Prayers Please for missing couple and child...

I have a very important prayer request for a High Schoolmate of mine Myra Fees and her extended family.  Myra's daughter, her granddaughter, and the daughter's boyfriend along with their two dogs, were flying home in a small plane and they did not land as expected on Sunday afternoon. Nobody has heard from them since around noon on Sunday. Please pray that the rescue teams find them and get them home safe and sound. 

They were flying from California to Wyoming and have apparently gone down somewhere in central Utah.  The Utah Civil Air Patrol has been searching for them for the last several days but as of yet there is no trace of them.  The pilots that are out searching are of course flying low over rough terrain, so please pray for the rescuer's safety as well. 

I cannot imagine the families despair, 3 nights of worry and not knowing.  The granddaughter is only 9 so she's very young.  Such an awful time for Myra and her entire family please let her know that God's family is there for her in her darkest hour. Please raise a prayer for comfort and for guidance for the brave pilots out searching for their loved ones.

Thank you for your prayers!  Blessings to you!

LINK to News Article & Video

In His Absolute Grace & Loving Care,
Roy

Memories of Jesse

A year ago today my beloved friend and Mentor the Rev. Dr. Jesse Brown passed away.  Today I post in honor of his memory.  I have discussed Jesse several times in this blog and by now you've all determined that he occupies a special place in my heart.  At Jesse's service I was honored to be one of the select few asked to speak.  Jesse had many, many friends, colleagues, students and family who would have liked to have spoken and it was truly special to be asked to speak in their place.

Jesse's wife Kathy asked that I also read the 91st Psalm which was one of Jesse's favorites.

Jesse's library continues to nurture me and several times I have had 'odd' occurrences concerning his books.  I like to think that it's Jesse continuing to guide me from his place in Heaven.  I've told about each of them already so I'll just retell one now.  A few weeks back I preached down in Humboldt and I was preaching from the Lectionary.  So I went to Jesse's books to get a commentary that covers each of the weeks of the Lectionary.  In the book that covers the lessons for this year I turn to the week that I was to preach.  On that page was a bookmark placed there by Jesse.  It had some handwritten notes on it which sad to say I could not make out.  But still of all the pages in all the books to find the bookmark exactly where I needed to be (especially since this is a thick book!) was something that I took as a sign from my friend.

I truly miss Jesse and know that I always will...

Just a few days ago Jesse's longtime friend the Reverend Fred Ansel passed away down in Kansas.  Fred was for many years the Executive Minister for the American Baptist in Kansas.  Fred was here when Jesse passed away and in fact he was the first to get to the Hospice House when the nurse called to let the family know Jesse had passed.  I had been alone with Jesse praying over him when he passed and when I told Fred what had happened he said "Maybe I should have you pray over me."  Fred suffered from ALS and even then he knew his own time was short.  I'm sure he and Jesse are having some great conversations in Heaven right now.  God Bless them both!

Be the Blessing to this World!
In His Abiding and all Sufficient Love & Grace,
Roy


Psalm 91: Assurance of God's Protection (NRSV)

¹ You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
   who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,^*
2 will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress;
   my God, in whom I trust.’
³ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
   and from the deadly pestilence;
⁴ he will cover you with his pinions,
   and under his wings you will find refuge;
   his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of the night,
   or the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
   or the destruction that wastes at noonday. 

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
   ten thousand at your right hand,
   but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only look with your eyes
   and see the punishment of the wicked. 

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your refuge,^*
   the Most High your dwelling-place,
¹⁰ no evil shall befall you,
   no scourge come near your tent. 

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will bear you up,
   so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder,
   the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot. 

¹⁴ Those who love me, I will deliver;
   I will protect those who know my name.
¹⁵ When they call to me, I will answer them;
   I will be with them in trouble,
   I will rescue them and honour them.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy them,
   and show them my salvation.

I have included in it's entirety the speech I gave in Jesse's memory:

My name is Roy Karlen, the Reverend Doctor Jesse Brown, was my Mentor.  But more importantly to me, he was my dear friend.

Had you told me as a young man growing up on the prairie of west river South Dakota, the son of a cattle rancher and a bon-a-fide cowboy, that one day I would sit at the feet of and study with a man who not only received his Doctorate from but who also taught at Duke University; a man who was a Pastor, who taught at several seminaries, a man who attended Crozer Theological Seminary with Martin Luther King Jr., a man who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, and who not only touched the Dead Sea Scrolls but was the first person to translate portions of these same scrolls, well if you had told me these things... I would have thought you were crazy.

