small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). We opted to go for the...
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The seige of Gondor and my health condition

Possibly the darkest part point in the Lord of the Rings trilogy occurs in chapter 4 of third volume, The Return of the King .  The great city of Gondor is under siege. From the standpoint of Pippin, one of four Hobbits who were part of the expedition of the Ring, it must have appeared hopeless.  Sworn to serve the Steward of of City since his arrival with Gandalf, he has been able to observe the siege. Led by the chief of the Nazgul, the enemy has swarmed and burned the fields around the city and breached the first wall. The Riders of the Rohan, who were supposed to come to Gondor's aid, have not yet shown up.  Aragorn, who was expected to come and claim his rightful authority, has disappeared into the fateful paths of the dead.  Frodo is rumored to be wandering in dangerous territory on the edge of Mordor. Pippin has also watched with alarm the Lord Denethor's shift from pessimism to despairing fatalism when his remaining son, Faramir, is brought to him unconsciou...
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