Greetings Class of 1964,
CoronaVirus? No, it’s not just the latest computer virus that can be debugged with a simple download! Suddenly, within the last seven days, there is a third word being added that has grabbed the whole world’s attention...
Pandemic!
In a few short weeks the CoronaVirus (CV) has grown from an obscure form of the flu in a remote city in China into a worldwide, life altering and rampant disease epidemic that has the world’s people in a near panic. The panic? Fear of running out of toilet paper! People are brawling over toilet paper! A pizza restaurant in Oshkosh, WI has added toilet paper as an ancillary menu item (please only 4 rolls per customer - $3.25)! People in Newport, OR are calling 911 upon running out of toilet paper. So much so that the police department is telling folks to stop calling. Don’t you just love the American spirit! The rest of the world is teetering on the brink of disaster and Americans are focused on what’s really important. Then on the other end of the spectrum there is a report out of the UK stating that folks over 70 are being urged to self-isolate for four months. In between hilarity and the absurd, the rest of the world struggles to makes sense of this suddenly new normal. Hopefully, by the time you read this in our Class Agent letter, things will have settled down and our way of life returned to a version of last year normal, whatever that is?
Here in Arizona we’ve had to postpone the 15
th
Annual Kent Finanger Golf Classic due to the pandemic. Our golf and social event is just a tiny blip on the radar screen compared to Luther’s complex events schedule. Pretty much all off-campus activities have been canceled or postponed for the rest of the year. Last years KFGC attracted about 225 people for the social hour and dinner program. Making this event Luther’s largest social gathering outside of Decorah. Many of our classmates are regular supporters. All profits from this gathering goes in to the Norse Athletic Association. The 2020 gathering has been postponed until March 19-20, 2021.
Speaking of the Norse Athletic Association, we’ve had at least three prominent athletes from our era - Charlie Peterson, Tom Lawrence and Dave Miller - all go to be with the Lord in the last few months. Not only were they distinguished athletes, they all loved and supported Luther College. You may also recall that Tom and Maddy Lawrence were your Class Agents for many years.
(
What you have just read was written on March 15 as I was beginning to create the 2020 Spring Class Agents Letter. Later that same day I was notified by the Alumni Office that the deadline for this letter was indefinitely postponed due to the ‘whole world’ implementing safety precautions over a mysterious pandemic
.)
In these interceding last 60 days I feel it is fair to say the world, as we know it, has been forever and dramatically changed! No longer is the term pandemic a theoretical worldwide calamity that some future generation may have to prepare for. No! Rather it has arrived with a vengeance! To our credit the citizens of the world have responded amazingly! Who would have thought so many changes to our normal ways of life and behaviors could have taken place over the course of just a few months!
For sure we are a resourceful, imaginative and resilient people. That we have not panicked or became frozen with fear in the face of such dire predictions; multiple millions infected and unimaginable numbers of hospitalized victims, speaks well of the confidence Americans have in their system of governance and the capacity of their leaders and medical professionals. It really is amazing!
In spite of this confidence it very well may be that some of us, the Class of '64, have had an all too close encounter with the COVID-19 virus. Perhaps a loved one, friend, family member or even ones self contracted the disease. Or perhaps you were exposed and had to endure a quarantine. We are after all of an age group deemed most ‘at risk’! Or maybe you have been one of the few who are grieving the loss of someone close to you. In that case please accept our, the Class of '64, heartfelt condolences for your loss. May our Father in Heaven mercifully minister to your needs today and everyday and may He grant you and yours the Peace that surpasses all our mutual understandings.
It is at a time like this that I am so grateful to have had a Luther
Christian College
education! Though it has taken me the better part of a lifetime to fully appreciate the importance of this blessing. Today I am very mindful of how this plays out in the face of a worldwide emergency like the pandemic we are now confronted with. In addition we are seeing events on our various types of screens we never thought possible. The spiritual principles learned from professors like Pastor Paul Lionberger in Bible 101 are invaluable in times like these! Not the least of which is the way Father God uses events like a worldwide crisis to inspire His body of Christ to change direction and grow in strength and capacity. The church has always emerged from times like this with a closer more intimate understanding of God’s plan for His people. Yet right now we seem to be in a stage of unbelief, despair and confusion.
In circumstances like what we are experiencing, the teachings in the Word(s) concerning how God’s people are to respond, 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 seems
especially relevant. “When I (
Father God
) shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or
send a plague among my people
. If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn (
repent
) from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
In addition He has given His people an awesome promise in Psalm 103:2-5, “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all
your diseases
, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Which of us ‘older’ citizens wouldn’t cherish renewing our youth!
Several years ago Linda and I met Dr. James Goll at one of the Holy Spirit Conferences held annually at North Heights Church in Arden Hills, MN. Dr. Goll, Co-Founder of God Encounters Ministries, Instructor at Wagner Leadership Institute, Member of Harvest International Apostolic Team and author of numerous books, is one of the prophetic voices that came out of the Kansas City Charismatic Movement of the 90s. Recently Dr. Goll was interviewed by Sid Roth, a Trinity Broadcast Network personality who founded the “It’s Supernatural” television show in 1996. In this interview Dr. Goll describes a very recent experience, a heavenly encounter during which God confirmed that the pandemic and civil unrest will open the door to a Great Billion Soul Harvest, first prophesied 35 years ago.
To view this 35 minute presentation simply Google James Goll and Sid Roth...then select the video titled “
I went to heaven and God spoke these words to me
.” This might explain why God would allow disease and turmoil to motivate His people. For sure it will reveal a reason for hope in an otherwise tumultuous time!
We pray that you and your families stay well. That you will find a way to be helpful to someone in need. That You experience the Joy of the Lord and discover the strength it provides … Amen!
Until Next Time …
Soli Deo Gloria!
