Summer 2002

Volume XVII, Number 1

In This Issue

• Life in the Middle by Adele Cole

  Does Jesus make you nervous when he says hard things? Had I not been studying a book by Dr. Gerald Mann in which he discusses this matter, I might not have been brave enough to raise the question.

• Face to Face by Elder M. Lindahl

  “Your face is familiar, but I can’t come up with your name.” It’s a pretty common line, especially if you live in a retirement community.

• Islams: A User’s Guide by Robert Thompson

  Islam is a rich and varied tradition, as diverse as Christianity and it is important to be aware of that if we are to build bridges with the Arab world.

• “Shall We Gather at the River?” by Phil Johnson

  The well-planned dedication—an Interfaith Service and a Gala Concert by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra—included poetry, prose, and music written for the occasion as well as the elaborate recording equipment of Minnesota Public Radio. All this planning, as Bruce pointed out in 1988, makes rotation problematic.

• Reunion in Saint Paul by Arthur Bowman and David Ekberg

  The Championship Tournament of college hockey reunited two North Parkers after 36 years. Arthur Bowman and David Ekberg each, unknown to the other, composed an account of it for Pietisten.

• Reflections on David Riesman (1909-2002) by Robert T. Sandin

  In an Op-Ed article in the New York Times for May 19, Orlando Patterson, Professor of Sociology at Harvard, celebrated the life of David Riesman, once his own mentor, who died on May 10 at the age of 93. He called Riesman “The Last Sociologist,” not only mourning his death but also complaining that he died “discarded and forgotten by his discipline.”

• The Making of a Reader The Making of a Reader Part VIII by David Hawkinson

  I learned more about reading Bible from Earl Schwartz than any other teacher I have known. Earl has been teaching Jewish studies and Biblical texts to a whole generation of Jewish children and adults.

• Introduction to Fiskar-Sofia: Pioneer Pastor’s Wife by Christine Swanson

  Over the past few months I have had the pleasure of translating a memoir by Sofia Franklin. Sofia was the wife of August W. Franklin, an early leader in the Covenant Church.

• Books When Life Calls Out to Us: The Lifework of Viktor and Elly Frankly by Haddon Klingberg, Jr. reviewed by G. Timothy Johnson

  Like many who went to college in the middle part of the last century, I was required to read Viktor Frankl’s moving memoir of his Holocaust years, Man’s Search for Meaning. Even though I can remember being deeply stirred by the book as a North Park student, I sheepishly admit that I could not remember many of the details of the book—or of Frankl’s then relatively new psychological theory known as logotherapy.

• Tributes Tribute to C. Hobart Edgren by Roger Edgren

  Dr. C. Hobart Edgren, PhD. was a Professor of English Literature and Academic Dean at North Park College. He was a vigorous supporter of Pietisten. The following is adapted from the tribute given by his son, Roger Edgren, at the Memorial Service at North Park Covenant Church, Chicago.

• Tributes Tribute to David "Gubba" Sandquist

  A dear friend to many, David was born and raised in Ashtabula, Ohio. He attended NP Jr. College and completed a B. A. degree at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

Regular Features

• Green with Reene by Irene Ecklund

  When should you cut back trees, shrubs and flowers?

• News and Notes

  Report from Namibia; The Hawk Heads to Vermont

• Sightings in Christian Music by Glen Wiberg

  The popularity of How Great Thou Art even on the fringes of American religious culture must surely be due to its repeated use over the years in the Billy Graham crusades and the singing of George Beverly Shea. In The Covenant Hymnal (1973) the concluding sentence in the footnote of hymn 19 “O Mighty God, When I Behold the Wonder” tells its convoluted history: “The text widely known as How Great Thou Art is an English translation of a Russian version based on an earlier German translation of the original.”

• Should I Change My Name? by Arthur W. Anderson

  How would you like to have the name “Arthur Andersen?” Mine is close enough to experience some ripples. Being a pure Swede with a name that is spelled with an “o” instead of “e” should exempt me, don’t you think?

• Practical, Therapeutic, Theological Thought The End of the World by Penrod

  “No one can predict the date of the Second Coming or the end of the world but I cannot see anything beyond 1953.”

• Cooking with Gunny Rice Pudding (Gunny’s Best—reprinted by popular demand) by Gunny
• Out and About by Erik Hawkinson and Bob Bach

  First reflection on crossing the Atlantic; California Wedding

• Post: Readers Respond
• Sport Prophecy Pietisten Pre-Season NFL Picks by Eric
• Poetry Beyond Words by Katie Pratt