Dear Family & Friends,

Life is like a vapor. The father of Anthony Vietti, a former student, came on the news. Three climbers lost their lives. It was another Mount Hood tragedy and a Multnomah tragedy. The police and fire chaplain, Dennis, was an alum who  that helped the families through the trauma.  One climber, Katie Nolan, was the sister of Jason another alum. Her funeral revealed an unbelievable Renaissance woman.  She loved the poor all over the world from mission trips.  She was a wonderful writer and authentic with her friends that she collected with the ease of finding a new blade of grass.  She climbed every mountain in sight. The injustice in the world forced her to wrestle with God’s goodness like Job and Solomon. She eloquently expressed her own restless and was dying to return to the garden.  She meant the garden of Eden, but I cannot help returning to the garden of Gethsemane where Christ suffered the ultimate injustice. As Dorothy Sayers quipped as she wrested with suffering, “God took His own medicine.”  In a world where life is not fair and suffering often dominates, I keep returning to sweat like blood to help me face another day and look forward to seeing Katie, Anthony and Luke, where as the Psalmist said, “Peace and righteousness will kiss one another.”

G

Next Tour Jan 9, 2010 (11 am) room for 18.
Sign up at: gfriesen@multnomah.edu

Next Bible Marathon: Sat. Jan 16, 2010 (10am-6:30pm) on Matt, Luke, John. Sign up above to get one three spots left.

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