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Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
World War II
Thomas York
Length of interview (00:47:19)
Background Information (00:00:12)
Born in Baltimore, Maryland in July of 1927
Moved to Oklahoma in 1929 (00:00:23)
o
Remained in Oklahoma until 1941
Father worked in the oil fields during the depression (00:00:31)
Mother was a school teacher
o
Had taught in Grand Rapids, Michigan
1941- The York family moves to Wayland, Michigan
York describes life in Oklahoma in the 1930’s (00:01:01)
o
Lived in the town of Britton
o
Father had been a pilot in WWI
o
Oklahoma was “a flying country” (00:01:30)
o
York remembers that his father was a “very natural mechanic” and worked for
General Motors when the family first moved to Oklahoma
The family moved up to Michigan before the attack on Pearl Harbor (00:02:55)
York knew about the war in Europe, and remembers being worried about the possibility of
being attacked by Japan
o
Learned about the war primarily in school , although it was in Civics class and
none of the information was new (00:03:46)
o
Information was heavily censored (00:04:15)
York heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor on the radio (00:04:50)
o
Followed the war through the letters of GIs from Wayland
o
Was a very patriotic time, many young men signing up for the service
When York was 16, he went to enlist and was accepted.
o
When York graduated from high school at 17, he entered the service (00:06:44)
o
A parent’s signature to enlist was not needed, even though York was a minor
York was called to active duty July 1st of 1945 (00:07:20)
Training (00:07:21)
Air Force basic training squadron was out of Biloxi, Mississippi
o
Basic training had a lot of emphasis on physical training (00:07:41)
Marching, cross-country running
York was in great shape, remembers training being easy for him
o
Reenlisted after his 6 months were over, rather than be drafted (00:09:01)
Was discharged from the Air Force and reenlisted in the Army Air Force
Didn’t want to be a mechanic
Sent to Greensboro, North Carolina (00:09:20)
o
Finished training and shipped out to New York in less than a month
Shipped out of New York in October or November
�o
Shipped out on an NYU Victory ship
V-hulled, bunks were 18 beds high, and rolling over was impossible
Small ship—900 troops packed into the ship
York slept on deck after the first night, he wasn’t supposed to but he hid
in a life boat (00:10:27)
York remembers there being very little food.
Lunch was a cup of soup and two crackers
Spent 31 days on the ship
o
Went to Casablanca, then Naples in Italy
WWII is over, but many men were still being shipped to Europe (00:11:46)
Remembers the Straits of Gibraltar as still being dangerous, even after the war
o
Torpedoes, submarines, and mines (00:13:19)
Italy (00:14:00)
The stop in Casablanca was a one day stop. York did not get to leave the ship.
First impression of Naples was of a city on a hill
o
Could see Mt. Vesuvius
o
Stayed in Naples for a week or two
o
The weather was warm, similar to Georgia or Alabama
Sent to Caserta, Italy (00:15:00)
o
About 18 miles inland
o
Allied Headquarters Command at that time
Both British and American troops were stationed there
German prison camp located within Caserta as well
o
Was a clerk in the medical area.
kept track of supplies
o
When the First Sergeant became a Lieutenant, York took his former position
(00:17:26)
o
The officers did not seem to do anything, but were “your friend” (00:20:15)
o
The British were also on the base (00:22:10)
Describes the British
o
Talks about the German prisoners of war (00:23:02)
Describes one German prisoner who taught himself English
o
The prison camp was a separate compound from the base in Caserta (00:25:50)
o
York went to Naples every weekend
o
York spent over a year in Italy (00:27:20)
o
York got to ride in an aircraft carrier
Air Force food was the best
o
York describes the Italian civilian population (00:30:10)
One popular restaurant the GIs went to for eggs and fried potatoes
Many children visited the base
The only warning York received was not to park a vehicle on the street
because it would get stolen
o
York does not recall many discipline problems within the base (00:33:11)
o
The USO came in four or five times for entertainment
o
York talks about a monastery that had been destroyed and was going to be
�rebuilt
o
Rome was almost untouched by the war due to historical significance
o
The German prisoners were allowed to go home, but many who lived in the
communist zone did not want to leave (00:38:33)
The prisoners did not have a choice to stay, but were sent home
regardless
The majority of the prisoners were still in Caserta when York went home
The SS prisoners were not separated from the other prisoners
Return to the United States (00:41:17)
The ship York returned to the United States on was a lousy vessel
o
The return trip was much worse, although men who had gotten married in
Europe were bringing their wives home (ship was gender segregated) (00:41:48)
o
The first thing York saw was Coney Island, then the harbor, then finally the
Statue of Liberty
o
Took about 20 days to cross the Atlantic
o
Took about a week to process him before he was released
After returning home, York worked at Pet Mill (00:44:10)
o
Went to Florida
o
Went on a blind date with the woman who became his wife
o
Went to Kendall for art school
Worked graphic design for Spartan stores for a while
After retiring, became a graphic design consultant for around 10 years
Conclusions about the war (00:45:28)
The war made York grow up
o
Saw a lot of the world
o
Never really returned home, had gained independence
o
Gained leadership and teamwork skills during the service
York wanted out at the time, but now he wonders why he did not make it his career
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27_YorkT
Title
A name given to the resource
York, Thomas (Interview outline and video), 2010
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2010-01-13
Description
An account of the resource
Thomas York was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1927. His family moved first to Oklahoma, then to Michigan. York enlisted in the US Air Force at 16, and after graduating at 17, entered active duty on July 1st of 1945. York underwent basic training at the base in Biloxi, Mississippi. York re-enlisted after his 6 months of duty were finished in the US Army Air Force. York was sent to Caserta, Italy, where he served for a year as a medical clerk. While at Caserta, York met British military personnel and German prisoners of war.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
York, Thomas
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army Air Forces
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Moving Image
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Civil War and Slavery Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Slavery--United States
African Americans
United States--Politics and government--19th century
Description
An account of the resource
A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lemmen, Harvey E.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1804-1897
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image; Text
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1804-1897
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Yorktown, Virginia
Description
An account of the resource
Fort at Yorktown, Virginia. Design in sepia on white envelope.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-49_PE069
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Postal service--United States--History
Covers (Philatety)--United States--History
Patriotic envelopes
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War patriotic envelopes, (RHC-49)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_020
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite dam
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of a dam, possibly the Hetch Hetchy. A road is carved into the mountainside next to the dam.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Dams
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_003
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite lookout
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of three people at the top of a mountain in Yosemite National Park. They are standing by the railings of a viewing platform.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_006
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite mountains
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of the side of a mountain across a river.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_007
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite mountains
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of a mountain range.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_008
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite mountains
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of mountain clif faces.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
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Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f0ed5502f6a12d3f80013226b297c328.jpg
a1d4883b8cc0e5f7b31bdb4c3b76ff94
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_005
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite tour truck
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of a man standing between a tour vehicle and a pump. A group of people are seated in the vehicle.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/94eb07b38ede03a46c6141b26d7db053.jpg
275e32d78b6bbc2550edb7daddac5cb6
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_002
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite Trees
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of two tall pine trees in a forest.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/93d935e9ef8e849405bd00023e769165.jpg
dbe3968d9539abd64b7590b65bf34898
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_009
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite Trees
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of trees in a forest.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/be7ffd3df80ea2ef0098ab7d218b6358.jpg
7680774a04e2dd1d63f8195af3646a93
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_013
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite Trees
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of a large tree in a forest.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3b9e43e77f50207d53e268605331bfaa.jpg
4085591c2ab4f4c2f6de7afb2e85bd20
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_001
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite Valley
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white aerial photograph of Yosemite Valley.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6a533b1fe04eabd4d34edccb71ae9ca7.jpg
008d93ddbbb8d003b84887190625d61f
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Robert H. Merrill photographs
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1909/1950
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-222
Description
An account of the resource
Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family.
