Give the church a chance

This article refers to those who have left the church, those who consider leaving the church and those who want to be members, but have problems with the traditional belief, so that they are hard to wholeheartedly join in the church.

The Church of Sweden loses members - almost 90,000 people left the church in 2016. The most common reasons for leaving the church are faith (40%), non-relevant (18%) and economics (17%). Many people feel they cannot afford it. Perhaps they think the church costs too much or is not worth the money they pay in taxes for it. Others have problems with the dogmas, in other words, beliefs that are regarded as indisputable truths.

What must be believed in order to be called Christians? Do you have to literally believe that the Bible is the word of God? Do you have to believe in virgin birth? Do you have to believe that Jesus was the Son of God? Do you have to believe in miracles and that Jesus had supernatural powers? Do you have to believe in the resurrection and the heavenly journey of Jesus? In short, do you have to believe in the content of the creed?

Room for discussion

The church today has a great deal of room for discussion

and different perceptions. There is, for example, a hymn with this text:

I often have questions, Lord, but 

so rarely do I have answers.

I often stand at a junction, and I hesitate to choose.

Often, I am lonely, my 

questions lack words.

I often have questions, Lord, but 

so rarely do I have answers.

A large part of the traditional church's dogmas, beliefs, do not conform to the rules governing everything we know about the universe today. In addition, the church reflects values and perceptions that existed during the first century when dogmas were the case – a time when facts and myth were impossible to distinguish from each other. The church today is not what it was at that time.

Jesus Christ as a model

Jesus Christ revealed in the Gospels is a model to make the world a better and safer place to live. In my opinion, the Church can offer a more accessible, more realistic and human Jesus as the key to a new life and a new humanity without old-fashioned creeds and dogmas. The church today does not have to be seen in the same way as it was seen a long time ago.

In his book, The Great Spiritual Migration, Brian D. McLaren summarizes Jesus as follows: "Through his life and his teaching, in compassionate interaction with individuals and groups, with convincing non-violence, even to the extent that he endured a violent death, Jesus shows us a generous God, a God in deep solidarity with all creation, a God whose power is manifest in mildness, kindness and love."

McLaren calls for a loving way of life – a Jesus way of life. Love, he says, is a word that easily turns into a cliché. Together with grace and mercy, he speaks of non-violence, kindness, fellowship, solidarity, friendship and humanity, as examples of synonymous with love. He expresses this as follows: "Whatever of these words we use, we see love in all that Jesus says and does."

Focus on the relevant

There are many problems in the world. The ecological crisis, as if left uncontrolled, will lead to environmental collapse. The economic crisis, which increases inequalities, and which exploits or excludes the world's poor. The social and political crisis of race, ethnicity, class, religious, political conflicts. The list can be made almost endless. Nuclear war, war in general, all forms of discrimination, overpopulation, drug abuse, government-level corruption.

The church is not without problems. The church is not led by untouchables. Perhaps we should ignore some of what the church does wrong and concentrate on what's right: the church supports open immigration, welcomes refugees, provides housing to the homeless, provides hungry with food, helps sick, elderly and lonely. See Svenskakyrkan.se to get an idea of what the Church of Sweden does to make the world a better and fairer place to live in.

Jesus said, "Indeed, what you have not done for any of these least, you have not done for me either." The Swedish Church is working to eliminate these problems. Hopefully, this work will help to promote the common good.

Trying to save the world is something Swedish Church and other religious institutions already do with other organizations such as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, MSF, and other organizations that help in various crises that threaten our existence. Without a doubt, all these organizations work for a common goodness.

Does the church have a future?

The church doesn’t have to die. It can work for a better future for everyone and not least for the church itself.

The church today isn’t as dogmatic or doctrinaire as it was many years ago. Today the church is a relevant participant in society. You who have left the church, you who are considering leaving the church and you who want to be members, but have problems with the traditional beliefs, to the point that you have a hard time wholeheartedly being a member of the church, reconsider.

Give the church a chance!