And if you had gone on to tell me that due to this same man's influence in my life I would decide to pursue a career as a Minister, well then I would have KNOWN you were crazy.

Yet this is exactly where I find myself today.

I first met Jesse at  a Bible Study at Sunset Hills Baptist Church, and for some reason even though our backgrounds were as different as one can imagine, we immediately recognized each other as kindred spirits in our Christian journeys.  We soon decided that we would like to form a more advanced Bible Study and so the "Brown Bible Study" was born.  Meeting in Jesse and Kathy's home we spent many evenings pouring over various biblical topics and writings.  A number of other people came and went from the group through the years, many of whom are here today.  But it was always Jesse and myself from the beginning to the end.

Jesse was first and foremost in this world a teacher. He loved to teach and I love to learn, so it was only natural that we should gravitate to one another.

Intellectually Jesse was a giant of a man, and though he far surpassed me both intellectually and academically, he always treated me as an equal.  For you see Jesse not only loved to teach but he was profoundly gifted at it, he knew well how to inspire and lead his students.

Most of what I received from Jesse was not material in nature, rather things stored here (pointing to head) and here (placing hand over heart).  But one of the material things he gave me was this book (holding book overhead) which I have used a great deal and anticipate using for many, many years to come.  However the most important thing to me is not the book itself but the inscription in the front.

To My Friend Roy.  Keep an open mind, a curious inquisitiveness, and a healthy skepticism of simplistic solutions!  May this book help you toward those ends.  Jesse

To me that handwritten message from Jesse is something I will comeback to time and time again in my lifetime, and it is worth far, far more than any material item he could have ever given me.

As I stated earlier, Jesse was more than a mentor, he was a dear friend.  We enjoyed going to lunch together, often with our mutual friend Todd Davis who unfortunately was not able to be here with us today.

Just ten days before Jesse's passing he was feeling well enough to accompany me to the Annual Biblical Archaeological Conference at UNO.  Both of us enjoyed the conference a great deal and I am so happy to have had this last outing with Jesse.  It is a time that will always be a cherished memory for me.

As the years go by I know that I will frequently find some new insight in a bit of scripture or question a message in a book or a sermon I've heard and I will so want to call and talk to Jesse as I have so often.  At these times, I know I will pause and feel the loss of Jesse anew.

I could not begin to relay to you how much of an impact Jesse has had on my life, all I can say is that I am infinitely the better and the wiser for having had the rare chance to know him for these last few years.

Jesse may be gone from this world now but as long as this west river cowboy draws breath he shall never be forgotten in this world.

On November 21st, 2011 it was my considered privilege to accompany my dear friend Jesse Brown to the very gates of Heaven, and to literally hold his hand as he walked through those same gates.

I rather suspect that someday when it's my turn to walk through those gates, that just inside I'll see Jesse...  with an outstretched hand, a wry smile on his lips, that twinkle in his eye, his head cocked for effect, and he'll say "what took you so dang long?".

(looking up with a raised hand)
Love you Jesse, I'll see you later my friend.

The Gallery's Facebook Page and My Photobucket Acct with my Artwork

Link to Leonardo's Art & Prints Facebook Page


A bit of shameless self promotion here.  I have posted a link to our Gallery's facebook page.  Make sure if you like it to turn on the "get notifications" as I post daily specials that are only available to those who see it on facebook.

Here I will also include a link to my photobucket site showing my own artwork.  I paint under the 'brush name' of Klaude Montier.  Please take a look.

Artwork by Klaude Montier (a/k/a WmRoy Karlen)

Thank you and be the blessing!

In His constant care,
Roy

UNO Biblical Archaeology Conference / Campus Visitation to UNL

This Thur/Fri/Sat was the Annual Biblical Archaeology Conference at UNO.  Unfortunately, I was only able to make it to the event on Saturday.  The good news is that on Saturday I was able to take in the entire event.  As always the presentations were very interesting, Saturday's topics were as follows:

- What the Bible Translator has learned and failed to learn from the Biblical Archaeologist

- The Winemaker's House: Key to Life in Bethsaida during the time of Jesus

- Documentary, the Secrets of Bethsaida and the Roots of Early Christianity

- Has Radiocarbon artificially raised dates for the Early Bronze Age?

