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of our soul i pity those who have never been given the chance to love them like dale did she and doc had the naughty habit of disappearing to hawaii for several weeks during those unfortunate weeks of february okay i might have been a bit jealous we always counted the days down till their return but one year that didn t happen it was the first diagnosis of trouble i think she still tried to sing all through that time it reminded me of the old shaker hymn my life flows on in endless song above earth s lamentation i hear the real though far off hymn how can i keep from singing that was dale she couldn t keep from singing posted by william weedon at 2 20 pm no comments leroy renken i have so many of these to catch up on i haven t written much on the blog in ages leroy and bev have just been part of life at st paul s for a long long time i remember when we were going through a lean patch as far as finances go and i was a bit worried about how things would turn out leroy was working on something or other there in the basement he took me aside and told me pastor don t you ever believe that this church doesn t have the money to do whatever it needs to do that meant so much to me i stopped worrying well sort of and found out how very right leroy was the man was nothing if not meticulous he was a finishing carpenter you see and his attention to detail and making sure things were just so reflected a core component of his personality i don t think he tolerated good enough in any part of life these last few years have been tough his health hasn t been the greatest as his earthly tent began to fray whenever i served at a liturgy as he left i d ask him how he s doing his standard reply became i m still here i knew what he meant he was still alive but didn t feel like he was living as he had always been accustomed to and then bev ever the lady would give me that heart breaking smile of hers it s the long goodbye he knew it she knew it and i think their beloved children and grandchildren also knew it it was maundy thursday that stephanie wrote cindi trying to get a message through to pastor to let him know that leroy had had a stroke a bad one and that they couldn t do anything to repair its damage the other pastors on staff were all up front ready to begin the liturgy i look a message down to pastor right before the bell rang i came back up to choir with a heavy heart we only had two basses but when the other bass if pr daenzer i told him i was heading out to the hospital weird thing they moved slu hospital since the last time i was there i marveled at getting a good parking spot and then headed over only learn that i needed to huff it about two or three blocks i did so and after a little wait was shown back to leroy s room it was a blessing to pray with that dear man the commendation of the dying as i sang the nunc dimittis i think i heard bev ann and stephen joining in the long goodbye was coming to a close he made it through till easter though and then as pastor ball preached so comfortingly today he opened his eyes to his risen lord and began to experience the fulfillment of all god s promises he was always so proud of his grandkids but cole was the one i actually got to know i usually rib the lad about not carrying his horn with him all the time he is a great trumpeter the look on his face today as he left said it all he loved his grandpa and his grandpa loved him and there will be a hole in his heart for the rest of his days st paul s carries a bit of that hole too we ll remember leroy the precise man leroy the quiet man leroy the faithful worshipper who loved his jesus can t wait to see you again my friend christ is risen posted by william weedon at 1 54 pm no comments 07 april 2026 lois sander i sure never thought my next post on this blog would be this one rest eternal grant her o lord and let light perpetual shine upon her when my inlaws moved to town she and marvin marilyn and gary befriended them and played cards and dominoes with them eventually it was only lois and dave left of that crew they became very fast friends they both had children in maryland so they made the trip together a few times lois was the 3 4 grade teacher at our parish school when i arrived here in 1992 she would not retire before she had taught all my children i remember being a little worried about my son s distractedness she told me there s nothing wrong with that boy he ll be fine she said that they would be talking about something in class and she could see that she had lost him finally his hand would shoot up and he d ask about something they had covered 20 minutes prior the class would collectively groan but she said he d required time to think about it she was right he was fine she was thrilled i think that lauren followed her into the teaching vocation and when bekah and andy adopted kloe and emmett she couldn t have been more thrilled she attended their baptisms and commented to me all the time on kloe in particular what a wonderful young lady she had become she was like a grandma to all my children s children she came to nearly every single family event and during the horrible days of covid she was in our pod she dave cindi and i played more games of liverpool than any of us except dave wanted lois always hated hand number four where she frequently got clobbered and she didn t like it when the jokers didn t come her way most sundays we had brunch at the house she joined us she worked nonstop at our parish confirmation banners that was her specialty dinners for funerals she always had something cooked and helped with serving sewing up lwml quilts i think she s still got a ton of material in her house oh it never stopped she seemed to have a place there at st paul s and it s going to be really wretched to be there without her i ll not forget either the horrid day her niece rachel died giving birth she and marvin were just leaving when pr burdick called and i had to run out and break that unthinkable news to them we prayed together and wept together that day she was so proud of her two boys and she had every right to be they both flew into town and spent all her final hours with her she was blessed not only in david and jonathan but in maggie and sanna and the very joy of her life her grandchildren charles anya and eric she was proud of charles sticking up for lutheranism at his catholic high school and then when he went to notre dame she wore a shirt with their logo and made it up for some of the games she could tell you all about anya s not taking nonsense from anyone in soccer and about eric s brilliant and inquisitive mind all three of the grandchildren inherited more than their fair share of smarts from their ridiculously talented parents and she was so so proud of them and she delighted in the way her boys constantly teased each other jonathan sending david pictures of snakes and david sending jonathan pictures of spiders and how many times did she quote her mother in law to us i m just sitting here so you all can have a game lois you will be sorely missed you were such a good friend to us all i can t wait to see you again posted by william weedon at 2 12 pm 2 comments 04 december 2025 i got to talk about lutheran advent music with journalist terry mattingly here s the article he wrote the need for advent music playlists posted by william weedon at 9 31 am 1 comment 03 december 2025 scenes from a winter s day posted by