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Merrill_NE_60_1924_018
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1924
Title
A name given to the resource
Yosemite Valley
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of the Yosemite Valley.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Yosemite Valley (Calif.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/610e8e2edd49d0fea005bf07ce7efef4.mp3
a39babbc66e586e3424c747897882101
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kaufman Interfaith Institute
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1981-2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Epiphany III
Scripture Text
Luke 19:9-10
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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KII-01_RA-0-19860126
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1986-01-26
Title
A name given to the resource
You are Something Wonderful
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 26, 1986 entitled "You are Something Wonderful", on the occasion of Epiphany III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 19:9-10.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9fcb672c2206f72e669f708fc360b7b5.pdf
f02dd605cad1091807c6efa842f0b960
PDF Text
Text
You Can Never Go Home
From the series: Good News Then and Now
Scripture: Jeremiah 23:23-32; Hebrews 4:12-13; John 1:1-5; 10-14
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
October 10, 1999
Transcription of the spoken word
One of the great greetings that is addressed by angelic visitors or messengers to
human beings in critical situations in the biblical story from time to time is, “Fear
not.” I would like this morning to say to you as a congregation on a pilgrimage of
faith, in an explosive and wonderful and fascinating world, “Fear not. Be not
afraid.”
It’s a wonderful endeavor to traverse 2000 years of Christian history and to find
that through those centuries there have been periods of vitality and life, and there
have been periods of dryness and desert existence. There have been times when it
would seem that the flame of faith would flicker and die. And then there have
been surprising moments when the word of God sounded, some voice was found,
some happening caused once again a new freedom and joy and confidence to
mark the people of God. A study of the history of the Church builds one’s
confidence, not in the infallibility of the Church or the infallibility of the Bible or
the total accuracy and absolute truthfulness of the Christian dogmatic structure,
but rather, that God goes with the Church; the Spirit of God now and again
breathes new life into the Church. There are periods of dryness, but there are
periods of renewal, and finally our confidence is in God and therefore, my word
to you is, “Fear not,” as we continue our pilgrimage of understanding that faith
that has been our heritage and that is our hope.
I said last week that the Reformation of the 16th century, that critical event out of
which the Protestant movement emerged, was actually a family fight. It was an
intramural exercise. To be sure, the upshot of it was the rending of the body of
Christ, unfortunately. To be sure, there was a fresh experience of the grace of
God, the Gospel was freed, the scriptures came to new life, but it was still a family
affair. There wasn’t any significant tampering with the core Christian dogmatic
understanding, the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed confessed by Catholic
and Protestant alike. As a matter of fact, the Reformation emerging in the
Protestant movement caused to happen what Luther had hoped would happen in
the first place and that was a counter-Reformation in the Catholic Church, after
which there wasn’t really any reason for the two to remain apart, but fortunately,
©
Grand
Valley
State
University
�You Can Never Go Home
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
after 450 or so years, we did begin to talk to each other again and we’re on better
relations now.
But that intramural, inter-family conflict of the 16th century was hardly a crisis at
all compared with the crisis of modernity, the modern period when we began to
use our critical faculties, our reason, to ask questions about the reality of which
we are a part. It had two dimensions, as I have been stressing these last weeks.
There is the rise of the natural sciences through the exercise of the scientific
method, inductive reasoning, observation, investigation, experimentation,
actually looking at what is there, testing, experimenting, drawing conclusions,
hypotheses, building models. The tremendous success of the natural sciences is
the verification of the usefulness and legitimacy of that method of investigation.
But the 17th century scientific revolution that continued apace was marked in the
18th century by the Enlightenment, that Age of Reason with which this nation was
born, the Age of Reason which saw the autonomy of the human person coming
from under the authoritarian claim of Church or Bible, the monarchies, the
political arrangements, the throwing off of all authoritarian structures and the
human being standing in his or her own light, guided by the light of human
reason. That critical rationality continued to ferment until the whole of European
culture and this nation, as well, the West, was marked by historical thinking,
historical consciousness. Thought was now given to the origin of institutions and
to dogmatic structures - how were they put together? The Bible - how did we get
this canon? Who wrote what to whom, for what reason, what motivation, when,
etc. Critical thinking issued in a sense of history, the historical method being just
the common sense method in which we all operate in every other aspect of our
lives, and that method came to expression in a thinker such as Ernst Troeltsch at
the beginning of the 20th century.
The end of the 19th century brought about the obvious conclusion that all of
history is relative, that all of history is development, that history is process, that
all of us who are a part of the historical process have no vantage point from which
to climb in order to view it all and see it as God sees it, but rather, we’re all caught
up in it. Ernst Troeltsch did not deny an absolute, but he did deny the possibility
of any historical person or institution having a grasp of the absolute, for what we
learned was that we all have but a relative glimpse of that absolute, and that our
context, our time and our place in history shape the lens through which we view
reality. Therefore, in the last decades of the 19th century, there arose the History
of Religions School, the first scientific endeavor in the West to come to
understand the nature of religion and to, with exposure to the other great world
traditions, see that Christianity was not alone, but rather there were other great
traditions that had deep spiritual authenticity and, therefore, it was impossible
anymore to speak of the exclusivity of the Christian faith or the absoluteness of
the Christian faith over against all other faiths. These were the problems, the
issues with which Troeltsch wrestled.
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can Never Go Home
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
The nineteenth century had been a century of intense theological conversation,
debate, discussion, controversy, and European culture had blossomed into the
magnificent thing that it was, literally, culturally, its music, its art, its theological
investigations, its great universities. And then, of course, as the 20th century
dawned, the first decade of this century brought the First World War. It was as
though European culture had come under judgment, that it was tired, and there
was a brilliant student who had the finest of European education, a young Swiss
ordained pastor called to a little village in Switzerland; his name was Karl Barth,
whom we know in retrospect.
If you want to take the great leaps of theological minds you jump from St. Paul to
St. Augustine to John Calvin to Karl Barth, the most influential, powerful
theologian of the 20th century. He came to this little village church as a young
ordinand, stood in the pulpit and, as he describes it himself, he had nothing to
preach. With all of the brilliance of his education and of his mind and of his
culture, of his heritage, he stood before the people with an open Bible and then
had no message. He probably was reflective of that generation, that century that
is described by A. N. Wilson in a recent book, God’s Funeral - the lost faith, the
tiredness of the 19th century in its struggle to believe in the face of modernity.
And then Karl Barth began to study, to wrestle, to pray. He had a friend in
another village; they began to converse and communicate together, they
struggled together with trying to have an understanding of this Christian faith,
trying to find a voice into which to bring it to fresh expression.
After ten years of that, he published in 1919 the Epistle to the Romans, which was
like a bombshell on the European scene. Barth affirmed the godness of God.
Barth affirmed the reality of revelation, that God speaks, that God speaks, that
there is a word of God in the midst of the human situation. With great daring,
with great power, with great joy and freedom, Barth turned the theological world
upside down. He flew square in the face of modernity. Whereas Schleiermacher
attempted to root religion in the human being and find a new authority, whereas
Troeltsch recognized the historicity of Christian faith and its relativity, Barth just
plain proclaimed the word of God in the midst of history, full of judgment,
condemning all that was human, and then taking it all back with the gracious
embrace of God. It was a message of the word of God. Barth is the one who
formulated that rather neat understanding of the threefold word of God - the
word in flesh, the word incarnate, John 1:14, “The word became flesh and dwelt
among us.” And he said the word written, the Hebrew Scriptures were a word of
anticipation, and the New Testament documents were a word of recollection, but
it all centered in the word made flesh. There was revelation. There was the
incarnation of God in the humanity of Jesus Christ, the word written,
anticipating, recollecting, and then the word written becoming the occasion for
this moment, the word preached.
Barth made a very presumptuous, arrogant claim that the preached word is as
much the word of God as the word written, as the word in flesh, that the word in
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can Never Go Home
Richard A. Rhem
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flesh pointed to by the word written continues to be pointed to by the word
preached. Revelation continues to happen now and again, here and there, who
knows when. When the breath of the Spirit blows, the word of the preacher
becomes for this one or that one the very word of God.
That was Barth. It must have been a lot like Jeremiah who understood the word
of God as a hammer that breaks the rock and as a fire that consumes the chaff, an
understanding of the word such as the writer to the Hebrews who said the word
of God is sharper than a two-edged sword dividing the bone and marrow,
discerning the very thoughts and intents of the human heart.
The word of God. Who knows when it will sound? Who knows where it will
strike? The fact is that God speaks and with daring and boldness and joy and
freedom and power. Barth announced the infinite, eternal Creator of all has
invaded our space and speaks, still judging and gracing.