Stone walls as artistry

Many times, I have stopped and admired the stone walls around the cemetery at By church. Stop when you’re there. Take a look. I’m sure that you’ll agree with me that they are a work of art. Stone blocks that weigh between 150 and 1500 kg, carefully laid on top of each other so they look like – you guessed it – a puzzle.

To find out about how these phenomena were created I went direct to the source, Lars-Erik Bäckman at Bäckmans Stenhuggeri in Karlstad. According to him, behind these walls there is a production process, which I will relate here from start to finish.

Handmade from Bohus granite

The specific wall that fascinated me is alongside the main entrance to the new kyrkogård at By kyrka. According to Lars-Erik it is handmade from Bohus granite. He adds that this type of wall is called a blocksten mur. In other words, it’s a wall consisting of rectangular, square and triangular and other shaped blocks. See the accompanying picture.

After the church ordered the wall, first step in the produktionsprocess was when people from the quarry in Bohusland visited where the wall was to be built to determine how long and high it would be. With this information, they returned to the quarry. There they selected the granite that they would shape by hand to form the puzzle-like wall. Each block was numbered to eliminate any guesswork when it came to assembling the wall at the cemetery.

Next the blocks are transported to the cemetery Where they are assembled by following the numbered scheme. The puzzle-like wall that can be seen from outside the cemetery is matched by another puzzle-like wall that can be seen from inside the cemetery. The two walls are separated by about a half a meter. This space is filled with small pieces of granite that were chipped away from the blocks that were finally put in place with the help of machinery. 

Vegetation can be seen between the two walls in the accompanying picture. Lars-Erik points out that this vegetation decomposes to soil and this can cause problems. If this space fills completely with soil and then freezes and expands during the winter, this can damage the wall. To prevent this from happening, a fiber cloth is laid over the stones about 20 centimeters below the top of the wall. 

Other kinds of walls

Blocksten murar aren’t the only kind of walls that appear in cemeteries. Nor is granite the kind of material used to build them. In fact, there are examples of two other kinds of walls built from different materials in the Säfflepastorat. 

The wall at the cemetery at Tveta church is made of rounded gnejs blocks stacked on top of each other. See the accompanying pictures. This wall also features the space between two walls as described above. The gnejs in this wall is probably from a local source, which means it was built with lower transportation costs.

Recently a slantstabilisering wall was installed at Bro kyrka. See the accompanying pictures. A kallmursblock wall made of skiffer from Norge is what is seen when you first look at the wall. If you could look behind this façade, you would see two-meter long by one-meter wide back and one-meter high nätlådar placed end-to-end and filled with stones to hold the earth from sliding downhill.

As was said at the end of each Looney Tunes cartoon, “That’s all folks!” The produktionsprocess behind these walls is deceptively simple. Nonetheless, they demand a lot of hard work and, clearly, skilled artisans.

Stenmurar är som konstverk

Många gånger har jag stannat för att beundra stenmurarna kring kyrkogårdarna vid By kyrka. Stanna till när du är där. Titta på dem. Jag är säker på att du kommer att hålla med mig om att de är ett konstverk. Stenblock som väger mellan 150 och 1500 kilo, prydligt lagda på varandra för att sedan se ut som – du gissade det – ett pussel. 

För att ta reda på hur dessa fenomen skapades gick jag direkt till källan, Lars-Erik Bäckman på Bäckmans Stenhuggeri i Karlstad. Enligt honom finns bakom dessa murar en tillverkningsprocess, vilken jag kommer att berätta om från början till slut.

Handgjord av Bohusgranit

Den specifika mur som fascinerade mig är bredvid huvudingången till den nya kyrkogården vid By kyrka. Lars-Erik talade om är den handgjord av Bohusgranit. Han tillade att denna typ av mur kallas för en blockstenmur. Med andra ord, det är en mur som består av rektangulära, fyrkantiga och triangulära och även stenblock i andra udda former.

Efter att kyrkan beställt muren, var första steget i tillverkningsprocessen att personal från stenbrottet i Bohuslän besökte platsen där muren skulle byggas, för att bestämma hur lång och hög muren skulle vara. Med denna information återvände de till stenbrottet. Där valde de ut graniten som de skulle forma, för att bilda den pusselliknande muren. Varje block numrerades för att eliminera gissningar när muren skulle monteras vid kyrkogården.