- Bethsaida and Jerusalem during the Persian Period

- The Iron Age II Storehouse at Bethsaida

This was the third year in a row that I've attended portions of the Conference and each year I am pointedly reminded that when it comes to studying the Bible and Biblical times there are many different interpretations of the same evidence.  For example in the question and answer session after one of the speakers, there were three Archaeologists all seated at the same table and all three held vastly different opinions.  These three obviously are friends yet they engaged in a fairly spirited ad lib debate.

In listening to the various authorities (and UNO brings in big names for this Conference) in casual as well as formal settings you can easily pickup on bias and underlying agendas.  My friend Dr. Frank Clark likes to say that "to a carpenter every situation requires a hammer".  What he means is that we all have a set of lens through which we interpret, digest and deal with information.  Of course since the Conference every year is heavily focused on the findings at Bethsaida, everything tends to boil down to Bethsaida.  

One of the speakers tried to paint a picture of James the brother of Christ as having been more or less permanently located in Bethsaida after Christ's death.  Personally I find this to be highly unlikely and I'm fairly convinced that James remained in Jerusalem and continued preaching in the Temple right up until he was martyred there.  This is only one example, there were many instances when I felt too much effort was given to making Bethsaida the center of all things early Christian.

It was a bit eerie walking into the Thompson Alumni Center for this Conference, as the last time I was there was with Jesse.  As I walked up to the building I passed the bench where I helped Jesse sit down and he waited for me to pull the car around and load him into the passenger seat.  I then walked down the hall and past the chairs where Jesse and I sat with our friend Sandy Smith and visited between sessions.  I truly missed having Jesse there to discuss our thoughts about the various presentations, but I'll post more reflections on Jesse later this month.

On Friday Madeline and I spent the day in Lincoln.  We took part in a "Red Letter Day" event at the University of Lincoln.  These are special days set aside for interested High School Students to tour the University and to learn more about what UNL has to offer.  I have to say that UNL is very, very impressive.  The campus is very nice (though not nearly as pretty as my Alma mater SDSU or as Hastings College for that matter) and they certainly have programs and services in place to allow each student to maximize their experience in Lincoln.  Their requirements for various majors makes it much easier to double, triple or even quadruple major as well as to pickup multiple minors.  One of the students that talked to the incoming seniors was working on four majors and four minors.

Maddie is very excited about going to Lincoln and hopefully it will work out for her to go there.  She is thinking that she wants to Major in Psychology and Minor in Nutrition.  Right now she is hoping to work with girls with eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia.  I suggested that she may want to consider a Minor in something to do with Aging as well, she absolutely loves the elderly and there is a great and growing need for counselors to the elderly.

The Food Service at Lincoln is simply amazing!  It certainly beats the Food Service in Hastings and is miles ahead of what good old SAGA fed up to us back in the day at South Dakota State University.

As is the case for many of us old folks taking our children on college campus tours, we can't help but be reminded of our own years in college.  It is hard to believe it's been almost 35 years since I went to Freshman Orientation at SDSU.  I remember well going with my mother to register for classes and to tour the campus.  Those were great years at State and to any of you reading this who  were part of my college experience, thank you I do so miss those days.  Be blessed, be well and know that we are fortunate enough to share treasured memories of our youth.

This Sunday we pretty much just stayed home and spent a quiet day reading, writing and enjoying good coffee.  I finished writing the last paper for the 'Pastoral Care' session for ELM and e-mailed it off to Sharon and also sent a copy directly to Russ Seger.  I do have another paper to write for ELM but it isn't due for a few more weeks so I will try and spend some time researching for that one before I start to write anything down.

Lifting has been going along pretty well and I'll wait to report more about that closer to my birthday.  I continue to be pleased with where everything is at with the exception of my body weight which I'd like to be a little lower but I'm paranoid about losing muscle mass so I've decided to take a 'poco a poco' approach.

Please all have a blessed week and remember to be the Blessing to Somebody TODAY!

In his absolute Love and Grace,
Roy

Another beautiful country church building

Here is a photo of a Lutheran Church out in the country not far from Louisville, NE.

Have a great weekend all!

In his Absolute Grace,
Roy