When I went to Europe in 1967 at the University of Leiden in The Netherlands,
Karl Barth was within a year of his death. I wish I had hopped a train to go down
and at least try to touch the hem of his garment. But my professor Berkhof was a
good friend and colleague of Barth, so I got about as close as I could without
having been there. And in 1968 (I still have the newspaper clipping with his
picture and eulogy from the Leiden Daily), Karl Barth died. I went to a memorial
service at Leiden where a professor of the theological faculty said, whatever
future theology transpires, the theologian will never be able to go over Barth or
under Barth or around Barth, but will have to go through Barth. In other words,
before you can speak a word theologically, you had better understand the
wrestling and the struggling of this giant who was used of God in such a powerful
way.
By the time I got to Europe, the students of Karl Barth were filling the chairs of
theology in the prestigious universities of the continent, and the students of Barth
were beginning to turn back to the questions that Barth had simply obliterated.
The students of Barth who were now the professors of the universities were
beginning to ask again the questions with which Ernst Troeltsch had wrestled
because those questions were not invented, they were not a temporary incidental
kind of thing, they were the questions that had arisen out of the modern, critical
mentality, the critical rationality that was marking everything else in the whole
world - those questions for a generation could be silenced by the wonderful,
powerful, humorous, humane, brilliant voice of Barth. But his students had to
revisit Troeltsch and Schleiermacher and go back again and face the questions of
modernity, because if you don’t have the power, the daring, and the brilliance of a
Barth simply to overpower, then you have to engage in dialogue and conversation
and before long you have to deal again with the questions that are really the
questions. So, when I got there, one of the first books I had to read was entitled
The New Hermeneutic. I went to Berkhof after reading it for my appointment
and he said, “How did it go,” and I said, “I have never read anything so difficult in
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can Never Go Home
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
all my life.” The students of Barth and Rudolf Bultmann, a New Testament
scholar, the students were now forming a movement that was called The New
Quest of the Historical Jesus, and that new quest continues to this day. We’ve had
John Dominic Crossan here, we’ve had Marcus Borg here, because the questions
of modernity are the questions that all of us have to face, because our world, this
fascinating world of which we are a part, is so other than the world in which our
faith structures came to expression. They need a new voice; they need a
translation.
I went back to Europe, as you may remember, in 1994 when my old professor in
his 80th year was celebrated at the University. He was in a nursing home at the
time and I got a chance to spend an hour and a half with him at what I knew
would be my last personal encounter. He was telling me about his younger days
when Karl Barth was the coming rage in Europe. He told me about his professor
who heard that Berkhof was coming under the influence of Barth and he took
Berkhof aside and warned him about Barth, and Henk Berkhof laughed a bit and
said, “I didn’t like that very much.”
I said to him, “Henk, as I see you here now, I see you looking more to Barth than
I remember.”
He said, “Ja, maybe so.”
I said, “You know, I feel so close to you and yet, I feel like we’re in a really tight
circle together, but you’re looking one way and I’m looking the other.”
He said, “Say that again.”
I said, “Well, I see you looking back and I have to be honest, I’m looking this
way.”
He said, “That’s good. That’s right. You must always go beyond your teacher.”
That’s a blessed teacher to have who encourages that.
Hans Küng, in his Theology for the Third Millennium, concludes with a
discussion of Karl Barth. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on Barth. Barth wrote
the introduction to his dissertation. Küng admired Barth very greatly and he
wrote, “But, if he could do it over again, Karl Barth would begin all over again.
This time he would do it on a historically, critically shaped foundation, different
from that which he did in the early part of the century, because, you see, history
moves and times are different and the context is different.” But, he had enough
confidence in a Karl Barth to believe that if he could do it over again, he wouldn’t
do it the same way because he wouldn’t be doing it in the same context, against
the same fronts. He would have another word to say.
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can Never Go Home
Richard A. Rhem
Page 6
Someone gave me a copy this week of Forbes Magazine’s big issue No. 4. The
theme of this one is “Convergence.” There is a multitude of literary, scientific,
religious, all kinds of leading lights who write a page or six, but the theme of it all
is Convergence, how everything is coming together and that the Internet on
which we are only in the opening stages will continue to transform our reality
into a global neighborhood such as even those who began to talk about
globalization couldn’t have conceived.
Edward O. Wilson, from Harvard, the biologist Nobel Prize winner, great scholar,
writes one or two pages in which he suggests that everything finally will fold into
biology and he says, as far as he’s concerned, even philosophy and religion will be
explained eventually in terms of neuro-connections in the brain, brain science,
and so forth.
I read that stuff and I think, thank God I can read it without being afraid. I hear
the angels’ words, “Fear not,” because if my religious experience is the
consequence of some chemical reactions in my brain, then I would guess that it is
consequence of some creative process of billions of years that has brought us to
this point of conscious and self-transcendence, consciousness of the other, and
then the question of the Other, and the Mystery of our existence. I refuse to live
in any kind of denial of any kind of knowledge that is available anywhere and in
any discipline. If I have to have my religion while closing my eyes or stopping my
ears, that’s when I’ll give it up. But I don’t believe I have to give it up because one
time, in the doldrums and the decadence of early twentieth-century European
culture, there was one raised up whose voice rocked the earth with the
declaration that God speaks, and that the word of God is a hammer that breaks
the rock and the fire that consumes the chaff, that is sharper than a two-edged
sword to discern the thoughts and intents of the human heart. Revelation isn’t
over. The future - who can predict the fascinating development, the unfolding of
this drama of which we are a part? Aren’t you glad you’re alive - to see it, to
witness it, to participate in it? We can do it all with freedom and with joy, with
confidence, always hearing the word of our Lord, “Be not afraid. Be not afraid.”
Once, of course, your eyes are opened, you can never go home.
Küng concludes his book, Theology for the Third Millennium, by saying we can’t
go back to Augustine or Aquinas or Calvin or Schleiermacher or Barth. It’s always
forward.
References:
Karl Barth. Epistle to the Romans. Oxford University Press, 1968.
Hans Küng. Theology for the Third Millennium: An Ecumenical View. Anchor,
reprint edition, 19900.
© Grand Valley State University
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daef7b059640c7eb558e5b56e1ef4772
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Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
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Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
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Rhem, Richard A.
Source
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
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Kaufman Interfaith Institute
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
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English
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Sound
Text
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KII-01
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1981-2014
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audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Pentecost XXI
Series
Good News Then and Now
Scripture Text
Jeremiah 23:23-32, Hebrews 4:12-13, John 1:1-5, 10-14
Location
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Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
References
Karl Barth. Epistle to the Romans, 1968 Hans K
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KII-01_RA-0-19991010
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1999-10-10
Title
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You Can Never Go Home
Creator
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Richard A. Rhem
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Grand Valley State University
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
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Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
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Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
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eng
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Text
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audio/mp3
application/pdf
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 10, 1999 entitled "You Can Never Go Home", as part of the series "Good News Then and Now", on the occasion of Pentecost XXI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Jeremiah 23:23-32, Hebrews 4:12-13, John 1:1-5, 10-14.
Church
Critical Thinking
Modernity
Revelation
-
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a2740ad6dadda5118f5d10c8f69ced69
PDF Text
Text
You Can’t Fight It, Paul
From the series: Christian Faith: Interpretations of Experience
Text: Acts 9:4; Acts 26:14, 19
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
Eastertide, April 26, 1998
Transcription of the spoken sermon
The Christian faith is one of the great world religions, flowing out of the faith
tradition of Israel and developing from the event of Jesus Christ, as Israel’s faith
tradition, following the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem in 77 CE,
developed along the lines of Rabbinic Judaism. Out of the First Century, then,
two religious traditions developed, both rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures, or, as
the church has traditionally referred to them, the Old Testament.
Religions are rooted in a foundational experience of a person or a people in which
some profound insight overwhelms the subjects of the experience, creating a
whole new perspective on the nature of things: on God, on the meaning of being
human, on the purpose of life. One is transformed and one’s life is reorganized
around that life-changing experience. We can speak of a paradigm shift - some
insight, some discovery throws everything up in the air and a whole new
configuration of reality emerges.
This happens in the natural sciences; it happens in religious understanding.
Perhaps it is most accurate to speak of a foundational experience that effects a
radical perceptual shift.