Monteras enligt det numrerade schemat 

Därefter transporterades blocken till kyrkogården där de monterades genom att följa det numrerade schemat. Muren sattes slutligen på plats med hjälp av maskiner. Den pusselliknande mur som kan ses utanför kyrkogården matchas av baksidan, som kan ses från kyrkogården. Framsidan och baksidan är separerade med ungefär en halv meter. Detta utrymme är fyllt med de småbitar av granit som flisades bort från blocken.

Växtlighet uppepå muren och nedfall från träd kan skada muren. Lars-Erik påpekade att om utrymmet mellan bak-och framsidan fylls på med växtdelar som sedan fryser och expanderar under vintern kan det skada muren. För att förhindra detta läggs en fiberduk över fyllningsmaterialet ungefär 20 centimeter från toppen av muren.

Andra slags murar

Blockstensmurar är inte den enda typ av murar som finns på kyrkogårdar. Det finns i Säfflepastorat andra typer av murar. Följande är exempel på murar som byggts av andra material.

Kullerstenmururen vid Tveta kyrkogård är gjord av rundade gnejsblock staplade ovanpå varandra. Denna mur har också ett utrymme mellan bak-och framsidan som hanteras på samma sätt som muren vid By kyrka. Gnejs i denna mur är förmodligen från ett lokalt brott.

Nyligen installerades vid Bro kyrka en släntstabiliseringsmur och en kallmursblockmur. En kallmursblockmur av skiffer från Norge är vad man ser när man tittar på muren. Detta är en fasad som döljer vad som ligger bakom den. Bakom fasaden finns en rad av två meter långa, en meter breda och en meter höga nätlådor. Dessa är placerade ände mot ände och fyllda med stenar för att förhindra att jorden i slänten glider.

Tillverkningsprocessen bakom dessa murar är egentligen ganska enkel. Men det krävs mycket hårt arbete och självklart skickliga hantverkare – eller skall man kanske säga konstnärer.

Vad är mer relevant än ett barns oskuld i handling?

Vad är mer charmigt än ett barns oskuld i handling. Vi upplevde det här för tillfället medan vårt barnbarn Elna såg en levande passionsprocession på Josef och Anns kyrka.

Vi stod i kyrkogården framför kyrkan medan processionen inklusive Jesus på en åsna och hans anhängare som bär palmfransar rörde sig mot oss. När de kom närmare blev processionen mer våldsam när folkmassan vände sig mot Jesus. När soldaterna tog Jesus började den fyraåriga Elna gråta. Och när Jesus var monterad på korset blev hon hysterisk, snyftande och gråtande, i den mån Ann kände att hon var tvungen att gå iväg från de andra för att lugna Elna.

Sedan flyttade gruppen till graven vid nästa station, Elna och Ann stannade bakom. Josef gick med i gruppen. När Elna såg Jesus gå från korset, började hon springa mot gruppen vid graven och ropade mycket högt när hon såg Josef – om och om igen – "Pappa, pappa, Jesus lever. Papa, pappa, Jesus lever." Gruppen kunde inte sluta skratta eller överväga betydelsen av lilla Elnas ord.

Vad är mer charmigt än ett barns oskuld i handling.

Childhood innocence

What’s more charming than the innocence of a child in action. We experienced this the other day while our grandchild Elna viewed a live passion procession at Josef and Ann’s church.

We stood in the graveyard in front of the church while the procession including Jesus on a donkey and his followers bearing palm fronds moved toward us. As they came closer, the procession became more violent as the crowd turned against Jesus. When the soldiers took Jesus, four-year old Elna started crying. And when Jesus was mounted on the cross, she became hysterical, sobbing and crying, to the extent that Ann felt she had to step away from the others to calm Elna.

Then the group moved on to the grave at the next station, Elna and Ann stayed behind. Josef joined the group. When Elna saw Jesus walk away from the cross, she started running toward the group at the grave and when she spotted Josef she started shouting very loudly – over and over again –. “Papa, papa, Jesus lives. Papa, papa, Jesus lives.” The group couldn’t stop laughing or contemplating the significance of little Elna’s words. 

