Letters to the editor
Hymns both old & new belong together Trinity and gender, travel, blog, evolution articles prompt reaction
MAY 2013 •
www.thelutheran.org • $2.50 ® A ‘love’ letter 14
Turkey: Trip on grounds of faith 16 Catacomb Churches 28
Tale of two seminarians 38
Our favorite hymns
Story 20, study guide 26
Trinity is present at Jesus’ baptism and not surprisingly Father, Son and Holy Spirit becomes the name in which we are commanded to baptize. There’s a difference between a name and an image. How God is present and works in a variety of ways has nothing to do with God’s name. I am present to and for people in a variety of ways, and I have a variety of titles, but my name remains the same. That’s the purpose
of having God’s name. Frank C. Senn Evanston, Ill.
Worth a walk
Happily for those of us who still find resonance in German hymnody—the favorite hymn (May, page 20) “Lord Christ, When First You Came to Earth” is in Evangelical Lutheran Worship (727). These hymns, which became the core of German and Scandinavian hymnals, are an important part of our Lutheran heritage. It’s good to keep them, right alongside newer hymns that lend their own beauty and rel-
evance to today’s church. Jill Schlichting Maplewood, Minn.
Music to the ear I’d like to thank you for the articles in the May issue on favorite hymns. Music for me is a very healing thing. I have many favorite hymns and songs. I play them when I sew. Music helps me relax and helps me look to Jesus Christ as
healer and gets me through bad times. Cecilia Oakland Harreson, S.D.
Everything in a name The exchange on Trinity and gender (May, page 18) was disappointing. The
48 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Having just returned from visiting Tur- key, I especially enjoyed the article by Carol Mueller (May, page 16). I was surprised that she dismissed Hieropo- lis as “great for hot mineral baths, not so much for history.” That is where we visited the tomb of Philip, who was martyred, together with the octagonal church built to honor him. It was beau- tiful, and well worth the short walk
from the theater. Dana Rebelein New Brighton, Minn.
Keep on blogging
I want to express appreciation for the blogs by Jayne Thompson that appear regularly in the online edition of The Lutheran (
www.thelutheran.org). Invariably her articles are thoughtful and refreshing, touching a meaningful spiritual dimension of life in an every-
day sort of way. The Rev. Jerry J. Miller Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Think again The letter from a pastor who quotes a hymn (May, page 49, “Change
upon change”) that describes for him his view of the ELCA intrigues me: “Change and decay in all around I see, O thou who changest not, abide with me.” I wonder if he agrees with Paul’s letter to a quarreling and divided Corinthian congregation he helped found: “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us” (2
Corinthians 4:7). The Rev. Luverne A. Jacobson Wilsonville, Ore.
Looking for truth The “Change upon change” letter suggested that Christians must make a choice: unchanging truth or evolu- tion of ideas. We strive for both. From God’s perspective, there is unchanging truth. But God knows that we finite beings can’t take it in, all at once, and so our understanding evolves over time. As Jesus says in John 16:12-13: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth ....” I am grateful to belong to a church that values open- ness to the Spirit’s teaching and tries,
faithfully, to embrace that truth. Janet L. Kittlaus Glenview, Ill.
Extend a hand A recent letter (April, page 49, “Too much to take”) demonstrates the alien- ation many in our society feel: “the progressive agenda of an immoral national government being adopted by my church”; the small town values in which he grew up vs. urban values; the “worldly activities the Bible warns us against,” and so on. What comes
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