This happens all the time to all of us in all sorts of human understanding in the
spectrum of human knowledge. Some years ago there was a film with a title
something like, "You Are What You Were When." The powerful impacting events
that we experience during adolescence will shape us for a lifetime. Only a
significant emotional experience later can alter our perception of reality and our
instinctive responses to life.
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 - the experience of the great wars of this century,
the Holocaust.
On an individual scale, this happens to us all - experience and the emotional
response to concrete experiences form our perception of reality. On the larger
canvas of the human story, we see the same thing - A foundational experience
finds expression in a story using images, symbol, metaphor; the story eventually
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can’t Fight It, Paul
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
is probed for its meaning and that meaning is given conceptual expression. We
have an intellectual systematic account of reality on the basis of the foundational
experience.
Moses leads a slave band out of Egypt to freedom - the Exodus becomes the
foundational event of Israel.
The Jewish teacher and prophet, Jesus of Nazareth, is crucified by Imperial
Rome and his followers despair because they had hoped through him God would
bring to consummation God’s reign and then one day, preparing to take up again
the fishing trade in Galilee, Peter experiences Jesus as a living presence and he is
transformed by that experience, declaring, "The Lord is risen."
If such an experience had been limited to the immediate followers of Jesus, all
Jewish, all hoping for God’s final visitation to God’s people Israel, there would
perhaps have been an ongoing Jesus Jewish movement - as there was for a
century or two, but there would probably not have emerged what we know as the
Christian church. To understand that phenomenon into which we have entered,
we must move to Paul, or as he is named in his first appearances in Acts, Saul.
Now we are dealing not with a Galilean peasant nor with a disciple of Jesus, but
with a well educated, well traveled member of the strictest of the Jewish
groupings, the Pharisees - the group who was serious in its observance of Jewish
religious practices, strictly following the prescriptions of Torah.
Furthermore, we are dealing not with a Pharisee who was open to Jesus as was,
for example, Gamaliel or Nicodemus. Rather, we are dealing with one who is in
the employ of the High Priestly establishment, committed to the stamping out of
the movement that gathered around Jesus, the movement called People of the
Way.
The story of Paul’s revelatory experience is familiar enough. We read Luke’s
account in Acts 19. Luke sees this experience as so critical to the development of
the Christian religion that he repeats the story twice more, in chapter 22 of Acts
and chapter 26.
We in the Christian church speak without thinking of the conversion of Saul or
Paul. But this was not a conversion from one God to another or even from one
religion to another. Paul was born a Jew and died a Jew and never claimed to be
anything else and consistently declared the God of Israel to be God alone, Creator
of all and ultimate Goal of all. Paul was not a convert to a new religion; rather, he
experienced a radical perceptual shift Jesus was indeed God’s anointed one whose death on the cross was the means by
which God effected reconciliation with humankind. Further, God had raised
Jesus from the dead and destined Paul to declare this reality of reconciliation to
the Gentiles, the nations beyond the bounds of Israel.
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can’t Fight It, Paul
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
I cannot here recount the whole story of Paul’s missionary journeys, the tension
created with the Jewish Jesus Movement led by Peter and James, the brother of
Jesus at Jerusalem, and the compromise they reached. I want, rather, to focus on
the interpretive shift that Paul effected on the basis of his experience of being
encountered by the Risen Lord.
Paul had a vision, a revelation, an unveiling. It was a transformation experience
that resulted in new insight and a radical perceptual shift - out of it came the
Christian movement, the Christian church and the Christian tradition.
The shift from the performance principle - righteousness through obedience to
the Law or Torah, observance as a way of life - to the reality of grace: present
existence as a new creation marked by confidence that God has given us our life
as sheer gift to be lived in freedom with joy and peace in loving community. One
enters the reality of the people of God by faith - confidence that this is so. This
was a new conception of the nature of religion - response of gratitude for the gift
of life. Thus, religious observance is because of, not in order to....
A second insight: God has elected not only Israel and not Israel as a biological,
historical people, but also in Christ, the Gentiles, the nations. This was a radical
departure from the traditional conception of Israel as God’s elect.
But, so far, we might agree that all of this is interesting and does explain the
eventual break between Judaism and the Christian church. But, is the radical
perceptual shift effected in and through Paul the last word?
E. A. Sanders raises the question, what if Paul had lived beyond the first
generation of the Jesus movement, or, what if he could have seen out 2000 years
that his apocalyptic scheme of the near end of the age would not happen? We
know what he thought in his own context: the only way to be saved was through
faith in Jesus Christ for both Jew and Gentile.
But, what if he saw from our historical perspective, the Christian tradition, the
continuing Jewish tradition and a world of other faiths - would he still claim
salvation through Jesus Christ alone? Sanders says he personally would vote
against such a claim in any ecclesiastical assembly today and he suspects so
would Paul.
Paul, in Romans, near the end of his career wrestled with the native convictions
he held - that God had chosen Israel and would be faithful to that election of
grace; yet, in his revelation Paul sees access to God by grace through faith in
Jesus Christ, the one largely rejected by the "Elect People," Paul’s brothers and
sisters. There was conflict in Paul, tension. He struggled with this problem in
Romans 9-11, concluding that somehow the Gentiles would be included by grace
through faith in Jesus Christ and, mysteriously, Israel too would be included.
Israel’s large-scale rejection of Paul’s Gospel distressed him; yet he could not
simply write them off.
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can’t Fight It, Paul
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
I am finally encouraged by the confusion of the great Apostle. I like a questioning
Paul. It gives me courage. Paul entered into a present experience of God’s grace
giving him freedom, joy, peace and love. That was his great discovery and he
witnessed to it with passion. In regard to God’s timetable in history, he was
wrong. The present age did not come to an end. The Messiah, the Risen Lord, did
not return in clouds of glory. So, obviously, there were chapters yet to be written
about which the Apostle had no clue. Nor do we.
But, the present possibility of resurrection life, life as sheer gift to be received
with gratitude and lived with wonder - about that the Apostle was quite right - it
is the continuing present possibility for all who have eyes to see it and mind and
hearts open to it.
And, is that not enough - life as gift, sheer gift, the gift of God Whose intention
was revealed in the face of the Crucified, who lives, who is present with us in the
ongoing journey of faith in the adventure of life?
© Grand Valley State University
�
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Title
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Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kaufman Interfaith Institute
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
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English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
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KII-01
Coverage
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1981-2014
Format
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audio/mp3
text/pdf
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A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Eastertide III
Series
Christian Faith: Interpreting an Experience
Scripture Text
Acts 9:4, Acts 26:14, 19
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
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KII-01_RA-0-19980426
Date
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1998-04-26
Title
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You Can't Fight It, Paul
Creator
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Richard A. Rhem
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
application/pdf
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 26, 1998 entitled "You Can't Fight It, Paul", as part of the series "Christian Faith: Interpreting an Experience", on the occasion of Eastertide III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Acts 9:4, Acts 26:14, 19.
Nature of Religion
Paradigm Shift
Transformation
-
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a878857d70a8596b2197c5e07a2facc5
PDF Text
Text
You Can’t Go Home, Peter!
From the series: Christian Faith: Interpreting An Experience
Text: Acts 10:36; John 21:19
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
Eastertide, April 19, 1998
Transcription of the spoken sermon
In this season of Eastertide it will be my intention to enable you to see how
Christian faith is the consequence of interpretations of experience. That is true of
all religion. Someone or some group has a significant experience, and out of that
experience comes the attempt to articulate that experience and eventually the
analysis of the experience that issues in a more systematic and intellectual
account of the experience. But it always starts with an experience and the
Christian faith, the Christian church, the tradition of which we are a part everything that it is, is a consequence of a foundational experience and the
interpretations of that experience. For the Christian church, the Christian
movement, the Christian tradition, the foundational experience is Easter. For the
Jewish people, the foundational experience was the Exodus, which is
remembered every year with the Passover festival. This past week the Christian
church remembered its foundational experience in celebrating Easter; the Jewish
community remembered its foundational experience in a celebration of Passover.
That is true, not only of Christianity and Judaism; every great religious
movement has a foundational experience. That foundational experience, then,
cries out for expression.