What’s more charming than the innocence of a child in action.

Assimilation vs Integration

There has been a lot in the media, including the local newspaper recently, suggesting ways to deal with newly arrived immigrants in Sweden. Some advocate integration, others assimilation, while a good number of people are left scratching their heads wondering how the two concepts differ.

In my view, assimilation and integration are two ways in which minorities try to associate with the majority culture in a society. It’s easy to regard assimilation and integration as synonymous. However, there are subtle differences between the two concepts.

Assimilation
Assimilation is a process of absorbing minority communities into the value system of the majority culture in a multicultural society. This absorption takes place in a one-way direction with the majority community requiring the minority communities to give up their own customs and traditions or modify them in favor of those of the majority community.

Integration
On the other hand, integration is a two-way process where there is give and take between the majority and the minority cultures. It allows minorities to retain their identity and values while the majority culture retains theirs. Both parties agree to interact on civic duties as equal partners, working for the well-being of the society in which they live.

My own experience
My own experience puts me on the side of integration. I’ve lived half of my life in the USA and the other half in Sweden. According to my definitions, I am integrated in Sweden, not assimilated. I hold two passports, celebrate the USAs National day and Thanksgiving as well as celebrate Valborg, Sweden's national day, Midsummer and Lucia. I have been active politically in Säffle. When it comes to language, I prefer my mother tongue. But I speak Swedish – very poorly. Ask anyone who knows me.  

I grew up in the 40s and 50s on the eastside of St. Paul, Minnesota. The eastside then was a community consisting of Swedish, Polish, and Italian neighborhoods. Although each ethnic neighborhood had its own shopping area, church, and community activities, they lived peacefully alongside each other.

Because I attended a grade school in the Swedish part of the eastside, it wasn’t until I got to John A. Johnson High School that I got to know kids from the Polish and Italian parts of the eastside. It was then that Anderson and Peterson and Lundstrom and I sat in classrooms, ate lunches and played sports together with people with names such as Anzevino, Ferrozo, Londino, Jasinski, Majewski and Gonsowski.

There were also kids from a lot of other ethnic groups at Johnson – Irish, Norwegian, Greek, Jewish, Danish, Chinese and Mexican. And we all were hyphenated Americans. I was a Swedish-American. Others were Polish-American, Danish-American, etc. In spite of Swedes, Italians, and Poles dominating, the eastside was truly a multicultural mixture.

Johnson won the Minnesota high school hockey championships in 1947, 1953, 1955 and 1963. The players on these teams had the same ethnic background as the school in general. They were a multicultural collection of hard skating, victory hungry kids. They worked as a team without being conscious of any ethnic or cultural differences. The coaches were Reuben Gustafson and Louie Cotroneo. And the teams they coached won. Teamwork requires integration.

Someone else eloquently put it another way: “Integration is like a watch. A watch has small components inside. Each component by itself cannot be called a watch, although they may function individually. However, when all the components are arranged in an orderly fashion the watch works perfectly.”

The Alsace wine route

Rows of grapevines as far as the eye can see advancing up towards the mountain forests. Ruins of proud castles from the Middle Ages. Villages surrounded by ramparts. Flower decked streets. Hospitable inns. Joyful wine cellars. Baroque wrought-iron signs. Roman churches and fountains. And last but not least, excellent food and wine.

Those are just some of the unforgettable memories you’ll have after having traveled the Alsace wine route, which winds its way along the eastern foothills of the Vosges, for 170 km, between one gateway at Thann and the other at Marlenheim.

No visit to Alsace is complete without seeing Strasbourg (the capitol) and Colmar. But the true charm lies in the many small towns lining the picturesque Wine Route. A minimum of three days offers the real flavor of the region, its wine and food. Travel by car or on two wheels from town to town at your own pace, parking to explore the small streets lined with quaint homes, restaurants and shops.

