Sacred to the Memory of 'Pastor Gus'

['Sacred to the memory of . . . ' is a phrase found on many of the (older) grave markers in Nova Scotia.]

2 Timothy 4:7

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

We mourn the death of Pastor William Gustafson, known to all as Pastor Gus.  I only knew Gus for a short time, since we moved to Nova Scotia, but we had much in common.  We shared a birthday - March 14 - with Albert Einstein, but I only found out this past year, too late to celebrate jointly with Gus [or Albert].  We both grew up in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and both left as our understanding of the Gospel began to diverge from that of the LCMS. We both were born as Americans, but found a home in Canada.  Gus' trip to Nova Scotia was a bit shorter than mine - he coming from Mass., I from Saskatchewan.  We both enjoyed single malt Scotch, though unfortunately, never together.  He was an avid hunter, which I am not, but as a camper I enjoyed hearing his stories of his woodland exploits.  Though I consider myself somewhat a computer geek, he never used a computer, nor, I suspect, even a cell phone.

   Gus retired only a few short months ago, and came to worship at Zion in Lunenburg before we left for parts South.  We would often eat lunch together at Tim Horton's along with others recently come from worship, sometimes talking till late into the afternoon.
   Gus was known as an expert of sorts on some topics - of note recently was his understanding of the papacy.  One of the last conversations with him that I was part of was when he was asked at the last Bishop's Conference what he thought of the prospects for the new Pope [the conclave was yet to be commenced].  Though he did not predict the 'winner', I do not think he would have been displeased with Pope Francis.

   Gus was a quiet man.  Not that he didn't talk; he did that quite freely, but he seldom raised his voice.  Though he was quiet, that did not mean he wasn't passionate.  I recall a time at Camp Mush-a-Mush when someone said that there were no good Advent hymns: both Gus and I started naming hymns that we knew and loved and spoke to us both of the joys of Advent.  Passion was there if not volume.
   And so Gus has joined the Church Triumphant: He has fought the good fight; he has finished the race; but most importantly, he has kept the faith.

God, the generations rise and pass away before you.  you are the strength of those who labour, you are the rest of the blessed dead.  We rejoice in the company of your saints.  We remember all who have lived in faith, all who have peacefully died.

We remember Pastor Gus.

Even we care

OK, so I'm an American by birth, and a naturalised Canadian [sounds like it means 'organically-grown' but it doesn't] who is living in Guyana, South America.  That doesn't mean that the US government shutdown and possible default will not affect us.  It will likely have ramification for the entire world.

At times like this, we often want to blame all politicians, like they are all equally to blame, and all reprehensible to boot.  But as the USA Today article points out, it's not about two uncompromising parties, but only one -- the GOP [known now as the 'Get Obama Party' - just a little racism behind that, I think].  And I have a feeling I know why they are so uncompromising about the shape they think government should take.  The Republican Party has become the political arm of the Christian Right ['Evangelicals' though I think they abuse that word when they apply it to themselves], and so they see anything other than their vision not just as a bad idea, or one they could fix up a bit with a little compromise, but as heresy punishable by death in everlasting hellfire.  The situation reminds me a little of Martin Luther vs. The Roman Catholic Church -- at least everyone agreed that the debate in Luther's time was primarily religious, though with some political implications.  The problem in our time is that we have one political vision being set forth by a political party and one religious vision being put forth by the other political party.

And all this difficulty caused by ObamaCare - a piece of legislation that, on its face, most Christians would seem to want to accept.  Certainly most Western governments have accepted universal healthcare for decades.  Back in 1992, even Ross Perot, the Independent candidate for President, thought universal healthcare was a good idea.  I remember at the time hearing him say in one of the debates something like every western democracy has a system in place; we don't have to invent a new one, just pick one we like and go with it. [a paraphrase].  I know that universal healthcare has not caused Canada to default on its obligations, or caused government disruption. Though there certainly was opposition to it when it came into effect, not even the current Conservative government would think of trying to get rid of it.

So let us all hope that things work out in the USA.  There are moderate Republicans that are willing to compromise.  There are Democrats willing to look at corrections in an admittedly complex law.  From the point of view of other democracies, the US Constitution is an awkward document that will naturally lead to the sort of stalemate we are now experiencing, but with people of good will, it has worked in the past.  Let's keep a good thought and see if it can work again.