Have you ever gone somewhere and had some great experience and come home
and tried to tell your spouse or your children about it? You say, "I don’t have
words, I wish I had words, I can’t tell you about it. I just can’t... there’s no way I
could communicate what I just experienced." But, of course, you go on trying to
communicate what you’ve just experienced, nonetheless, and you grab for
language, metaphors, images, symbols, one way or another to try to articulate, to
give expression to that which you’ve experienced, because that which you have
experienced was so dramatic that you need to talk about it. Language is necessary
in order to keep us from exploding when we’ve had that tremendous experience.
Eventually the metaphors and the images and the symbols point to the
experience and then we begin to reflect on the images and the symbols and the
metaphors in order to understand what really was going on down there, the
insights that accrue from that experience which came to expression in image and
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can’t Go Home, Peter!
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
metaphor. That’s when we get the more conceptual analysis of the experience.
That’s the systematizing, the intellectual activity. Now you’re into doctrine and
theology and the movement’s dead. The conceptualization of the metaphors and
images which are the result of the experience - that’s, of course, where we come
in. That’s what you do when the experience forms a movement, a community,
and it takes on a life of its own. And then you pass it along by means of the
conceptual understanding, the analysis of the experience and what it meant. But,
you hope, even so, that the foundational experience will continue to be
experienced again because, if it doesn’t, it is dead. Then you are simply
perpetuating a system of ideas which has no fire, no passion, no transformative
affect on the life.
That is the nature of a lot of religion, isn’t it? That is the nature of a lot of
institutional religion. That is a description of a lot of what goes on in the church;
it is the passing along without passion and fire and a transforming experience of a
system of ideas, and a system of ideas never changed the world and never
changed a person. It is finally, one would hope, in the communication of
experience through image and symbol and metaphor and analysis that the
experience would happen again.
This Eastertide I want us to see that what we have in the New Testament
documents are the interpretations of experience, and those interpretations of
experience are somewhat removed from the event itself. Following the crucifixion
of Jesus and the experience of Jesus as living, present nonetheless, there was the
telling of the story and the building and forming of community and, eventually as
the decades move along, there was the felt need for the writing down, the
documentation of that account of the experience, and so we have the New
Testament documents. And then, of course, if you want to go on three, four and
five centuries into the Christian movement, then you had the whole creedal
development - 325, the Nicene Creed; 451, the Council of Chalcedon. You have
the church for 500 years trying to say what the experience meant. But it started
with somebody having an experience, and we’re going to look at Peter today and
Paul next week, and Mary the third week.
"Peter, you can’t go home." Where do you think Easter happened for Peter? When
do you think Easter happened for Peter? You say, "Well, it must have happened
on Easter Sunday in Jerusalem."
The evidence is not clear. That’s one of the liberating things I hope you will learn
in this Eastertide, that the evidence is not clear. We have Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John, and you simply cannot reconcile those four accounts of what actually
happened. The only thing they agree on is that Jesus was crucified, Jesus dead
and buried, and that Jesus was experienced as a living reality by the community
that followed in his name. But, if you put those four Gospel accounts together,
you will find an impossible complex of meetings and encounters and persons, and
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can’t Go Home, Peter!
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
there is no way to reconcile them. So, I doubt that Peter on Easter Sunday
celebrated the resurrection, was encountered by the risen Lord.
We don’t know, but there is this clue in John 21. Peter was in Galilee and he says,
"I’m going fishing." And the others say, "We’ll go with you." Now, it seems to me
that the picture that the author is painting for us is a Peter before Easter, a Peter
before the experience of that living one, that non-material, living presence, that
same Jesus but no longer in the form of flesh, but in a radically new form. I think
that Peter is going fishing because Peter is trying to pick up his life again, because
Peter’s life had been shattered. His dreams had been shattered; his hopes had
been dashed. Peter, who thought that Jesus was the Messiah, Peter, who thought
that Jesus was going to establish the twelve tribes, Peter, who thought that the
kingdom would come, the heavens would open, that he would be on the inside
track – Peter saw Jesus crucified and not only crucified, but crucified before Peter
could say, "I’m sorry for denying you three times; I’m sorry for my pride and for
my arrogance; I’m sorry for my buffoonery and my bullheadedness, ... all that
makes me who I am. I’m sorry."
Jesus was crucified; Peter went back to Galilee. And he was going to go fishing
because, if our life has been torn apart and all of our hopes and dreams have been
shattered, the thing we need is something familiar, something we can manage,
something we can handle. Peter was going back to fishing. And the others said,
"We’ll go with you."
But, you can’t really go home, Peter, because you’ve seen too much. You know too
much; you have experienced too much. You walked with that one too long, you’ve
sat at table with him, you saw him break bread, you saw him throw the arms of
embrace around the excluded, you saw the compassion that flowed out of him,
you saw the love with which he moved, the compassion that marked his life, the
grace that drenched him. Peter, you can’t go home. You saw too much. You can’t
just go back to your fishing.
Maybe that’s what this 21st chapter of John’s Gospel is about. The weight of
scholarly opinion says that chapter 21 was slapped onto the Gospel that really
concluded with the 20th chapter. I don’t know. It doesn’t make any difference. I
think what the 21st chapter is trying to deal with is the place of Peter in the
ongoing community and his relationship with John, the beloved disciple. So,
what we have here is Peter going fishing, and Boom! There’s a miracle. There’s a
great big catch of fish, 153 fish, after they had labored all night and gotten
nothing. They throw the net on the other side and there they are.
John’s Gospel begins with the wedding at Cana; they run out of wine. Jesus
produces more wine than any decent wedding reception could possibly use.
Where Jesus is, there’s abundance. Where Jesus is absent, there’s lack.
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can’t Go Home, Peter!
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
Is John telling us things that really happened? Or, is John painting a picture for
us? Is John trying to tell us about this One? Of course, he’s trying to tell us about
this One. There probably never was a wedding in Cana and there probably never
was a breakfast on the Sea of Tiberius. But, there was this One, this Jesus who
was crucified and who, in the wake of his crucifixion, was experienced as not dead
but still alive, a presence.
So, the author tells us about the abundance of the catch and, in the intimacy of a
breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, what happened was the same thing
that always happens. Jesus had been crucified. Peter is off in Galilee, trying to
run away. But, now Peter and the other disciples have a breakfast around the
charcoal fire, bread and fish, and you know, it’s like it always was, like nothing
changed, like he was right there. They sensed his presence in the inclusiveness of
that intimate breakfast. Peter thought he could go home, and instead gets
commissioned three times over to match the three times of denial (nice literary
stuff) in order to say, "Peter, you are charged with responsibility for this ongoing
movement. Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs. And Peter, the bottom line is this follow me."
When Peter was called in the first place, Jesus said, "Follow me." And the postcrucified Jesus says to Peter, "Follow me." And somehow or other, in the midst of
the experience, Peter is convinced that that same Jesus Christ for whom he had
so many hopes and dreams was with him still, living still, in the life of God, going
before him, calling him to follow, calling him to keep the movement alive, calling
him to do all that he had seen Jesus do in a continuing, growing movement of
resurrection in this old world that is a Good Friday world.
In this world that is a Good Friday world, there are those signs of resurrection
and Easter keeps happening. That’s the only reason that we are here, 2000 years
later, because Easter keeps happening. We are not here because there was a body
that came out of a tomb 2000 years ago. We are here because the living Christ
continues to confront those who look out into their world and suddenly, in a
moment, experience the presence of the resurrected one, and scales fall from
their eyes and they see. We’ll see next week that it happened to Paul. And I think
it happened to Peter in Galilee along the lake as he was going fishing. Suddenly
he realized that Jesus was not dead, but alive, that all the hopes and dreams that
had been crushed in Jerusalem were not really crushed but simply channeled into
a new direction in which he was to lead the flock into the future into a Good
Friday world with marks of Easter.
Jesus was born into this world and the doctrine of the Incarnation roots the
whole foundational experience of the Christian church in history. Something
happened back there. There was a Jesus. He was flesh of our flesh and bone of
our bone and he was crucified, dead, and buried. And following that experience,
here and there, now and again, someone saw him, experienced him, and
continued to follow him. That’s what Easter’s all about. That’s why Easter keeps
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can’t Go Home, Peter!
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
happening. That’s why Easter is not on a Sunday three days after crucifixion.
Easter is the moment in the world when the risen One is experienced as a power
of the future.