Another peaceful and invigorating way to experience the vineyards is to hike or bike on the 20 or more trails that crisscross the region. Marked by numerous information points, each vineyard trail sets out to explain the work of the wine grower, the art of the Alsace wine and the difference between the grape varieties.

Of the seven grapes varieties used for production of wine in Alsace, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Gewurztraminer and Riesling, four are known as noble grapes. Each has its own characteristic.

The Pinot Gris grape produces a full flavored wine that is slightly higher in alcohol content. The Muscat grape produces a sweet, but dry wine. The Gewurztraminer grape also produces a sweet wine, but with a hint of fruity spices. Finally, the most popular is the Riesling grape, which Alsatians take the most pride in producing. The other types of grapes from the region include Pinot Noir (for red and rosé wine), Sylvaner (for house or table wine) and Pinot Blanc (used to make a sparkling wine called the Crémant d'Alsace.

The region is divided into a northern and southern section known as Bas Rhin and Haut Rhine. True wine connoisseurs feel that the wines in the south (Bas Rhin) are the best.  Wine can be sampled in winstuben (wine taverns) in almost every town of the region.

While Alsace is famous for wine, you will also find excellent beer there. Kronenbourg, one of the most popular beers in Europe, is brewed in the region.

Alsace is also a well-known gastronomic region. Main dishes feature pork, chicken and trout, and as might be expected many of them are served with a sauce made from the local wine. Another popular specialty is sausage and choucroute (sauerkraut). Flavorful Munster cheese is a specialty of Alsace, and the region leads France in the production of pâté, with over 50 varieties from the area.

There are over 90 small towns along the AlsaceWine Route, and though most are charming, there are those that have a little extra to offer.

Barr. Castles high on a hill, 17th &18th Century buildings, access to hiking trails, and a Wine Fair in mid July and Harvest Festival the first Sunday of October.

Andlau. Surrounded by three Grand Cru vineyards, it features a Roman Abbey church from the 17th C, easy 2-3 hour hikes to nearby castle ruins, and a Wine fair the first weekend of August.

Dambach-la-Ville. Medieval ramparts, a Roman Gothic church, an easy 2 hour hike to castle ruins, a Grand cru vineyard trail, and a Wine Fair on August 14th and 15th.

Kintzheim. A Medieval castle, many historic fountains “Eagle Aviary”and Monkey Mountain on the way to the Haut Koenigsbourg Castle.

Bergheim- Medieval fortifications with round towers, a Gothic 14th Century church, a small local history museum, and access to vineyard trails.

Ribeauvillé. a very popular tourist town, it is dominated by three castles and surrounded by three Grand Cru vineyards. It also has churches dating to 13th Century, a jewelry museum, a renaissance fountain, and old towers with stork nests.

Riquewihr. The most popular town on the Wine Route is a well-preserved, self contained Medieval / Renaissance city.  Many buildings date back to the 12th Century. There is a stagecoach and postal museum, a Grand Cru vineyard trail, and Reichenstein castle ruins are a 15-minute hike away.

Kayserberg. The birthplace of Dr. Albert Schweitzer has a small museum dedicated to him. There is a river bisecting the town near the 13th C. castle ruins that is crossed by a fortified bridge from 1514. The rest of the town is filled with beautiful Medieval and Renaissance buildings. Known for its Christmas Market.

Turckheim. Reminiscent remains of three rampart gates, a Church dating to the 12th century, vineyard trail for views over the town, and town criers in the summer at 10:00 PM. Wine fair in late July.

Eguisheim- This Medieval city was built in 3 concentric circles around its castle and features historic half-timbered houses, balconies, oriel windows, and pointed gables. Guided visits of vineyard trails are available from the Tourist Office.  A Wine festival is held on the 4th weekend in August.

Haut Koenigsbourg Castle. It is not a town but it is well worth a visit. Built in the 12th century to serve as the residence of several members of the Habsburg dynasty and the German emperor Wilhelm II, the Haut Koenigsbourg Castle is a top sightseeing attraction in Alsace. A great place for the entire family, Medieval times come alive when kids let their imaginations run wild with knights in shining armor. Adults love the views to Switzerland and Germany.