william weedon at 3 47 pm no comments 26 november 2025 well you know it only took what six years for me to finally figure out that having ethernet in my study would be a good thing got it done today thank you madisontelco cindi and i love to sit in here in the evenings and it is such a delightful work space small and cozy but quite peaceful and i just love writing at the table that sat on my grandmother s back porch and where we shared many a meal as a family p s yes the rug is off center due to the electric fireplace and yes it bothers me every single day posted by william weedon at 3 22 pm 1 comment thanksgiving feast for jaime dear northern brother this is the menu this year pre feast deviled eggs half plain half topped with smoked salmon various cheeses and cheese balls and crackers feast the usual turkey smoked on grill gravy both regular and also a carnivore version rope sausages twice baked mashed potatoes sautéed mushrooms and bacon in a wine reduction broccoli casserole sweet tater casserole cranberries homemade light rolls after feast pumpkin pie apple pie chocolate pie dark chocolates pecan pie beverages whiskey wines water coffee served with various liqueur options and kid s wines this year we should be serving 20 or so posted by william weedon at 3 08 pm 1 comment 23 november 2025 homily for the last sunday of the church year 2025 in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen people loved by god did you notice the tension between the gospel reading and the hymn we just sang by pastor philip nicolai and on which bach wrote that marvelous cantata with the joyous duet we also just heard and also the prelude you see there s an edge to the gospel reading a warning implicit in it you hear it and begin to wonder am i like the wise or the foolish virgins do i have oil for my lamp what is the oil will i be ready when the bridegroom shows up but then you sang a hymn which simply assumed that you are not among the foolish but the wise it tells you to get ready to meet your bridegroom with the joy and confidence he will welcome you and usher you right into the wedding feast that has no end we enter all the wedding hall to eat the supper at thy call and therefore will we eternally sing hymns of praise and joy to thee i d like to ponder that tension with you by way of a quote that i encountered on x that s the old twitter i ve come to know and treasure posts my friend sarah makes she lives out on the east coast she wasn t raised lutheran but came to our church as an adult she wrote this a while back the thing i love so much about being lutheran is that i literally just live my life trying to love my neighbor as much as possible and i don t ever even contemplate my salvation like it s not even a question whether i will go to heaven not because i m an antinomian but because i know losing heaven would only happen if i intentionally chose to lose heaven there is no accidental way i will end up losing my salvation and that s pretty nice i smiled a big one when i read her words they provoked a lot of people online who just didn t like her confidence and tried to suggest that it was sinful presumption but she wasn t buying that she knew it wasn t presumption at all to simply trust the promises of salvation god makes in his word he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of our lord jesus christ philippians 1 or again as st paul so recklessly assured the thessalonians in today s epistle god has not destined us for wrath but to obtain salvation through our lord jesus christ 1 thes 5 9 so there s the key to the whole puzzle through our lord jesus christ it was in confidence in jesus and his sacrifice upon golgotha and the perfect righteousness he delivers in baptism that pastor nicolai wrote his two great hymns wake awake and o morning star he wanted to sing the assurance of god s salvation right down into the hearts of his members and he wanted them to sing that joy into each other in the face of the most horrific death and sorrow they didn t have to fear if they were wise or foolish provided only as sarah said they don t intentionally chose to lose heaven provided only you place yourself intentionally where the oil flows god takes care of keeping you in repentance and faith and bringing you home to the feast that never ends so notice that the two groups of virgins were alike in every point including falling asleep except for carrying the extra oil if you ask what the oil means in jesus parable an old lutheran study bible answers simply the oil is the gift of the holy spirit who through word and sacrament kindles faith love and all good preparing the heart for joyful service weimarische bibel werk i love that you see being a lutheran christian is as simple and joyous as this you plant yourself where the oil flows you live at the receiving end of the word and the sacraments and then you can trust that god will do everything to finish the good work he s begun in you he uses the preaching of his law to keep you humble so that you know you have zero righteousness that avails before him as isaiah said so graphically your righteousnesses are like a filthy menstrual rag your righteousness not your sin the best you can do not the worst the law will never let you believe that you can stand before god on the basis of your good actions it crushes that pride in you all the time as james said for the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of god s laws james 2 10 nlt the law humbles us all by showing that we all stand condemned but god also uses the preaching of his gospel to fill you with joy for it hands you jesus as the one who has perfectly fulfilled every demand of god s holy law for you and who has fully paid for all of your sin upon his cross and who gives you in his sacraments his own righteousness the preaching of law and gospel and the gifts of baptism absolution the eucharist these are the means by which the holy spirit is continually poured out upon you and through them he will do his work he will make you ready for that great day of the savior s appearing by keeping you in saving faith you just live where the oil flows where the holy spirit is given and he ll take care of the rest and that means that you can sing my beloved is mine and i am his and heaven is where you are certainly headed the great joy of the wedding feast is that you have a bridegroom who is exceedingly rich he became one with us and died in order to bear our poverty and our wretchedness and sin he now lives that you might become one with him and share in all the riches and treasures of his grace that s what he reaches you today at his banqueting table his holy altar so do not be afraid people loved by god keep on hearing jesus word and receiving all that he wants to give you in his means of grace and you will have oil enough and to spare but do fear wandering from his word and his sacraments because not one of us can sustain faith on our own faith can only be received not possessed and the means of receiving that faith is simply the faithful use of the means of grace yes my friend sarah nailed this one the joy of being a lutheran christian is that you don t need to worry about going to heaven he s covered that fully and completely you just need to make sure you always give a listen to his words both of law and gospel and that you joyfully receive all that he gives you and then it s his job to get you home and he will in the name of the father and of the son...