For example, on February 25 of this year a new president was inaugurated in
Korea, Korea that had been in the throes of military dictatorship and oppressive
domination for so long, and the new president had behind him a General Chung,
who, in 1980 came within a hair’s breadth of executing the new president who
was a dissident at the time. But this new president, before he was inaugurated
with the then reigning president, agreed to the liberation of political prisoners
because he said, "In my new regime there will be no political retaliation." A sign
of Easter in this old world that is still a Good Friday world.
Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in a cell and is able now to entertain the President
of the United States and even give him a lesson or two in moral authority, and in
South Africa, within the last decade, there is a transformed situation with all of
the problems that still remain, but it is a sign of resurrection in this old world
that is still a Good Friday world.
Do you still remember in the late 80s when we would not ever have expected it,
would not have dared dream about it, the Berlin Wall fell one day and that great
divide, that impasse, the Iron Curtain, was removed? We move again into
tribalism and ethnic cleansing and it’s not as though everything is rosy, but we
are moving at least; there are signs of resurrection in this old world. It is possible.
I can paint with you a very dark picture of the human situation and then I can
also point to you signs of resurrection and of Easter, because there are people
now and again, here and there, for whom the scales fall off their eyes and they see
what Jesus stood for and what Jesus was - the inclusivity of his table fellowship,
the compassion of his life, the grace of God that flowed through him, and there is
transformation, there is salvation, there is healing, there is the mending of
creation, here and there.
Peter, you can’t go home. You can’t go back fishing, because there’s a Roman
soldier named Cornelius who needs to hear about Jesus. Peter has a vision.
Cornelius has a vision, and sends for Peter. Peter comes, having had the scales
fall off his eyes at the Sea of Tiberius, but only partially. And now he’s confronted
with a concrete situation.
"Now, what do I do? Jesus said, ‘Follow me.’ What does that mean, now? Here’s
Cornelius; he’s a Roman soldier; he’s a Gentile. Jews by law according to Torah
have nothing to do with Gentiles. I can’t be an observant Jew and sit at the table
of a Gentile. I can’t even go over the threshold of his house!"
More scales. Rubbing his eyes. Coming into Cornelius’ house, not too sensitively
saying, "You know, I shouldn’t be here." He knew he shouldn’t be there; his whole
training, his whole tradition, his whole study of Torah said he shouldn’t be there.
But, he hears Jesus’ word, "Follow me." Maybe he said, "What would Jesus do?"
© Grand Valley State University
�You Can’t Go Home, Peter!
Richard A. Rhem
Page 6
And he opens his mouth, moving now beyond the initial experience, but on the
basis of the experience, and says, "Well, my, I see that God shows no partiality."
Do you hear it? Can you sense at all what that meant to Peter? That God shows no
partiality?
Peter, you have to be kidding. You’re running counter to your whole experience
as God’s special, elect people.
But, you see, the worm continues to turn, and the insights continue to come from
those who have had their eyes opened and begin to draw the implications of what
they see, because when you see it, you can’t go home. Once you see it, the word of
Jesus, "Follow me," is compelling. Once you see it, you recognize that the world
needs to see it, that there is salvation in no other way, that this is the way and the
life and the truth, that there is no way to God except the way that Jesus opened.
So, you go into Cornelius’ house and you start telling the story of Jesus and sort
of, to justify this bold act, you say, "Jesus is Lord of all. Jesus is Lord of all. This
Jesus that I follow, this Jesus that was crucified, this Jesus was right. This is
God’s way; this is God’s intention; this is the embodiment of God’s love, of God’s
grace. Jesus is Lord of all. Therefore, with fear and trembling, I will follow him.
I’ll take one step at a time, but I will follow Jesus because I have seen the Lord is
risen. The Lord is risen, indeed." Easter happened when Peter thought he could
get away by going home.
I have a good friend who celebrated his 80th birthday recently who chided me a
little bit for forcing him to rethink some things theological, and he wrote a
beautiful piece about in his 80th year, thanking God that he still has opportunity
to repent of the narrowness and the exclusiveness of his faith journey and to
begin to see brothers and sisters of every stripe as loved by God. Easter can
happen even when you’re 80, and when it happens, there’s no going home.
© Grand Valley State University
�
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
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Kaufman Interfaith Institute
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
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English
Type
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Sound
Text
Identifier
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KII-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1981-2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Eastertide II
Series
Christian Faith: Interpreting an Experience
Scripture Text
Acts 10:36, John 21:19
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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KII-01_RA-0-19980419
Date
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1998-04-19
Title
A name given to the resource
You Can't Go Home, Peter!
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
application/pdf
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 19, 1998 entitled "You Can't Go Home, Peter!", as part of the series "Christian Faith: Interpreting an Experience", on the occasion of Eastertide II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Acts 10:36, John 21:19.
Easter Experience
Inclusive
Nature of Religion
Resurrection
-
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b6d4e2f5a03f1e194d6b84316c7e7a99
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kaufman Interfaith Institute
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1981-2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Easter Sunday
Series
The Will of God in Human Action
Scripture Text
Matthew 28:10, Romans 8:31
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01_RA-0-19960407
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1996-04-07
Title
A name given to the resource
You Need Never Be Afraid: God Is For You
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 7, 1996 entitled "You Need Never Be Afraid: God Is For You", as part of the series "The Will of God in Human Action", on the occasion of Easter Sunday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Matthew 28:10, Romans 8:31.
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PDF Text
Text
You Need Never Walk Alone
Confirmation Sunday
Scripture: I Corinthians 11:17-26; John 21:9-14
Richard A. Rhem
Christ Community Church
Spring Lake, Michigan
May 5, 2002, Eastertide VI
Transcription of the spoken sermon
Last week I suggested to you that I would hope that you are living your truth. The
question was, "Whose Truth Are You Living? and I said I would hope you could
answer me, "My truth." And yet, I am aware of the fact that, for most of us, life
moves along. There is enough to detract us, enough to keep us occupied, and not
many of us without some stimulus, pause long to ask ourselves the serious and
ultimate questions of life: "Why is there something rather than nothing? Is this
all there is? What does it all mean?" But life does have a way of catching up with
us, and I have a theory that most of us don't probe those deep questions or think
about them a great deal until life does catch up with us, and then some peak
experience perhaps, or some diagnosis filled with terror, or crisis, causes us to
ask, "What does it all mean?" The whys and the wherefores of our human
existence remain, even for the most reflective life, a mystery and a question.
I said last week I hope that you have moved to a point where you can say, "I'm
living by a vision, by an insight, by an intuition that resonates with my own being.
I have a sense of living my truth." But, I also indicated that one does not come to
that in a vacuum. There is a tradition into which we are born. There is, for most
of us, an orthodoxy of one sort or another in which we are schooled. Some of us
who are older have been thoroughly schooled in it, and that tradition serves a
purpose. It does become a scaffolding or the ladder by which we scale the various
questions and issues of life to the point at which we can come to claim our own
truth.
On Confirmation Sunday we recognize that, as a community of faith, we do take
seriously the traditioning that enables one finally to fly on one's own. At Christ
Community we take that traditioning very seriously. We have our eighth grade
class, some 20 strong at the 10 o'clock service, who will be given their candle.
Here at Christ Community, at Baptism, as you know, we give to the parents a
candle at the point of the infant's baptism with the suggestion that they light that
candle on the anniversary of the baptism in order that they might tell their child
about the story of their baptism and its meaning. But on Confirmation Sunday,
we give our young people their own candle, and by means of that ritual,
© Grand Valley State University
�You Need Never Walk Alone
Richard A. Rhem
Page 2
symbolically, we are saying, "We have done what we could do, but now it is up to
you to guard the flame of your faith and to keep it burning." In the hymn that we
just sang there is that phrase, "When you go out where demons dwell." What
parent has not been through the scary experience of launching a child, knowing
that, finally, they have to go out on their own and the individuation process is
such that we cannot guard them and keep them? We have to turn them loose.
And so, symbolically in the Church, in this community, at least, that is what we
are saying today. "Here is your candle. We have done what we could do."
I think we do it well here, and Colette brought to us the Worship Center which is
a nurture program for children, I believe, second to none, a program which has
beautifully appointed space with great intentionality and a highly trained and
dedicated team of teachers, ministers, celebrants. Colette has written the
curriculum which we use here for three-year-olds through fifth graders, and Mary
Ackerson has written it for the next three grades. I don't think any other
congregations could boast that the curriculum that the children and youth are
exposed to is as reflective of the understanding, the insight, the spirit, and the
posture of the larger community. This is not something you go out and buy in
some bookstore warehouse. This is not some commercially produced product that
has to appeal across the spectrum of theological positions. This is a curriculum
that nurtures our children in the finest and deepest insights and the spirit of this
community. Perhaps most important, beyond all of that, is that intentional
greeting of the child and in every way possible at every opportunity possible, to
say to the child "God loves you. You are loved of God, and one day God will call
you to be God's servant, helper in this world," that continuing positive regard that
saturates our children as they go through.
And we share the stories; we share the biblical stories told in wonderfully creative
fashion, and the way of Jesus, the stories of Jesus, going through the life of Jesus
as we in this setting go through the Christian Year. The children are invited to
hear the story with the question, "I wonder," and that question or that
questioning, wondering mode is followed through consistently into their
adolescent years, so that our children are engaged, their imaginations are
engaged, their minds are engaged. They are welcomed into the story and then
invited to wonder about it.
One has to be an old fossil like me who had it all the other way to appreciate the
difference that that makes. For example, what is the catechism method? The
catechism method is a method of questions. Well, you might say, that's just like
the Worship Center, just like our youth classes, raising questions. But, there is
this difference: In the catechism method, you are given the answers and you
memorize the answers. I don't mean to demean that or denigrate that. After all, it
has worked for generations. And certainly some of us who were persecuted thus
had the lines of that tradition deeply, indelibly written on our being, and that is
precisely why, for some of us, it has been so difficult to learn to fly, because we
have earned with us the baggage that was loaded on us in the most caring and
© Grand Valley State University
�You Need Never Walk Alone
Richard A. Rhem
Page 3
loving fashion by those with the best of intentions. But, you do see the difference.
Are you invited to wonder? Or, is the question raised to which you are given the
answer to memorize? You can do that whole thing without thinking about it at all.
You can go through that whole procedure without once asking, "But is it true?
What does it really mean?" So, what I am saying this morning is that we have
been serious about bringing our children and our youth to a point at which they
have had a sense of being a part of a tradition, a thought-ful tradition, a tradition
that has a point of view, an understanding, and I think, frankly, we have done it
very, very well. I can say that without anything about myself because it is done
totally apart from me. But I have never in all these years of my ministry known it
to be done as well as it has been done here in the last dozen years.
Today we say to our confirmands, "You have a candle now to nurture on your
own. We have done our best to give you a sense, an identity, of who the
community is in light of the larger tradition, and now you are prepared to find
your way." What I really want to say to them, and I think that it has meaning for
all of us, regardless of whether we stand to get our candle today or not, is that,
"Although you're on your own and I hope you find your own truth, you need
never walk alone." That's quite something other. You need never walk alone,
because you belong, because you are a part of a family, because you are a part of a
community. I think that is so terribly important. If we have done our job right,
then those whom we launch will always feel some kind of a spiritual bond here.
Ryan and Michelle Boeve will bring their newest child from Sarasota, Florida, to
be baptized here. I don't know if you were here a year or so ago when Jim
VanEenenaam brought his latest baby back and Peter Theune spoke then, talking
about the miles and the geography, from California to Spring Lake Children's
Moment here, and the reasons one would come back in order to celebrate that
sacrament here. That sacrament of initiation brings one into a family and a
community and one belongs, and in everything that we do, we try to say that. And
where it is said and received successfully, there is a bond that is never broken.
There is a community here and a family here and no matter how far you go, or
wherever your journey takes you, you do belong. There is a rootedness here and
an affectional bond, and a community of people who care and embrace. I think
that is terribly important.
I read the passages I did this morning because they are about the Eucharist, and
in a few moments we will celebrate our Lord's Supper, or the Eucharistic Feast,
and that meal is a sign of community, of family. Where is a family gathered best?
Around the table. Where do the best things happen in a family? The family meal.
And Jesus' ministry – There have been those who have looked at it all, and said,
“You know, the very heart of his ministry and his life was that open table
fellowship," and the point of it was that everyone was welcome to come, that
there were no outsiders, the open table, a sign of the inclusion of the grace of God
that was embodied in Jesus. That was his way. That was that which marked him.
That was that which set him off from the religious establishment. That was one of
© Grand Valley State University
�You Need Never Walk Alone
Richard A. Rhem
Page 4
the factors, of course, that got him crucified. But, during the days of his ministry,
he was constantly at table, breaking bread.
We know the story of the Last Supper, or maybe it was a Passover meal. It was
Passover time. The Gospels differ as to whether it was on the time of Passover or
the day before, but it doesn't matter. He had a Last Supper, in any case, which
was consistent with the practice of all of the days of his ministry, and it is that
meal that we will remember in a few moments. But, it didn't stop there, for we
have in Luke two instances of Jesus at table in resurrection appearances - the
road to Emmaus and the story immediately following, when he was with the
disciples. And then the little story in the 21st chapter of John's Gospel, which the
scholars say was tacked on to the Gospel; it probably was not a part of the
original. What that 21st chapter was about was who had authority in the
leadership of the new community. I'm not interested in that, but I think it's a
rather delightful picture to see the disciples back at their trade again, out fishing,
Jesus on the shore saying, "Lads, have you caught any fish? Come and have
breakfast." This was consistent with the whole pattern of his ministry that he took
bread and fish and they had a meal which certainly had to be reflective of the
meals they have had before, and of the Passover meal that he shared on the
evening of his betrayal, and of course, in that early community some decades
after his death and resurrection, as John was writing, it was reflective of that
Eucharistic theme which was the meal that marked the family.
It was not just an ordinary meal. It was a meal in which everyone was invited and
everyone came on the same basis. That is why Paul scolds the Corinthians in the
passage I read. He says, "Some of you, you 'haves' come and have a big feast, and
the 'have nots' don't have anything." We know from the social context of the time,
they were dirt poor. And so, there was a division within that early community in
Corinth. There were those who had plenty who, with insensitivity, humiliated
those who had nothing. Paul said, "You are not discerning the body of Christ. You
are not eating and drinking worthily."
You know what that meant to me when I was a kid and the communion service
was held? It meant that some people were coming to the table without sin
confessed. If you were raised a Scottish Presbyterian, you would have been
introduced in a former century to the practice of "fencing the table." You get the
image? Fencing the table was a preparatory service in which the congregation
was confronted with all of the potential sin in their life, called to confess and to
get right with one another, to come to the table with everything cleared, the
accounts all cleared. That's what the preparatory service was about. As a child, I
remember a wonderful pastor of my childhood who preached a great sermon, a
preparatory sermon from the verse in the Psalm, "If I regard iniquity in my heart,
he will not hear me," and if you don't think we went out of there in fear and
trembling ... The sacrament was so holy that you couldn't approach it unless your
hands were clean and your heart was pure.
© Grand Valley State University
�You Need Never Walk Alone
Richard A. Rhem
Page 5
Now, I don't know what Paul would have said about that. He probably would
have said, "Well, that's a good idea." But, might he not have said the same thing
he said to the Corinthians for another reason? Why are you making distinctions?
Why are you making this a table of particularity rather than a table of universal
access? Because, who is righteous? Who is ready to come to this table, standing in
one's own righteousness?
At Carl Juhl's funeral a little over a week ago, I was moved sitting here as Bob
Kleinheksel was the Celebrant and he gave the invitation to the table. An
invitation to the table at a funeral is always a delicate matter, because you have all
sorts and conditions of humankind. You have rabid Baptists, serious Catholics,
lapsed atheists, particularly when it's a Juhl funeral, what kind of mongrel folk
will come? I was so moved at Bob who, I think in the inspiration of the moment,
said, "Come to this table. Come, whoever you are. Come from wherever you are
coming from. Come if you believe; come if you believe nothing; come if in this
moment you want to experience solidarity with this family in this moment of grief
and loss."
We are so privileged, those of us who get to offer the bread and the cup. We get
eye-to-eye and soul-to-soul contact. It is a moving experience. It is a table of the
family, a table at which we belong, wherever we are in our journey, a table at
which we belong. And so, you need never walk alone.
Do you realize how radical that is? Do you realize what a far cry that is from
institutional Christianity generally? Do you realize how risky that is? Do you
realize how grace-full that is? How marvelously exciting that is? How beautifully
it reflects Jesus?
You belong here and wherever you go, you can always come home here, and the
table will always be set. You need never walk alone.
© Grand Valley State University
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Richard A. Rhem Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Religion
Interfaith worship
Sermons
Sound Recordings
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rhem, Richard A.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kaufman Interfaith Institute
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1981-2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
text/pdf
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Event
Confirmation Sunday, Eastertide V
Scripture Text
I Corinthians 11:17-26, John 21:9-14
Location
The location of the interview
Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
KII-01_RA-0-20020505
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2002-05-05
Title
A name given to the resource
You Need Never Walk Alone
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Richard A. Rhem
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Clergy--Michigan
Reformed Church in America
Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Sermons
Relation
A related resource
Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
application/pdf
Description
An account of the resource
A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on May 5, 2002 entitled "You Need Never Walk Alone", on the occasion of Confirmation Sunday, Eastertide V, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Corinthians 11:17-26, John 21:9-14.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
Community of Faith
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a30b963bf738ddaf01702e9e411c25e9.pdf
fbdd2423e42e721dc89fdca63b6baab9
PDF Text
Text
You're invited to:
Jlu!/2enh'c r:Sef
Gele6ralion &Joy
ATHENA®CONNECTIONS
Golfa6oralion
Bringing College Students and Role Models Together
Courageous J!cls
:lierce J!duocacy
g'uing :I3ack
Bearm'nc;
Yc'ela lionships
FEATURING:
Garo/Bopuc.ki
State Director,
Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center
2000 ATHENA Recipient
ATRENA®recipients have achieved a high degree of professional
excellence, have assisted women to develop their full potential
and have made a difference in their communities.
Details: Thursday, October 16, 2008
GVSU Eberhard Center
Room 215/216
6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Format: Athena Connections offers students with the opportunity
to be seated at tables with women leaders from the
community for conversation over light hors d'oeuvres.
RSVP: Confirmation is required for seating.
Please respond by Friday, October 10, 2008,
to the GVSU Women's Center at (616)-331 -2748
or womenctr@gvsu.edu.
~
GRANDVALLEY
W
STArEUNIVERSITY
A project of Huntington Bank Women's Leadership Initiative, Grand Rapids and Lakeshore Chambers
o f Commerce, the West Michigan Women's Studies Council, Grand Valley State University's Women's
Center, Women's Commission, Women Gender Studies Program, and Career Services.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
GVSU Sexuality and Gender Flyers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Rainbow Resource Center
Women and Gender Studies Department
Women's Commission
Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity
Description
An account of the resource
Digitized posters, flyers, event notices, and other materials relating to gender expression and sexuality at Grand Valley State University, with materials spanning from 1974 to 2019.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1974/2019
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Digitized from collections at the Rainbow Resource Center (formerly the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center), Women and Gender Studies Department, Women's Commission, and Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Subject
The topic of the resource
Gender identity
Gender expression
Sexual orientation
Women's studies
Queer theory
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-09
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-09_SGF_Womens-Center_2008_Athena-Connections-Invitation.pdf
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Women's Center
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2008-10-16
Title
A name given to the resource
You're Invited to: Athena Connections Bringing College Students and Role Models Together
Description
An account of the resource
Letter inviting students to have an evening with women leaders from different parts of the community.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Community centers
Role models
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Women's Center
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1ecb2ba3760a8d119d7a22fabaa3403c.pdf
cfbe5179bf19eae97dd392f44b6c3236
PDF Text
Text
You're invited to:
ATHENA®CONNECTIONS
2009
Bringing College Students and Role Models Together
:7/u!.henhc c5ef
Gelebralion &Joy
Goflaboralion
Courageous Jlcls
Yierce :7/dvocacy
Siuing JJach
Bea.rmng
Y<elaiions.hips
FEATURING:
2/(ary !7//ice W1f/)ams
Acting President & CEO of The Nokomis Foundation
ATHENA® Recipient in 1997
ATHENA® recipients have achieved a high degree of professional
excellence, have assisted women to develop their full potential
and have made a difference in their communities.
Details: Thursday, October 8, 2009
GVSU Eberhard Center
Room 215
6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Format: ATHENA Connections offers students with the opportunity
to be seated at tables with women leaders from the
community for conversation over light hors d'oeuvres.
RSVP: Confirmation is required for seating.
Please respond by Friday, October 01, 2009,
to the GVSU Women's Center at (616)-331-2748
or womenctr@gvsu.edu.
~GRANDVALLEY
'.:ti
5rA:rEl.JNivERSITY
A project of Huntington Bank Women's Leadership Initiative, Grand Rapids and Lakeshore Chambers
of Commerce, the West Michigan Women's Studies Council, Grand Valley State University's Women's
Center, Women's Commission, Women Gender Studies Program, and Career Services.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
GVSU Sexuality and Gender Flyers
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
The Rainbow Resource Center
Women and Gender Studies Department
Women's Commission
Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity
Description
An account of the resource
Digitized posters, flyers, event notices, and other materials relating to gender expression and sexuality at Grand Valley State University, with materials spanning from 1974 to 2019.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1974/2019
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Digitized from collections at the Rainbow Resource Center (formerly the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center), Women and Gender Studies Department, Women's Commission, and Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Subject
The topic of the resource
Gender identity
Gender expression
Sexual orientation
Women's studies
Queer theory
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-09
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-09_SGF_Womens-Center_2009_Athena-Connections.pdf
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Women's Center
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2009-10-08
Title
A name given to the resource
You're Invited to: Athena Connections Bringing College Students and Role Models Together
Description
An account of the resource
Letter inviting students to have an evening with women leaders from different parts of the community.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Community centers
Role models
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Women's Center
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a0f8c0f6a18c2b058d63220f072394aa.jpg
c571500e9a4598e7969cc9d9c1a7fe9b
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Decorated Publishers' Bindings
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Description
An account of the resource
From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Seidman Rare Books Collection
Michigan Novels Collection
Regional Historical Collection
Lincoln and the Civil War Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-08-30
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Source
Seidman Rare Books. PR6002.A812 Y68 1899
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-01_Bindings0290
Title
A name given to the resource
Young April
Description
An account of the resource
Binding of Young April, by Egerton Castle, published by the Macmillan Co., 1899.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1899
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/13a88f2457ff4d4ea474a87551ceae02.jpg
6167242f1aad479a6d7e352067af7b8e
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1910s-2010s
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Various
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Michigan
Saugatuck (Mich.)
Douglas (Mich.)
Michigan, Lake
Allegan County (Mich.)
Beaches
Sand dunes
Outdoor recreation
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Saugatuck-Douglas History Center
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project)
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-07_SD-Brigham-D_0147
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Brigham, D.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1990
Title
A name given to the resource
Young boy on the beach
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of a young boy walking on the beach smiling, behind him stands an adult man. Circa 1990s
Subject
The topic of the resource
Michigan
Saugatuck (Mich.)
Allegan County (Mich.)
Beaches
Outdoor recreation
Children
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Digital file contributed by D. Brigham as part of the Stories of Summer project.
Relation
A related resource
Stories of Summer (project)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dc0094cceff9266fc69b72467bea518b.jpg
075d5b958f6da3d351f31f6ba5f1a0d3
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1910s-2010s
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Various
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Michigan
Saugatuck (Mich.)
Douglas (Mich.)
Michigan, Lake
Allegan County (Mich.)
Beaches
Sand dunes
Outdoor recreation
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Saugatuck-Douglas History Center
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project)
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-07_SD-Walsh-J_0117
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Walsh, Jerri
Title
A name given to the resource
Young couple boating on Lake Michigan
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph of a young couple out on a speedboat on Lake Michigan. The young man is driving the boat and turning back smiling while the woman on the right side of the picture is lighting a cigarette. Through the rear-view mirror you can see additonal passengers on the boat. The handwriting on the picture says: "Mem. Day. May '68."
Subject
The topic of the resource
Michigan
Saugatuck (Mich.)
Allegan County (Mich.)
Outdoor recreation
Lake Michigan
Boats
Memorial Day
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Digital file contributed by Jerri Walsh as part of the Stories of Summer project.
Relation
A related resource
Stories of Summer (project)
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Format
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image/jpeg
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives