238 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8d14dc85e456c6a400ad46fef4e0e964.mp3 0cacdcb75f985cace882993f76aac345 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5fae365219acf9e96959d3ac9b07171a.pdf 626e817bd13d079dd8a54305f0448edd PDF Text Text Creation Emerging: Tending the Garden From the Eastertide series: Credo Scripture: Genesis 1:1-5, 31; John 1:1-5 Text: Genesis 1:1, 31; John 1:3 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Earth Day, April 29, 2001 Transcription of the spoken sermon In the wake of Easter, the disciples found that the crucified was with them still and the overwhelming sense of the presence of Jesus, the spirit of Jesus, convinced them that what he stood for, what he embodied, what he was, could never die, could never be destroyed, and so in the wake of Easter, it is that the Christian tradition arose. Credo, I believe. Credo, in the Greek and Latin language, the verb and the subject being expressed in that particular form, I believe. Not that I believe this, that and the other thing, but I believe in God. I believe in that which was embodied in Jesus. I believe in that which I experienced in Jesus as being ultimately true. Credo. I believe in God. What God? Well, the God of Israel, of course, the one eternal and true God, the God who created heaven and earth. What God? Well, the God we have seen in the face of Jesus, the God with a nature and character that came to expression in Jesus, the word made flesh. What God? Well, the God that we sense present with us still, present in the spirit, the spirit of Jesus, the God who gives us the burning heart still in conversation, in community, in the breaking of bread. Credo. I believe, I trust. Not I believe a lot of things, but I trust in that God as the bedrock of my life, the source and ground of all being, believe, in the original sense of that word and its old English meaning, to belove, to cast one's heart upon. I trust in God. The fundamental posture of my life is one of confident trust in God. © Grand Valley State University �Creation Emerging: Tending the Garden Richard A. Rhem Page 2 Thus, Christian faith was born in the wake of the crucified and risen one, and the ongoing experience of his presence with those who became his immediate followers. That Christian tradition which was born at Easter, was a tradition that stood in continuity with that Jewish womb from which it emerged. That continuity with the face of Israel meant, of course, that the God embodied in Jesus was the God of creation. There was an intentional purpose to connect the God of Jesus with the God of Israel, for as the Hebrew scriptures began, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," so in the Gospel of John, as one example, we have "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God," trying to say, as a matter of fact, we don't believe in some other God. We believe in the God of our forebears, we believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We believe in the creator of the heavens and the earth. This God we believe is revealed, embodied in the flesh of Jesus, for the word that was in the beginning in the fullness of time became flesh and dwelt among us, this God embodied in Jesus, present with us still. What God? God the Creator. What God? The God revealed in the face of Jesus. What God? The God ... don't you experience the burning heart even as we speak? Thus, we have the Trinitarian format of the Apostles Creed, for example. "I believe in God the father, I believe in Jesus Christ his only son, I believe in the Holy Spirit." The Trinitarian form of the Apostles Creed is simply the setting forth of the experience that they had of God, of God revealed in Jesus, of God experienced in the Holy Spirit. Gradually, little by little, things came into focus. Three hundred and twenty-five years after Jesus, the Council of Nicea met, and the Nicene Creed is still used in the Church. Credo. I believe. The Apostles Creed coming together in its form as we know it some centuries later, but still, these are very early beginnings. Credo. I believe in God. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. This morning is Earth Day and what a glorious Earth Day it is, and on this Earth Day as we continue our series, "Credo," I believe, I want to think about creation, for the God whom we confess, the God whom we have experienced in Jesus, the God who is present with us in the Spirit, is the God, we say, who created the heavens and the earth. In that Genesis account we have Israel's testimony of faith that creation, the cosmos, the physical reality of which we are a part, the tapestry into which we are woven, is not just an accident. It is not just a chance unraveling © Grand Valley State University �Creation Emerging: Tending the Garden Richard A. Rhem Page 3 of whatever, but is the result of an intention that God created the heavens and the earth, and that creation at the end of the account, and the verse that I failed to read, verse 31, says, "God looked at all that was made and behold, it was very good." An affirmation of creation. An affirmation of the natural world. That is not an insignificant fact, for there are great spiritual traditions that do not understand the natural world, the physical world in that positive sense. There are great spiritual traditions with great spiritual insights that see, rather, matter as evil. They see a dualism of life in darkness and the darkness and the evil being carried in matter, and salvation for such a tradition is not the resurrection of the body, but it is, rather, the deliverance from the prison house of the body. It is a spiritual kind of existence, to be set free from the body, to be set free from matter. So, when the Genesis creation account says that God said it was very good, it is not insignificant, and the implications of that are great. I'm not going to draw them out this morning. That is not my intention. But, I want to say that the faith of Israel that saw creation as the creation of God in a very positive light has impacted us in a very positive sense in terms of our understanding of the body and nature. Of course, as you go on in that first chapter of Genesis, we have, as well, this word to the human pair, the human person that was created, "Be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth." That word was also a word intended very positively. It is a word of human dignity, calling the human being into co-creatorship with God, to become an agent in the unfolding of creation. But, that biblical word that comes at the end of the creation story has been a word that has been criticized rather severely in recent years in terms of the environmental crisis and the ecological crisis that we are experiencing in our world today. I can remember when I first read a critique of Genesis 1 as one of the sources of the environmental crisis. This goes back a good number of years, and I still remember it was in a book review, and the book took the Jewish scriptures and Christian scriptures to task for that mandate at the end of chapter one that said “subdue the earth,” and it said that that created a domination model that gave license to the human creature to exploit the earth. I can remember when I read that and I remember my resistance to it. I was resistant to it because it went contrary to everything I had ever been taught or my whole understanding of that first chapter of Genesis. I had understood that first chapter of Genesis was lifting up the human being, as I said, as some agent of creation and as a matter of fact, saying here it is. Develop it. Not exploit it, to be sure, but develop it. Utilize it, use its resources, become a co-creator with God. And when I first read that as a criticism, I was not at all ready to receive it. I was not really fully cognizant of the crisis into which our physical universe and our planet had come. I wasn't really terribly concerned about it because, after all, I was a minister of the Gospel and I was concerned about the souls of my people and I didn't have a lot of time to worry about the © Grand Valley State University �Creation Emerging: Tending the Garden Richard A. Rhem Page 4 earth. That was the day of my rather conservative past when I would have thought to celebrate Earth Day on a Sunday would have been sacrilege, in which I would have gone out and gotten those young people out cleaning up the environment and brought them into church! Good grief! You don't let them get away from hearing a good sermon by cleaning up papers and bottles out in the environment! Liberals would do that. Let the godless do that. We worship because we're concerned about spiritual things. I can remember this old article from Newsweek, which says, "In the major religions of the West, the world of nature from planets to plankton has little theological significance. As peoples of the Book, Jews, Christians, Muslims, look primarily to sacred text for God's revelation. The enveloping universe may offer evidence of divine wisdom and power, but it plays no part in the essential drama of mankind's sin and salvation. What matters is human redemption, not divine creation." Amen and amen. That is what I was about. I was about getting people saved. I was about getting people spiritually right with God. I had very little concern, very little understanding of any kind of spiritual obligation to be worried about the good earth. Of course, God created it. Of course, God said it was good, so let's use it. And then let's get on with this matter of sin and salvation. I am confessing to you that that is where I was. I honestly can remember when I first saw that critique, I wasn't ready to receive it. But I recognize now that the critique is legitimate. It is not that you cannot interpret the first chapter of Genesis in a positive sense, and the word that probably puts the best face on it is the word stewardship, and there has been a good deal made in recent years to put a positive spin on the biblical revelation to say that we are called to be stewards of the earth, shepherds of the earth, to care for the earth. I do believe that is a legitimate interpretation of "be fruitful, multiply and subdue the earth." But, the fact remains that "subdue the earth" created a domination model which did give license for the development of the created order by the human creature which very easily slides into the exploitation of the good earth by the ingenious and clever human creature. So here we are today celebrating an Earth Day in our worship, acknowledging that our environment is in crisis and our planet is in crisis, and that it becomes a spiritual concern, a concern to find a better model than the biblical model. Perhaps instead of a domination model in the words of "subdue the earth," would it not be better for us to think in terms of a sacramental model? Sacraments in the Church are the use of physical, material means for the conveying of spiritual meaning of the sacred. In the first service, we conclude with the breaking of bread and pouring of the cup, and the fruit of the vine and the grain of the field into a loaf become the mediators, the vehicle by which we receive the grace of God. In the waters of baptism, that natural element becomes a vehicle of grace. We use the physical. The physical, we know, can be the agent of conveying the spiritual, © Grand Valley State University �Creation Emerging: Tending the Garden Richard A. Rhem Page 5 and I would suggest that a conception of the universe in sacramental terms would remind us that permeating the structure of reality is the Creator Spirit, and that the creation itself, when we have eyes to see it, can become the vehicle of the holy and the sacred. Rather than an exploitation or a domination model, a sacramental model will enable us to behold the wonders of our world and to say, "Oh, my God!" That, I think, would be a great step forward from where we have been traditionally and I must confess that it is for me a relatively new and fresh understanding. Yet, as I have come to see that there is something much bigger and broader than sin and salvation, as I have come to see the whole of creation with eyes of wonder as the mediator of the sacred, that world has become far more precious to me. I know it can happen. Because of the constant harassment of one of my children, I began again this week to walk, and I feel rather good about that. People say to me, "Don't you feel good when you're done?" and I say, "No, I don't. I feel tired." But, you know, one does what one ought to do, and so I was walking yesterday on one of my favorite treks south of where we live and there is this ancient, gnarled tree. Its trunk is huge, and it has these huge branches low down so that a child can catch them and climb up through that trunk system, and it soars in the sky. Yesterday, as I was coming back, the sun caught the buds about to burst into leaf, and I looked at that gnarled, old trunk that has seen so many seasons and I said to myself, "You old devil, you're going to do it again, aren't you?" The next time through there will be a leafy canopy that will give shade from the sun's rays and that tree will be regaled again in all of its wonder and all of its glory. Coming in this morning, I checked as I always do, Little Pigeon Creek, and Mrs. Beautiful White Swan is faithfully on her nest, as Mr. Swan glides about as most irresponsible males do. As I look at that, I see wonder. It is beautiful. It is exhilarating. Then I think of the tragedy it would be to lose the awesomeness of the earth. What we have to do is recognize that we have come to a point of development with our great capabilities as human creatures, with our scientific knowledge and our technological breakthroughs, where we can move beyond sustainable development, which seems to me is some kind of an ideal. We have come to a point where we can develop such that the resources of nature are outstripped without the time or the ability for nature to regenerate itself. We have come to such a degree of insight and knowledge and control that we can actually alter significant natural cycles. Ancient, primitive peoples lived in the rhythm of nature. In the First Axial Period, one of the most significant periods in the history of humankind, 800 to 200 before Christ, all the great religions of the world that we know today were formed. It was a time of the self-consciousness of the human being, the moving out of that tribal identity and that moving away from the cycles of nature, the cycles of the earth, the fertility cycles, and all of the development that we know, particularly in the West, is the consequence of that movement, back a few centuries before Jesus Christ. In the rise of that consciousness that allowed us to step out of nature and © Grand Valley State University �Creation Emerging: Tending the Garden Richard A. Rhem Page 6 to become an agent over against nature, the one thing that we did lose, for all that we have gained, is that sense of connectedness in the web of being, in the chain of being, and, if there is one thing that is incumbent upon us to recapture, it is that sense of being woven into this awesome creation. You see, the biblical writer had no sense of 15 billion years of evolutionary bio-historical development. But, here we are, and we can see it, we can test it, we know about it. Tragically, in issues like this, there become frenzied prophets who with great panic make claims that cannot be verified, and then on the other side there are vested interests that want to hear nothing about it, whether there be hell to pay or not. And so, we get this impasse of opposing views. It is so necessary for us to get beyond that rhetoric to decent, civil, human conversation in order that we may preserve this good earth and realize the divine intention. I was thinking last evening about what it might take for the whole human family to become aware and aroused to tend the garden of the earth. I was remembering as a lad the Second World War. We were just ordinary people. I remember our old '41 Oldsmobile had on the right- hand corner a card that was an "A" card. That meant three gallons of gas a week. That meant we could go to the evening service, the morning service, midweek service, and get groceries on Saturday, and that was it. The rest of the time that car sat there. We didn't have any gas. We didn't have a lot of meat, either, because it took red tokens and I still don't like oleomargarine because it is what I had to use instead of butter. I remember as a lad the Second World War and those rather severe limitations. And yet, you know, there was no question about it, no sacrifice was too great. There was no grumbling about it. We were concerned only for those who were serving their country in the war zones. We were concerned only for the preservation of our freedom. We were concerned only for the dignity and the honor of this nation, for democracy, liberty, freedom, and all of those values that had made us a great people. No sacrifice was too great. I was thinking that as a lad I grew up near the bank of the Kalamazoo River. My father was a superintendent of Hercules Powder Company which used to be Papermakers Chemical. There were a lot of chemicals, folks. I used to go over there as a little brat and bother the maintenance person who used to have to take carloads of what they called "satin white." We took them way out into the back property and dumped them on the banks of the Kalamazoo River. As a child growing up next to the river, the river held no fascination for me. It was a stinking mud hole. I wonder now why it took so long to come to awareness of the wonder of a tree, of the majesty of a river, of the marvel of God's creation. I wonder. What will it take? Now, for sure, I want whoever does anything to do it such that it won't impinge on my pension funds. That's probably the issue, isn't it? But, what will it take before we have eyes again to see this good earth, God's gift? Let us tend the garden. © 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 Earth Day, Eastertide II Series Credo Scripture Text Genesis 1:1, 31, John 1:3 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-0-20010429 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-04-29 Title A name given to the resource Creation Emerging: Tending the Garden 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 April 29, 2001 entitled "Creation Emerging: Tending the Garden", as part of the series "Credo", on the occasion of Earth Day, Eastertide II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 1:1, 31, John 1:3. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Divine Intention Earth Day Trinitarian Nature of Religion https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/64bb203cf082ff3d7d68f925dd935276.mp3 acf8b6cf4816709938acdd3ce3f07020 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dc8a8c5ea56944240d0c30d3919a5c1f.pdf 71f323b369625f32bd744e62e681a1b2 PDF Text Text Creation – Covenant - Consummation From the sermon series: This Is Our Father’s World Text: Genesis 1:1; Ephesians 1: 9-10 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan October 13, 1985 Transcription of the spoken sermon My message this morning introduces a new theme which will be with us for a few weeks, and what I want to say, in dealing with the doctrine of Creation and the early chapters of Genesis which are so foundational for all the rest of scripture, is that this is our Father's world, and our lives have meaning and purpose because they are rooted in reality, a reality that is embraced in the sovereign and gracious God. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and that statement from the Apostle Paul is rooted in that kind of conviction and goes on to say that in the fullness of time God revealed Himself in Jesus Christ and is moving all things toward a point of consummation when He will realize the purposes of love with which He created in the first place. Creation, the whence from which we come; Consummation, the whither toward which we are moving; and in the meantime, a God of Covenant Grace and love Who calls a people into being to witness to the larger world about His creative intent and His consummate purpose. God, the Eternal God, calls us as His people to be His witnesses to a drama of cosmic dimension, of eternal scope. And I want to say to you in a very pastoral way this morning that, in thinking about the doctrine of Creation, what I would like to have you go out of here with is a sense that your life is plugged in and has a part in a movement that has meaning and purpose; that in the chaos of our lives which can so often be the case, there is a deeper order and foundation, for the Eternal God is our Refuge and underneath are His everlasting arms, and He is moving all things toward the realization of His purpose of love, which is to bring all things into a beautiful harmony in Christ. I don't know the dimensions of that beautiful harmony in Christ, or just exactly what it means that He will unite all things in Jesus Christ, but it would seem to mean at least that all of the various dimensions of our human existence and the created order and the movement of history will become something beautiful, and that even now we can begin to rest in the assurance that the Eternal God is moving things along from that beginning point at which He said, "Let there be…" © Grand Valley State University   �Creation-Covenant-Consummation Richard A. Rhem Page 2   to that end point when he shall say, "Let time be no more," and all things come into the full expression of His loving intention. And so, this morning we have a great word from Paul who assures us in the midst of our days, in the midst of history, in the midst of the kind of history which we have experienced again this week with hostage-taking, terrorist actions, encounters in the sky – in the midst of a crazy, bizarre world like this – we can be sure that there is Someone Else, something else of ultimate reality, of purpose, of love, and a goal that will be realized one day, somehow, because God is God. In the administration of the periods of time, the Eternal God Who began it all is bringing it toward an end in which we will say with Him Who said it at the beginning, "It's very good." That's the message. Not everybody believes that. Sometimes we take these biblical truths as truisms and the familiar almost become clichés that lose their cutting edge. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Doesn't everybody believe that? In the end, "the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ." Doesn't everybody believe that? Can't you take that for granted? No, you cannot. Not in our day and our world. For example, sometimes a word on the opposite side can make that biblical truth sharper. An example is a statement by Eric Fromm, the psychologist, behavioral scientist, a very profound thinker and excellent author. In his book, Man For Himself, he says there is only one solution to his problem, to the human problem: to face the truth, to acknowledge his fundamental aloneness in a universe indifferent to his fate. To recognize there is no power transcending him, which can solve his problem for him. Eric Fromm is saying, "Brother, Sister, you are alone. There is no one else. There's no other dimension. There's no place to call, no one upon whom to trust. You are on your own." Now, I can identify a little bit with Eric Fromm. He is a psychologist who deals with human personality and he probably sees a lot of people who use religion as a crutch, who can't face the harsh realities of life and use religion as an escape. That's weakness. That's not healthy. And there are times when I would like to say to some people, "You must grow up. You must take responsibility for your life. God calls you to be responsible. Don't blame it on the Devil, and don't wait around for God. He calls you to be a responsible person." Perhaps some of that is behind Eric Fromm's statement. Yet it also expresses what he really believes, or what he really does not believe, and he really does not believe that there is another reality, there is a personal reality, that there is a purposeful intention in Creation moving toward consummation. He says, "You are all alone and the only meaning there is in life is any meaning that you can create. The only love there is in life is the love you can generate. There is no one else. There's nothing else." © Grand Valley State University �Creation-Covenant-Consummation Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Well, the French thinker, Andre Maurois, says this: "The universe is indifferent." He said, "Who created it? Why are we here on this puny mudheap spinning in infinite space? I have not the slightest idea, and I am quite convinced that no one has the least idea." That's the opposite from the Apostle Paul. He simply said, "I don't know why we're here, and I don't believe anyone knows why we're here on this puny mudheap spinning in infinite space." Reflective of a good deal of sophisticated thought in our day. In his inaugural lecture in Cambridge University, the historian, G.N. Clark, wrote, "There is no secret and no plan in history to be discovered. I do not believe that any future consummation could make sense of all the irrationalities of preceding ages. If it could not explain them, still less could it justify them." It's the other side of the pole. The irrationalities, contingencies, the universe as an accident - an accident going nowhere, with no reason or no purpose, with no goal. That's the opposite side of the pole of what the Apostle Paul said in our text. Remember Dag Hammerskjold, the former Secretary General of the United Nations who was such a deeply spiritual person? He understood what Paul had to say. He wrote this God does not die on the day that we cease to believe in Him, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by a steady radiance, renewed daily of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason. Hammerskjold knew better than to argue for the existence of God, but he did say with a kind of serenity that is rooted in some experience of that reality, "God does not die on the day that we cease to believe in Him, but we die on the day that our lives cease to be illumined by a ... radiance, renewed daily of a wonder ... beyond our human reason." The Apostle Paul knew what he was talking about. He believed that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and he did not believe that the unraveling of time and space was simply an accident, that life was living itself out and reality playing itself out and the cosmic drama on its way just willy-nilly, meandering hither and yon, going nowhere; but rather he believed that the God Who in the beginning said, "Let there be ..." is the God Who through the periods of time continues to administer, to direct and to guide in a way that is beyond our comprehension toward a point of consummation where there will be a realization of His purposes and we will be able to join with all the hosts of heaven and say, in affirmation of what He said in the beginning, "It is really good!" The first chapter of Genesis is simply the proclamation that the Creator creates Creation. It is the proclamation, it is the article of faith that states that all that is, is because the Eternal God, the Sovereign and Gracious God, said, "Let there be © Grand Valley State University �Creation-Covenant-Consummation Richard A. Rhem Page 4   ..." That's really all it says. It says that all that is, is because He said, "Let there be ...", and it is not interested at all in science, it is not interested at all in portraying the history of how that happened. It has no interest in technique. As a matter of fact, this chapter is not as old as the second chapter, which is a companion account of the Creation. But this chapter was probably penned in about the 6th Century B.C. and was addressed to the Exiles in Babylon, who were wondering about their God as over against the pagan gods of Babylon (since they were a conquered people and Babylon was the dominant power): wondering about the comparative worth of their God against Babylon's god; wondering whether or not they ought to switch loyalties, trade allegiances; wondering, in the alien land and alien environment, where God was and whether now all of the purposes and promises of kingdoms and of the exaltation of Mt. Zion and all of that which made them what they were, whether all of that now was down the tubes; and wondering whether that put an end to the possibility of faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In that community, in the midst of its chaos, in the moment of its darkness, when its faith was faltering, when its worship was withering, this word came written by some priest or prophet, we know not whom, saying, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the pagan deities of Babylon are but the inventions of the mind and hand, but the God Whom you worship is present in this your judgment and will be present in the greater Grace." "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Trust the Creator Who has made Himself known as your Redeemer and Who will redeem you yet again. This chapter is a proclamation. It is a theological statement; it leaves all the room in the world for whatever science can come up with, and all of the unfortunate debate over the centuries between science and religion is needless. And of that debate we should be heedless. Unfortunately, in our day, in the courts even today Evolution and Creationism are being battled and you can bet that whoever is arguing for Creationism in the courts of this country is not a friend of biblical religion. It is a benighted kind of obscurantism that does great harm to the cause of truth. But people get exploited in their fears and don't fully understand the nature of this biblical word. This word about Creation was the proclamation to a people in trouble that they could trust their God in the darkness, that He was indeed the Author of Reality, He Who said, "Let there be ... ," then let it be and gave Creation elbow room and room to develop. He Who is the Sovereign Lord Who brought all things into being also created the space and time where that created order could develop. He Who is Sovereign is not coercive. We're going to see that in those early chapters. He Who could, figuratively speaking, snap His fingers and control the winds and the world doesn't deal with Creation that way. Rather than coercing, He evokes response, He elicits love, He pleads, He waits, He anguishes, but He will never © Grand Valley State University �Creation-Covenant-Consummation Richard A. Rhem Page 5   abandon nor forsake, and He will wait and love until finally He conquers with grace. He will have His way. This first chapter of Genesis says that all of reality is graced. Three times over He blessed the created order. The grace of God that is right in the structure of reality – in the morning the sunrise, and in the evening the sunset, in the magnificent chords of the harp and the anthems and in a landscape resplendent with October colors, in the fact that the body heals itself and there's human relationship, and there is community – in the whole of everything there is Grace. All of reality is filled with Grace. And beyond that, it is the proclamation of the God Whose fatherly care will sustain and keep us so that we can celebrate "This is our Father's world." When we pause in so simple a moment as table grace and simply bow our heads and say, "Dear Lord Jesus, be our guest and to Thy service may these gifts be blessed," we are acknowledging that there is a deeply rooted Grace in the whole of reality that for us who are His people has been manifested fully in the face of Jesus. We can say with the Apostle Paul, '"Thanks be to God Who has created space for us to be and Who has loved us and continues to woo us, never crushing us or overpowering us, but never abandoning us until finally one day He'll bring us home and we'll look Him in the face with unveiled face, and we'll say, 'It was really good.'" Let us pray. O God, Whose artistry is able to weave sunlight and shadow, pleasure and pain, victory and defeat into a tapestry that spells love, we bow in wonder, love and praise, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. © 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 Pentecost XX Series This is Our Father's World Scripture Text Genesis 1:1, Ephesians 1:9-10 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 An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19851013 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-10-13 Title A name given to the resource Creation-Covenant-Consummation 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 October 13, 1985 entitled "Creation-Covenant-Consummation", as part of the series "This is Our Father's World", on the occasion of Pentecost XX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 1:1, Ephesians 1:9-10. 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/16105fcfb52711c7b1298a2fa6e50841.pdf 48a46a1b7fe4ed1bf576a89d7fac57c6 PDF Text Text Creation: God’s Risky Decision – Dream or Nightmare? The Genesis Story of the People of Israel Text: Genesis 9:8-11 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Pentecost XVIII, September 25, 1994 Transcription of the spoken sermon "Then God said to Noah... I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you... and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." Genesis 9:8-11 The Bible is a forbidding book. In order to get some handle on it, let's try for a few Sunday mornings to look at large chunks, with broad strokes, in order to see how those large chunks fit into a whole to tell "The One Story of the Bible." Our beginning is with the first eleven chapters of Genesis. But those first eleven chapters, while they speak of the beginning of all things, are not really the beginning of the biblical story. To go to the beginning of the biblical story, we would have to go to the book of Exodus, to the birth of the people Israel. Here we find Moses leading the Israelites out of the slavery and bondage of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land. The Exodus, the movement from Egypt and slavery to the land flowing with milk and honey, that was the founding story of this people Israel. The Creation story is the story of this people. This people Israel, like every people, told stories. They told stories in order to understand themselves, who they were, and to communicate that understanding to the rising generations. They told stories of beginnings, like every people. They told stories of the ancient past. They told stories in order to understand themselves in the broad scheme of things. They told these stories in order to understand how they related to the whole cosmic reality and the whole human history, how they as a people related to all other peoples. They told stories in order to explain why life was like it was, and how to respond to it, and from what perspective to interpret it. They told stories. The first eleven chapters of Genesis are the stories that this people Israel told in order to explain what they believed—what they believed to be true about the world, about history, and about themselves, and about God. This people Israel told their stories in order to give expression to their faith, for they were first of all a people of faith. © Grand Valley State University   �Creation: God’s Risky Decision – Dream or Nightmare? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Perhaps you will then say to me, "Well, then these stories in the first eleven chapters of Genesis are human creations? Are they simply stories that people told?" And I would say, "Yes .. . and No ..." Yes they are human creations, they are stories that this community told, that expressed their faith. But whence did those stories arise? They arose out of the experience this people had with the One who was transcendent, the One who was beyond them, the One whom they understood to be the source of all life—Creator of all. Their stories arose out of their encounter with the Living God. So there's a sense in which you could say yes, these biblical stories are human creations, but they are more than that; they speak of human experience of being encountered by God. Out of that encounter they gave witness to the things that they believed about the God who encountered them. As the centuries went by and the nation of Israel developed, the stories they told in an oral tradition eventually became written down and gathered together. So, we have today the Hebrew Scriptures or the First Testament. (Rather than the Old Testament. To say the Old Testament it sounds as though the New Testament superseded the Old, as though Israel has been surpassed. I think that that is insensitive and I don't really believe that to be the case. I think more and more we come to see that we, with Israel, worship this one God who creates all and is full of grace.) So, the Hebrew Scriptures or the First Testament will be our primary focus for a few weeks. And that Hebrew scripture begins not with the beginning of the Hebrew people—that's told us in the book of Exodus – but what they believed about the Source of all things. They said there is, because God said, "Let there be." That is the creation story told poetically by James Weldon Johnson, expressed marvelously by Franz Josef Heyden, recorded here by the First Testament writer in the first chapter as a creed of creation. This story is recorded in the midst of Israel's exile and despair, as an affirmation of faith, that a Creator created all things. Why is there anything, rather than nothing? They said, there is something rather than nothing, because God said, "Let there be." The unraveling of that creation story is simply the explication of the fundamental decision of faith that what is—is, not by accident or chance or an eternal cycle of things, but is the consequence of the Living God who is the creative source of all, who decided in a risky decision to bring into being all that is. That's what they believed. Then they went on to say, "But how—now that we have located ourselves in this cosmic scheme of things, the consequence of God's creative word—how should be feel about the world and the created order?" They went on in their storytelling to reiterate that statement of God, "It is good," a positive affirmation, a positive affirmation of human life. They said, "Who are we and how are we related?" The storyteller said, "We are related to God, for we are created in the divine image, and with profound insight." This story also helped them to see that the human person, created in the divine image, self reflective, created with freedom and responsibility, was also shaped © Grand Valley State University �Creation: God’s Risky Decision – Dream or Nightmare? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   out of the mud of the earth—dust, humus. After the rain the worms buckle up the soil—that's humus, the excretion of the worm. The humus is the stuff that God shaped to make the human person. Humus. Its root is in the word humility; the root of humility is the root of humor. In God's good humor, God making a joke, created a being out of humus that had a spirit that could soar with God's own so the human person beckoned upward, pulled downward, lives in this constant tension. The Israelite tradition said, see, that's why we are like we are. But someone else said, "But why? This God is good, and if this God created humankind in God's own image, why all the disease and all the dis-ease? Why all the trouble, the anguish and the pain? Why does it sometimes seem that this creation is not a dream, but a nightmare?" The answer was: Not God's fault. The Creator called the creature to live in freedom within limits, in harmony with creation, and the Creator. But the risky part of it was that the creature had the potential to say, "No," and with arrogant pride to usurp the place of the creator, to seek human autonomy. All of that is in those primitive stories. The writer was trying to give expression to the conviction of Israel that creation is good because God is good, and God called it forth. The human person is good because it is shaped after the image of God, yet rooted in the earth, full of conflict, set always before choice, called always to choose life, to choose the way of wisdom. But again and again and again, say the storytellers, these persons choose wrongly, bringing on alienation, disharmony, grief, death. The third chapter of Genesis, following on the story in the Garden of Eden, tells us about Adam and Eve and the trees and the temptation to eat from the tree. And the choice to do what God had said they should not do, to eat from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But that's not a story that happened at 6:00 a.m. on the first day of creation, because these are not historical narratives as though day one is in chapter one, and day two is in chapter three, then day four, or month six, or whatever. No, these are a series of little stories, a series of portraits, of snapshots. So, in chapters two and three we have a human couple, created for a garden of paradise, an Eden of delight, who usurped their limits of the freedom and brought grief upon them. Then, it is not as though from that point on there is no more human possibility to choose rightly. In the fourth chapter there are two brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain gets an angry eye over against his brother and he becomes jealous of his brother. He has hatred growing in his heart, and he rises up and he kills his brother. But the word of the Lord comes to him and says you did that because your mother and father sinned, therefore, you are a sinner and are totally depraved; you can't help yourself. Sin crouches at your door, but you can master it, but you didn't. If you want to call that the "fall" in Genesis 3, then you have a second "fall" in Genesis 4. There the writer tells us that human civilization and culture developed, and with the developing culture of the civilization there was an increase in wickedness on the earth until God shook his head and he said, "I wish I wouldn't © Grand Valley State University �Creation: God’s Risky Decision – Dream or Nightmare? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   have done it. I took a risk. I wish I wouldn't have taken a risk." The storyteller uses anthropomorphic words– so child like, so profound—revealing the anguish of a God who is engaged and involved, who says, "I will wipe it out." Ah, but we're told, there's Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was a righteous man. God snatched Noah and his family out of the abyss of the flood, and when the floodwaters passed away God said, "You know, I'm never going to do that again. I am going to make a covenant pledge with the created order and every living being and humankind. I'll never destroy it again and I am going to put a rainbow in the sky to be reminded every time I see it that I am pledged to stick with this risky experiment all the way to the end. I'll never let it go." Such grace! Then you have Noah's sons and their trouble, and the final story in these eleven chapters is the story of the Tower of Babel where they begin to build this tower toward heaven. Again with such profound wisdom and insight the storyteller is telling us that it is the human project to usurp the place of God, to build the secular city, to organize all of life without regard to the Creator, to break the limits. So we have the dispersion of the people due to the confusing of their tongues. Because, when communication breaks down, community is impossible and the world becomes hell. That's how this people Israel related themselves to the total cosmic scheme of things, to the whole flow of human history, to God whom they affirmed to be the source of all life, and how they understood the reason there was so much pain and trouble in the world. Not blaming God, and never letting themselves off the hook as though, "We're just human, and we are fallen; therefore, marred forever and it can't ever be any different." Always calling themselves back to choose life, to live obediently – that was their understanding and their goal in the telling of these stories. Those eleven chapters are foundational for the rest of the story because, you see, what the writer did was say "We, as this peculiar people of Israel, are who we are, chosen by God because in the beginning—Adam and Even, Cain and Abel, the people of Noah's generation, the Tower of Babel—again and again and again human failure, human cussedness, human obstreperousness was the choice." But God says, "I can't let it go. I'll never abandon my people, so I am going to have to do something." What follows is the story of Abraham. Does the writer just happens to tell us that Abraham's wife, Sarah, was a woman with a barren womb? I don't think that the writer slipped that in order that there might be a wonderful trivia question some generations later. The writer was using a metaphor to tell us that Israel would be born as a new creation of God, out of a barren womb which only God could do in order to be a people to bring light and truth to the nations on behalf of the God who was the Creator of all. Out of the womb of Sarah that was barren, and at her age as wrinkled as a dried prune, God would bring a people as numerous as the stars of the heaven and the sands of the sea. But I am anticipating next week—so for now let me say just two things. These marvelous stories answer the fundamental question: All that is, is because God said, "Let there be." © Grand Valley State University �Creation: God’s Risky Decision – Dream or Nightmare? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   I received a magazine at my Wednesday night class, brought by one of my friends. The Scientific American, a special issue, October 1994 celebrating 150 years of continuous publication. The theme, "Life in the Universe," has marvelous articles about the latest bits of knowledge we have about the earth, the evolutionary process, the human person, the extra-terrestrial investigations, the environment, all of that. Marvelous! Now I want to say there is nothing in this [magazine] that is in conflict with this [Bible]. The tragic history of the conflict between religion and science has done irreparable damage to the cause of Christ and the mission of God for the world. This [magazine] talks about how, when, by what means— maybe this, maybe that. It speaks of baffling questions yet unsolved, yet a continual probing, searching, reflecting. This [Bible] says nothing about what this [magazine] says, except that there would not be this [Bible] if there were not One who said, "In the beginning, let there be." It states that in the beginning, God created. It is the affirmation of faith, the absolute affirmation of faith, and it is the primary goal of this book to say only that. This is a book of faith by a people who believed that all that is is because God said, "Let there be. That's all! And that is everything! With such a faith we can relax, say, go to it ,all you scientists. Unravel the mysteries, tell us the exciting news that brings ever more awe to the human mind as secrets are revealed." Tuesday and Wednesday this week at Hope College there is a Critical Issues Seminar on Human Genetic Engineering. The chief of the whole project from Washington, DC will be there Tuesday night. Medical questions, ethical decisions, all of those things need to be figured out. All this book [Bible] says is that the reason that you seek the answers is because you seek the God who is the ultimate source. Now, use your minds, your best judgment. Find the path of wisdom. Choose life." And there is free rein to uncover the secrets of this marvelous universe, whose complexity is but a witness to the wonder of the Creator. One further word, those opening chapters are eloquent in their statement about human wrong headedness, wrong heartedness, wrong choices, pride, arrogance. Are you a cussed people? Oh my, are you ... and I with you. The Hebrew Scriptures point to the hopelessness of the human person, but never in a hopeless kind of way. There is no "fall" that marks generations from thereon. That's an imposition on the stories. That's a doctrinal system that has done terrible disservice to the human person, robbed the human person of dignity, stripped the human person of self esteem, put the human person under a load of shame and guilt. And it doesn't come from these scriptures. It is imposed upon it. Do we make wrong choices? Yes, we do. Have we in the past? Yes. Will we in the future? Yes, we will. But God says, "I won't give up, and when you fall down I will pick you up and put you back on the road." These chapters, we understand them in the Hebrew tradition, are terribly honest about the human condition. We are hopeless, but not without hope because God is full of grace. Well, a risky decision like that might seem a nightmare. But God will never abandon the dream. Thank God. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eb8d54aedb5ea401aac429378a88796c.mp3 d1ea75fb892dee4c74c4518c1d8a7e10 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 Pentecost XVIII Series The First Testament Scripture Text Genesis 9:8-11 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-0-19940925 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1994-09-25 Title A name given to the resource Creation: God's Risky Decision - Dream or Nightmare? 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 September 25, 1994 entitled "Creation: God's Risky Decision - Dream or Nightmare?", as part of the series "The First Testament", on the occasion of Pentecost XVIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 9:8-11. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Covenant Creator Faith Forgiveness History of Israel https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/93e68fcdb6ec047cfb8fadf44d2aee0b.mp3 1cc834c7219d39f1fdd52869871a7264 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f415604d4c1fd565eea9041ffb903bd6.pdf d0e9eb37637fbce034791d641599d164 PDF Text Text Creation: Stardust to Human to… From the series: Once Upon a Time… Text: Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27; Ephesians 4:1-16 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan October 13, 2002 Transcription of the spoken sermon [Beginning remarks to the community about last week’s David Ray Griffin lectures on his book, Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism: A Process Philosophy of Religion during the Center for Religion and Life weekend] I do this morning want to say something that will enable you … to know that you had in your midst this outstanding scholar whose scholarship is not an intellectual curiosity as an end in itself, but very practically in order to learn how to say God today and how to understand that Infinite Mystery, that Divine Presence, the sacred and the holy in a world such as we understand our reality today. For, really, our storybook, our ancient text, the Bible, comes from an ancient people and ancient languages that understood the world altogether differently than we did. They had no knowledge of the physical universe as we do, and so their image of God, their imaginings of God were quite other than those which we would have if we would try to think of God in the light of the cosmos as we understand it and in the light of our human experience. Probably most people don't even think about that - how to speak of God, to think of God, how to live a human existence, given the world as it is. Probably most don't even think about that until maybe they pray passionately for the life of a child and the child dies. Or, plead with God for something else which never comes to fruition, and then get to wondering about the suffering in the world and maybe something as horrible as the Holocaust. And then maybe, in moments of solitude, there would come a question - Where is God? Who is God? Is God at all? David Ray Griffin's work is to try to give us an opening on that eternal transcendent dimension which is not other than our world, but is a part of our world. This morning I intended anyway to begin a new series of messages. When I set these series far in advance, eventually as the time comes, I can twist them any way. So, I am going to keep with the series title, Once Upon a Time ..., because I © Grand Valley State University �Creation: Stardust to Human to… Richard A. Rhem Page 2 want to call to your mind immediately that the things we are going to talk about, and we are going to go to the book of Genesis for these messages, are stories. "Once upon a time...," for the ancient religious storytellers were dealing with those ultimate questions and that ultimate reality - Why is there something rather than nothing? What does it mean to be human? Who am I? Whence have I come and whither am I going and what does it all mean? Those ultimate questions lived before the rather fearsome reality of a mystery that can never be penetrated. Those early human religious figures, dreamers, poets told stories, and we have a story, too, and our story is precisely that. So, once upon a time... Once upon a time, there were Hebrew dreamers and poets and prophets who believed that all that is was the consequence of a word of the creator God who called it all into being. And that creative act was by a God who was not a part of the created order, but stood above it and continued to guide it and providentially to move it and here and there, now and again, to intervene in it and to interrupt its processes, if necessary. That belief in a supernatural being we speak of as theism, God "out there," tweaking the creation which that God called into being. That was the ancient picture, the old story, and we read it again a moment ago. But, in this particular message, I entitle it "Creation: Stardust to Human to..." because we have come to know that we are a part of a cosmic process of 15 billion years. Whether it is 15 or 14 or 16, we won't argue. But, we have come to know that all that is part and parcel of the same thing, that this cosmic process has been evolving and unfolding with new emergence over billions of years, and that the stuff that we are is the stuff of the universe, that we human beings are made of star-stuff, the explosion of those marvelous stars that sprinkle the inky darkness of the night, that explode and seed the planets and the galaxies with the elements that are the elements of life. And all reality is uniformly a part of that explosive explosion of elements and, amazing miracle of miracles, those elements at some point came alive. Was it an amoeba or an algae or a moss? I don't know, but it was life, that point of life with no one there to witness it. And then, greater miracle of all, that life again, over billions of years, eventuating in conscious life, self-consciousness, consciousness of the other, community, human community. And here we are. Someone has said if you took that 15 billion years and collapsed it into one year so that you had the whole 15 billion years with all of the markers that can be marked as to what developed when and so forth, all of human recorded history would have arrived in the last 15 seconds of the last minute. The last 15 seconds of the last minute. That's who we are - we are Johnny-come-latelies, we are newcomers. We are a recent emergent in this whole cosmic process, and there is nothing about us that is any different than that which was part of the process 12 billion years ago, 14,15 billion years ago, and it is absolutely an amazing thing. In an expanse of time we cannot take in, in an expanse of space that is simply beyond our comprehension, there is one process going on: billions of galaxies and billions of stars, and this little planet earth in the midst of the solar system, in the © Grand Valley State University �Creation: Stardust to Human to… Richard A. Rhem Page 3 midst of a galaxy just a speck, just a spinning mud heap, just a pile of rocks, and here we are human beings, conscious, reflecting on it all. That's amazing! That is really a miracle. David Ray Griffin is simply one of those thinkers who thinks about all of that, and he has taken in what all of the sciences tell us about that reality, and the philosopher who has informed his work, Alfred North Whitehead, is one who said, at the beginning of this century, the problem with the modern period is that it has separated matter and mind, or matter and spirit, and a consequence of that in the modern period has been a kind of an absolute materialism with no one knowing what to do with spirit or even denying its existence. But, Alfred North Whitehead has said, the thing is that that matter is inspirited. The whole thing is permeated, is shot through with spirit, with consciousness, and it is on that kind of radically "new" conception of reality, although we can go all the way back to Plato 600 years before Christ to find echoes of that as well, that he is trying to say: in this totality of which we are a part, God is fully present in it all, and there is a creative spirit nudging and moving, but not coercing or forcing, but beckoning, persuading. The lure of love, if you will, seems to be the way of the cosmos and, among human beings that we are, thinking, conscious, aware, one day one was born and those who encountered him said, "That's it. That must be the divine intention for the human." In the beginning was that divine intention and all things came into being through that one, and in the fullness of time that divine intention became flesh, human, and no one has ever seen God, but that one, that one reveals who God is. That is our story because we say, concretely, there was a human being. To look upon that one was to look upon the face of God. And so incarnation or embodiment: this spirit that inspirits everything becomes concrete in the human form. The mistake the Church made was to say it happened once for all in him. The fact is that it happened in him in order that we might know that it happens in everyone at all times, that it is the human that is the embodiment of the divine, that that infinite spirit has become concretized in the human being, and that human being in Jesus. Those who saw him said, "That is human." "Stardust to human," human paradigmatically, preeminently in Jesus who is our pattern. And then my title says, also, three dots, "Stardust to Human to ..." To what? Are we the apex of it all? Are we the summit of it all? Are we the end of it all? Or, is there something more? Is there another stage? Let me tell you where we are today. We who have lately come on the scene, we “last 15 seconds” human pride, let me tell you where we are today. The nation stands on the brink of war, and great religious leaders, the Pope, the Dalai Lama, and others, the Catholic Conference of Bishops, the National Council of Churches, heads of denominations - all across the board, except the Southern Baptists and © Grand Valley State University �Creation: Stardust to Human to… Richard A. Rhem Page 4 Jerry Falwell, but otherwise quite uniformly across the board all have said war is not the answer, war is not the solution, go slowly, go cautiously. Nobody is listening. I know that we religious leaders really don't deserve any real attention because what do we know? The face in a book, dealing with sweet communities of people, what do we know about the real world? I almost find it a little humorous when I think about the universality of the spiritual counsel and the total disregard. It wasn't always that way. But, if you want to know the impact of the spiritual community in today's world, you have a parable before you. Nobody gives a rip about what the Church is saying. But, I have a little stripe of cynicism in me, so I don't always trust myself. I have been saying that this whole thing is really, finally, about oil. And then, praise be to God, yesterday's Grand Rapids Press headline was: "Seidman Bullish on War." William Seidman, local boy who has made good, at age 81 now comes back to Grand Rapids to speak to some business leaders about matters similar to insider trading, only this is the inside information to a few folks. It's at the Peninsular Club, a nice place to eat. I'll bet you President Bush could shoot him, because he has let the cat out of the bag. "Seidman Bullish on War" - that's an obscene headline. The article says that he claims that defeating Saddam Hussein and controlling Iraqi oil is at least as important as eliminating weapons of mass destruction. Now, you are getting it from an insider who says that it is political rhetoric about the weapons of mass destruction and the locus of evil that therefore needs to be wiped out. He is really telling us you're just being played because it is not about mass destruction weapons. It is about oil. He goes on to say that it would never deepen the bear market (that's a misleading reading of the market - war, that is). "Oil prices fluctuating is a very large drag on the economy, ours and the world's, said Seidman. If we are in Iraq, nobody can use oil as a weapon. I think probably the most bullish thing I can think of today is winning the war. We are planning to set up a MacArthur-like government," referring to Japan after World War II," getting control of that oil, thereby gaining sway with neighboring Saudi Arabia's oil production will make a vast difference to the economy in all sorts of areas, but particularly the price of oil. Having the two major oil producers not part of any radical Muslim or any other unfriendly government," he said, "would be a huge additional factor in the world's economy." And then, and this is the clincher, he said he's not surprised that the Bush administration is not the one heralding a return to profitability by way of war. Oh, really? The administration is not saying that by way of war we could return to profitability? No, he's not surprised they are not doing that. Neither am I. But, he says, "I deny it specifically on behalf of the government," he said, joking. That's obscene. Now you have the whole religious world trying to whisper in somebody's ear, and nobody's listening. But, you have an insider coming back to say finally, folks, the talk is about eliminating weapons of mass destruction, but finally it's about oil, because finally it is about the economy, because finally it is about beating the bear market and returning to profitability. And you know what? It might work. I © Grand Valley State University �Creation: Stardust to Human to… Richard A. Rhem Page 5 may yet be able to retire. It could work. We could go in there and maybe if we're successful, maybe we'll knock the stuffing out of Saddam and maybe we'll be able to establish our own puppet government there and maybe, over years, maybe, maybe, maybe ... But, you see what we're doing? We are the superpower and we can act unilaterally. We can have our way in the world. Do you want to be with us or against us? Well, we don't believe in what you are doing. Do you want to support us or not? We'll go to the United Nations and we will use the United Nations if it works, but if it doesn't work, we'll do it alone. And we might pull it off. But, don't you see that if we pull it off one more time, we will not have solved anything except the present generation's prosperity? What about the rest of the Muslim world? Why are we the victims of terrorism? Is terrorism not the technique of those who have no power? And is there any power in the world that could protect against terrorism? So there is the irony that here we are, wealthy, powerful, top of our game, and we live with fear. We live with as much fear as a nation as the people around Washington D.C. are living in fear of a sniper right now. That is the kind of irrationality that cannot be defended against. Yet, we can go in there and we can square things around, and we can dominate and we can hold on powerfully enough, long enough, perhaps, to pull it off for the likes of us for another generation, but, eventually, don't we know eventually it is only justice and compassion that can ever solve the anguish and the agony of the world? Don't we realize the cynicism of this world that talks about being born again and about Jesus, only to go to war, when Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers and the merciful and the gentle? Don't we know what a mockery it is to be called a Christian nation when we are no more ready, even though we are the superpower that would have it within us to change the game, that we will continue one more time to use our power and, if need be, violence and war? And the secret is out. … I'll bet they could kill him for letting the cat out of the bag and confirming what some of us have worried about all the time. The passion of David Ray Griffin's life right now is global democracy. He is working now on a book in which he suggests, if there were an objective, neutral observer who was good, who had all of the facts and who could adjudicate the human situation, wouldn't that be good? And after all of his philosophical and theological explorations, it is the God reflected in the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount for whom he sees room in this cosmic process of 15 billion years. What we need is not a little tweaking of the system. What we need is a transformation of human consciousness. What do you think? I'm just blowing bubbles, huh? I'm just blowing smoke. I'm just another idealistic romanticist. I'm just another preacher. But, unless there is a transformation of human consciousness that gains a critical mass that revolutionizes the way we are human with each other, we will keep on in our tribal ways and we will keep killing each other and we will continue to be afraid. © Grand Valley State University �Creation: Stardust to Human to… Richard A. Rhem Page 6 References: David Ray Griffin. Reenchantment Without Supernaturalism: A Process Philosophy of Religion. Cornell Studies in the Philosophy of Religion, 2000. © 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 Pentecost XXI Series Once Upon a Time_ Scripture Text Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27, Ephesians 4:1-16 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Barbara Brown Taylor. The Luminous Web: Essays on Science and Religion, 2000. 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-0-20021013 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-10-13 Title A name given to the resource Creation: Stardust to Human to... 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 October 13, 2002 entitled "Creation: Stardust to Human to...", as part of the series "Once Upon a Time_", on the occasion of Pentecost XXI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27, Ephesians 4:1-16. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Cosmic Evolution Lure of Love Transformation https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9d7800acae3b5bd83bb29ad9928a4823.mp3 710779491cc81b9a94703b56fdb79ad6 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fc0f432b876419c49ee8237d5cb017f5.pdf e12b99ed207ef16593a54d2f65cb8e4d PDF Text Text Creation’s Goal: Sabbath Rest From the summer sermon series: Faith’s Foundation Text: Genesis 2:2-3; Isaiah 65:23, 25; Revelation 21:3; 22:2-4 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 24, 1988 Transcription of the spoken sermon On the sixth day God completed all the work He had been doing, and on the seventh day He ceased from all His work. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy...Genesis 2:2-3 They shall not toil in vain or raise children for misfortune... they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord. Isaiah 65:23,25 Now at last God has His dwelling among humankind! Revelation 21:3 ... the leaves of the trees serve for the healing of the nations. Every accursed thing shall disappear. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be there and His servants shall worship Him; they shall see Him face to face. Revelation 22:2-4 In the beginning, God. And in the end, God. And in the meantime, every seven days, the Sabbath in which to rest and to contemplate the God of our end and of our beginning. In the midst of its history, Israel told its story over and over again and finally wrote its story down - the center being the story of God's mighty act of deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, the freeing of God's people, and the bringing of them to their own land. As they reached back to trace their own history, they appended to the story of their history a prologue, the story of the Patriarchs. And then, in order to connect themselves to the whole cosmos and the whole human race, they appended a series of stories in which they gave expression to their understanding of the universal human condition and the creative purpose of the Eternal God, of the relationship of God and human society, of their understanding of the life and the existence in which they were participating. Genesis 1, "In the beginning, God," expressed the bedrock of their conviction that all that is, is because God said, "Let there be ...," that there is something rather than nothing because God said, "Let there be...," and that the totality of reality is a consequence of a creative intention and design of the One © Grand Valley State University   �Creation’s Goal: Sabbath Rest Richard A. Rhem Page 2   true and eternal God. They went on to speak of the human situation - the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden in chapters 2 and 3. Not a story of two ancient individuals, but your story and my story, the human story, the story of the God Who calls us to vocation, grants us freedom, sets certain limits and boundaries and waits for our response. Genesis 2 and 3 tell us that the tragedy and the tears and the toil of the human situation are the consequence of the human creature usurping sovereignty, taking one's life and destiny into one's own hands, trying to manage and control that which only God can manage and control. Consequently, the disaster and the tragedy that is a very real part of the human situation. We looked last week at the Garden of Eden and the story of Adam and Eve, and we saw the setting and the test and the failure and the consequence, but even in that dark story there were hints of grace. Even there there were indications that God was not through, and that the disobedience of the creature would not finally disrupt the intention of the Creator. In the day that they ate thereof, they did not die. Driven from the Garden, to be sure, yet amidst toil and tears, carrying on a meaningful existence, raising a family, God graciously clothing them, covering the shame of their nakedness, giving us hints of grace and the sense that God was not through with this creature, and that the creature's disobedience would not finally disrupt the Creator's intention. Indeed, the sense we get is that the Creator will bring creation to the consummation of His original intention. That was the faith of Israel. That was the conviction of the Old Testament people of God. The Creator will bring creation to the realization of the Creator's purposes of love and grace. So, Israel appended these stories to its own history, these stories which had universal application and were the common store of all humanity. Israel appended those stories in order to give expression to its own understanding of who it was and what it was called to be and why the human situation was like it was. When it seemed to be all lost at the end of the third chapter, we have the hints of grace, and we ask ourselves, "What now? Where will it lead? What's going to happen? What's next? Who will win - the 'No' of the creature, or the 'Yes' of God?" And we set ourselves up for this breathless drama that will unfold before us. Well, it's not only an ancient question, you know. Is there any hope? Has history any meaning? Is the world going anywhere? What's it all about? What now? What next? In a year of election politics we're going to have many easy answers to the world's dilemma. If you'll pardon just a bit of pastoral cynicism in the wake of a political convention, let me ask the question whether there’s anyone here this morning that really thinks that either Michael Dukakis or George Bush can really change the intransigence of the Pentagon. Is there anybody here this morning that really believes that Gorbachev and perestroika and glastnost will change the © Grand Valley State University �Creation’s Goal: Sabbath Rest Richard A. Rhem Page 3   face of the Soviet Union? Is there anyone here this morning that believes that the hopelessness of the homeless and the hunger of the hungry and the thirst of the thirsty, the despair of the despairing and the lostness of the forsaken will simply be taken care of by the wave of the wand of a new administration? Is there any hope? Where is it going? Where will it end? Might not one, seriously reflecting on the human condition, on the national scene, on the international prospect, come to a sense of futility and hopelessness? And if that's true in the most powerful nation in the most affluent society, in the summertime in western Michigan with sand and surf and blue sky, then what must it have been to the people in exile in the sixth century, the people of Judah living under the oppression of Babylon ready to throw in the towel, ready to say that the gods of Babylon have it? Where is our Lord and God? Is there any hope? It was to that situation that some person of God stood up and said, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and God spoke and it was so, and God looked and said it's good, and the evening and the morning were the first day. And when God was done, God rested from all His work of creation and took delight in it. He blessed the seventh day and made it holy." And to those exiles in Judah, forlorn and despairing in hopelessness, mantled with a sense of futility, they heard the creed of creation put together by some very, very astute weaver of words and ideas which made a powerful statement in their darkness and said, "Our God in the beginning spoke and called all things into being. Our God is the source of light and our God is the source of life. Now, lift up your hearts and wait on the Lord, Who after all of the work of creation, rested, ceased from His work, caught His breath, contemplated the work of creation and said it is good." By putting that seventh day, a day in which God created nothing but tranquility and serenity and peace at the conclusion of the creed of creation, the writer was saying that in the end God will have His way. Genesis 1 was written probably 500 years after Genesis 2 and 3. Five centuries later some prophet of God took it and put it in front of Genesis 2 and 3 in order that Genesis 2 and 3 and everything that followed would be read in the light of Genesis 1, "In the beginning, God," so that there would never be any question in the minds of the people of God that the God that they worshiped was the God of Creation, that the God of their salvation was God alone, the One Who held the whole world in His hand and held their destiny in His hand and in His heart. There was a vision of the Creator Who would bring creation to consummation. That's what Sabbath meant, and that's why every seventh day Israel was called again and again to remember God, to cease from their labor, to desist from their acquisition and their feverish activity, to let go and contemplate God and to worship and to rest and to take delight in God's world. There was a vision by which that people lived through all their days, and in their darkest moments a dream kept them alive. It was the dream of the Creator Who was the redeemer, Who would be the consummator. And what was the dream? Well, around the © Grand Valley State University �Creation’s Goal: Sabbath Rest Richard A. Rhem Page 4   same time that Genesis 1 was written there was a prophet speaking to the exiles in Judah who said, "In the name of God, behold I create a new heaven and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered. And there will no longer be a child born living for a few days, dying in infancy. And they'll not toil in vain. They'll build houses and live in them. They'll plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof. It's going to be a beautiful new world, a new heaven and a new earth. Why, he said, it will be such that all toil and all tears and all tragedy will be removed and they'll not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain. Shalom. Peace." Right in the midst of their darkness, one prophet said, "In the beginning, God," and another prophet said, "I create a new heaven and a new earth." It didn't come, and it didn't come, and it didn't come. But, one day Jesus came, and Jesus announced the sovereignty of God, the kingdom of God. And Jesus called to repentance all of those who were living by relative values, called them to God and the kingdom of God. Of course, Jesus was crucified, but God raised him up, raised him up on the first day of the week, and the Early Church moved its worship from the seventh day to the first day, but with exactly the same intention, because they called it the Lord's day, the Lord's day. In the Old Testament the day of the Lord was the day of the End, and what the Church was saying was that the Lord's day is the anticipation of the day of the Lord, of the End, of the Judgment, of the Consummation. What did they believe would be true at the End? Well, we read the magnificent vision, that vision given by Jesus to John when he was in exile for his witness to Jesus when the Roman Empire was mighty in the world, as mighty in its world as the U.S. of A. in ours, or the Soviet Union in our day. And when the persecuting fires of Rome were burning and raging, there was one who had the audacity while he himself was in exile, to bear witness to a vision he had, a dream. What was the dream? The dream was of the heavens opened and the throne of God and of the Lamb, and he heard them singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, Thou art worthy to receive power and glory and dominion, for Thou hast created all things, and Thou hast power to reign." And the vision went on, scene after scene, and he saw that time when the angel would proclaim the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ. He saw all of the events of the consummation coming to their climax and he heard a voice out of heaven saying, "I create a new heaven and a new earth," and he heard a voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with human persons. And he will dwell with them and they shall be His people and He will be their God. And He'll wipe away every tear from their eyes, and pain shall be no more, nor crying and death shall be no more, for all the former things shall pass away. Behold, I make all things new." And then he saw the City and he saw a river sparkling like crystal coming down the midst of the city, and on its banks was a tree with leaves and the leaves were for the healing of the nations. And the throne was there, the throne of the Lord and of the Lamb and His people worshiped. He wrote His name on their foreheads, and they didn't need the sun or the lamp, for the Lord Himself is their light, and they shall reign forever and ever. © Grand Valley State University �Creation’s Goal: Sabbath Rest Richard A. Rhem Page 5   A dream. A vision spoken into the darkness, spoken into circumstances that seemed to deny it, into a human situation that seemed to betray it over and over again, but a dream and a vision, nonetheless. Every seventh day, people of God cease from their labors, let go, rest as God rested, receiving the world and life as a gift, all of grace, being free for each other, free for God. One seventh of a human person's existence given over to the contemplation of God, Creator, Redeemer, Consummator. One-seventh of our lives carved out in order amidst all of the pressures that press upon us and all of the forces that beat us down and all of the darkness that would enshroud us, one-seventh of our lives to stop, to be still, and to know that He is God, the God of the beginning and the God of the End, the God Who will make good on all His promises, the God Whose yes is stronger than any human no. The God before Whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess, the God Who will finally win and not be defeated. When we join with myriads and myriads and thousands of angels and the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders and the whole created order and sing, "Hallelujah, the Lord Omnipotent reigns." There's a parable at the beginning; there's a parable at the end. There's a garden at the beginning; there's a city at the end. And both of them point us to the deepest, most profound truth that we can ever come to contemplate: the God of our beginning will be the God of our end. That's why every seventh day there is nothing more wonderful than resting in the presence of God. The day of all the week the best, emblem of eternal rest. Alleluia, blessed be His holy name. Amen. © 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 Pentecost IX Series Faith's Foundation Scripture Text Genesis 2:2-3, Isaiah 65:23, 25, Revelation 21:3, 22:2-4 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-0-19880724 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-07-24 Title A name given to the resource Creations' Goal: Sabbath Rest 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 July 24, 1988 entitled "Creations' Goal: Sabbath Rest", as part of the series "Faith's Foundation", on the occasion of Pentecost IX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 2:2-3, Isaiah 65:23, 25, Revelation 21:3, 22:2-4. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Creator Divine Intention Grace Hebrew Scriptures History of Israel Nature of God Sabbath Shalom https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c877e42e85eff7f265195d7e0b8f1f1a.mp3 7623e3941c70e94716155f5d1056b6cc https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/04d29a08584579e627f2589f10dbd178.pdf 5469514484530f54eb536d28b697806b PDF Text Text Credo From the series: In the Threshold of the Third Millennium Text: Acts 17:27-28 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Epiphany IV, January 31, 1993 Transcription of the spoken sermon “... so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for God and find God though indeed God is not far from each one of us. For in God we live and move and have our being; as even some of your poets have said. For we too are God’s offspring.” Acts 17:27-28 “Credo.” That is a word that we have taken into our English language but it is really a Latin verb form from the Latin word credari, which means to trust or to put one’s faith in. And credo, the first person singular of the verb. In other languages other than English, oftentimes the form of the verb tells you the person and includes the pronoun. In this case credo means I believe. And this morning in the second of three messages on the edge of the third millennium, as we think together about our faith, about our community, and as we look to the future, I want us to move from last week and the whole question of our structure to the question of what we believe at this juncture in human history and at this point in our own lives. I entitled the message “Credo,” which means literally I believe, because I want to lift up the fact that in a certain sense, this is a personal profession of faith on my part. Every sermon ought to be the preacher’s personal profession of faith. It ought to be the confession of the preacher’s faith. The preacher ought not to proclaim what he or she does not passionately believe. It happens sometimes. Among my many faults I think that has not been one. I think I can say without fear of contradiction in your midst that what I have all these many years preached is that which I passionately believe. I have not preached to you what I do not believe. One can speak about what the Church teaches or what the Christian tradition is somewhat from a distance rather objectively without personal involvement or passion. One can speak of that. One can teach that way. But one cannot preach that way. At least, one ought not to preach that way. For to preach is to give © Grand Valley State University   �Credo Richard A. Rhem Page 2   expression to a compassionate, compelling conviction in order to persuade, in order to convince, in order to move a people. And so, I say Credo this morning because I want to lift up the fact that this I believe. And perhaps more importantly, this I believe passionately. But also because I want to say to you that you too ought to live with a passionate faith. And I want to raise the question: What do you believe - passionately? What do you really believe? What do you really believe? There is a difference between a nonchalant answer to a nonchalant question like that, and an answer that comes from really sitting back and saying, “What do I really believe?” Would you begin to tell me what the Church teaches? Would you begin to tell me what you learned in catechism? Would you begin to outline for me the Christian tradition as you have imbibed it? I would stop you at some point and I would say, “Now, come on. What do you believe?” In other words, what elicits from you passionate, compelling conviction? I have a suspicion that we live with a lot of rather foggy and vague ideas. And then something happens in our life and we are put on the spot or we have some critical juncture in our human experience and suddenly it becomes clear to us that “I believe this,” or “I do not believe that” in spite of the fact that those elements may or may not have been a part of the kind of generalized, vague faith structure that we carry around with us. I want to say this morning that I believe that Christ Community Church ought to be a place where faith is a matter of passion. Where we live out of a compelling conviction. Where it is more than - the Christian tradition holds . . . or the Church teaches . . . or the Bible says.... I would that we would be a community of people that were moved by passionate faith, where things were clear and were articulated in our experience, were things for which we are willing to live, and if need be, things for which we would be willing to die. Credo. What do you really believe? What would you write down in a paragraph of twenty-five or fifty words entitled “These Things I Believe”? Paul was a passionate believer - a person of passionate conviction. In the scripture lesson this morning Paul comes to Athens. I envy him that. In September I am going to take some folks to Athens, and we will be able to appreciate the grandeur of the ancient city, but only from the ruins of the present. It must have been some experience to come to Athens in the first century. Oh, to be sure, the Golden Age was five hundred years earlier, but Athens continued to be a great center, a great city, the university city of the western world, to be sure, where all of the great thoughts that have ever been thought were thought and discussed. Paul came there in the midst of his missionary journey and, while he was waiting for his companions to join him, he signed up for a city tour. I want to say, I would like us to be passionate believers like Paul, but I would hope that we might be able to be a bit more appreciative of human culture than Paul because after his city tour, Luke tells us that he was disgusted. He was disgusted because he saw all of the temples, and all of the idols, and apparently © Grand Valley State University �Credo Richard A. Rhem Page 3   he had this overwhelming sense of a spiritual quest that was coated over with darkness and it disturbed him. I don’t want to be too hard on Paul, for he was a man of compelling conviction with great passion, who was turning the world upside down because he was so convinced that the one true and eternal God had acted decisively in the event of Jesus Christ; that this was a cosmic event and so he went everywhere telling the Gospel. Thus, when he encountered Athens with its layers of religion representing humankind’s vague religious quest, it upset him. And I want to honor that. But I do also want to lift up a danger when our religious conviction can sometimes become so focused and so frantic and so fanatic that we miss the larger picture. I would have wished that Paul might at least have given us a line of appreciation for the wonder and marvels of Athens. There has never been a greater cultural explosion and expression of the human spirit than Athens. I wish he could have been more open to appreciating the goodness of that. But, I go astray a bit. Let me return to the story. Before long the citizens of Athens heard that Paul, the passionate missionary, was in town and they brought him right to the very supreme court, as it were, to give witness to his faith. He did so rather smartly I believe, connecting with his audience, making reference to the statue of the unknown God, and then saying, “I know that God. And that God I proclaim to you.” He moved to the broad canvas of creation, “This one who has created all things....” And then he narrowed down, finally focusing on Jesus and the resurrection and the coming accountability of all before the face of God through Jesus Christ. Paul was a passionate believer who with all of his heart believed that the one true and eternal God who spoke and brought all things into being had come to be manifest in this one Jesus Christ, and Jesus in his way and in his life was vindicated in his death and resurrection, and the end was near. And because Paul believed that the end of the world was near, he called all to account after the proclamation of this good news of what God had done in Jesus Christ. Not a bad sermon really. Not a bad technique of preaching. And with all the passion that was his person, he presented the resurrected Christ as the window into God before whom all peoples would be brought to account. That was nearly 2000 years ago. And now we stand on the edge of the Third Millennium. What do you really believe about the things of which Paul spoke? Is it now enough for us to continue to say the things that Paul said, or do we somehow or other have to take stock of a perspective of 2000 years, which separates us? All that separated Paul from the event of Jesus Christ was a couple of decades, and yet there were a couple of decades there. Paul had no personal first-hand experience of the events of Jesus. He experienced Jesus, he says, by revelation. And he experienced it also by discussion with the other apostles. But Paul’s primary conviction came out of that mystical experience when he was thrown on his face on the Damascus road - the encounter with the ascended Lord. Now for us, do we, as we approach the Third Millennium, do we simply continue to reiterate what Paul said, or must we judge what Paul said in the light of Paul’s © Grand Valley State University �Credo Richard A. Rhem Page 4   background that brought him to that point? And do we reiterate the 2000 years of Christian church doctrine that has come in the meantime? What I mean to say is, from Paul, primarily, stems Christian theology. One of the things that I shared with you last fall that has gotten as much response as anything I have ever said as I was going out to Brandeis University for a discussion with Protestants, Catholics and Jews. I suggested to you that there have been a series of forks in the road along the line and that really it would not have been necessary for Christianity to develop separately from Judaism. It would not have been necessary for Islam to develop separately from Judaism and Christianity, and it would not have been necessary for the Christian Church to be divided into Orthodoxy and the West, and then the West into the Catholic tradition and the Protestant tradition. Those forks in the road need not have happened. There was no compelling truth that necessitated those splits. Those splits happened through human fogginess, though human misunderstanding, through human stubbornness and blindness, through human pride and arrogance. Somehow or other, when I said that, it seemed to ring a bell with a number of you. And now I am wondering, on the edge of the Third Millennium, whether or not we must not look at Paul and what happened in his formulation of the faith and, in dialogue with that, find our own way to bring to expression what is happening in our world today, in order to make an impact on our world for the one true and eternal God who was revealed in Jesus Christ. Paul, after all, thought he was at the end of the age! Paul had absolutely no sense at all that 2000 years later we would be here. Remember that Paul was jerked by God out of his tradition, uprooted as it were, turned upside down. Paul, so steeped in the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then so convicted by Jesus Christ that he was able to be absolutely uprooted from his Jewishness. Yet he need not have thrown over the faith of his forbearers, for he says that the Jew had every advantage. He never said that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was not the true God or that Israel did not have true faith. He was simply trying to say to his Israel, “Look, the promised one is here.” But I wonder whether or not 2000 years later we don’t have to seriously consider what our message has to be for the Third Millennium. I read a very interesting book recently entitled, The Presbyterian Controversy, which was a study of the years 1922 to 1936 in the Presbyterian Church. That is the period of denominational crisis out of which arose Fundamentalism. It was a time where five fundamental doctrines were annunciated as absolutely essential for orthodox Christian faith. There was a deep division within the church as to how those events were to be understood and interpreted. In that book there is a statement by Henry Adams in his autobiography, published in 1918. He spoke about his birth, I suppose, in the year 1854, and he said, “A school boy in 1854 stood closer to the year one than to the year 1900.” Follow me? In 1854 years there was more continuity, more similarity, less challenge or disruptions to assumed understanding of reality than happened in the next forty-six years. And © Grand Valley State University �Credo Richard A. Rhem Page 5   that was written at the beginning of the 2oth century. What would he say if he stood now another 140 years later with the dramatic, radical, revolutionary developments in human understanding, our knowledge of the physical universe and our sense of the development of history? I think sometimes that those of us in the conservative Christian tradition have had to live a schizophrenic existence. We are modern people out there every day of the week. We live with business and industry and the exploding knowledge in all the professions. We operate with computer chips and we live in a world where we have landed a person on the moon and have a space vessel going out toward Mars, and all the other amazing things that are a part of this human scene of ours, and then we come into church and it is like another world and another age. It is hard to weave, between the religious realm and that secular realm, a relationship and a dialogue, a connection and an interlacing between their two realities. At the beginning of this century there was a great Christian optimism. We were going to evangelize the world in this generation: That’s what they said in 1910 at a great missionary conference. But it’s not happening is it? Do you foresee the time when the world will become Christian? Frankly, I don’t. Do you foresee the possibility that all of those world religions with their centuries of development and tradition will somehow or other be brought into the Christian Church? Do you really believe that? I’ll confess to you, I don’t really believe that. What then? What then must be our credo as we enter the third millennium? I wonder if God, through the processes of history, as God’s Spirit moves in the development of human experience, is bringing us at the edge of the third millennium and saying, “The thing you’ve got to do is, out of your experience of Israel and out of your experience of Jesus Christ and out of your Christian tradition, you’ve got to enter into dialogue with the richness of Judaism and the richness of Islam, and the richness of Buddhism and Hinduism. You’ve got to begin to talk about that insatiable religious quest in the human heart that is universal and forget the imperialism that would seek to bring everyone into the Christian Church and begin rather to share your knowledge and faith and trust in the God made available in Jesus. Bring that to the table. Our intention must be, in the decades ahead, it seems to me, not to bring everybody to Christian faith, but to bring the world to trust in the God whom Jesus revealed. Not the institutional imperialism and triumphalism that would make the whole world Christian, but rather in Jesus’ name to bring the world to the kind of human community that Jesus lived out. It’s really an exciting day in the Church. On the edge of the third millennium I want to invite you to join me into a continuing pilgrimage, probing the faith in order to understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches today. It is a day in which exciting things are happening. I brought some books with me this morning that I thought it might be fun for you to see. After all, I am at the threshold too, of © Grand Valley State University �Credo Richard A. Rhem Page 6   going on vacation, so I have begun to gather (retrieves books from pulpit) - take a look at this! For one thing, I am wondering if we don’t have to get back behind Paul and this is one of three or four recent publications - A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, 500 pages long It happens to be written by a Catholic. There are three or four others. Hans Küng, Christianity and the World Religions, Paths to Dialogue with Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, 460 pages. Hans Küng, Judaism Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, 750 pages. And then this one: The Birth of the Modern, World Society 1815 to 1830. Fifteen years, 1100 pages. And you thought I was wordy! Now, dear friends, I just say to you that there is so much that is happening in the world of scholarship, in the Church and outside of the Church, which is trying to come to terms with modernity and an ancient faith. My calling as a theologian in the traditional understanding of that calling is simply to explicate what is given, and not to think beyond it. That is orthodoxy’s definition of paradigm theology. It is my conviction that such orthodoxy is idolatry. It is the great tool of those in power in the institutions to keep the institutions intact. “Don’t bother me with the fact, my mind’s made up.” But we cannot afford, on the edge of the third millennium, simply to continue to reiterate yesterday’s answers to yesterday’s questions. That’s fundamentalism repeating an answer that at one time throbbed with passion because it connected with life. It is our task to believe passionately, engaged with our contemporary experience and the experience of our world, and there is nothing in the experience of the contemporary world that need frighten us or threaten us. Paul’s message was still a relevant message, pointing to the one true and eternal God, the creator of all things, whose face we see, whose heart we see in the face of Jesus. The way of Jesus is a way of justice, and righteousness and peace. It is a way full of love, full of grace, working on behalf of others and our world in terms of Jesus’ mind and heart. Working toward the healing of persons and the humanization of society. I’ll tell you, that’s what I really believe. I believe it passionately. And to the extent that you are willing to join me, we are going to open a whole new page with a daring attempt to confess what we really believe in order that we might really make a difference in faithfulness to the God who is always before us beckoning us on. The God who, when we have discovered the final secret of the universe, will still be more. The God who gives us confidence and a foundation for a sure hope. The God who keeps the world from disintegrating and unraveling. The God who allows hope to arise in our hearts and healing to happen, who calls us to the full expression of our humanity and the humanness of our world. Ah, it is an exciting task! What do you really believe? What do you really believe? © 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 Epiphany IV Series On the Threshold of the Third Millennium Scripture Text Acts 17:27-28 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-0-19930131 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-01-31 Title A name given to the resource Credo 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 January 31, 1993 entitled "Credo", as part of the series "On the Threshold of the Third Millennium", on the occasion of Epiphany IV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Acts 17:27-28. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Belief Diversity Inclusive Paul Spiritual Quest https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9957bd1a407548e3db84be007b1cc1bb.mp3 0f5909b8157305472cc50a387f90492f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c8a54ff423cae0a288d2a5a0a7e316be.pdf cb7da895282f2638976a9caa4cf2e1c4 PDF Text Text Credo: Personal and Community Deuteronomy 4:4-9, Ephesians 4:1-6 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan October 19, 2003 Transcription of the spoken sermon My sermon title this morning is "Credo: Personal and Community." Credo is the Latin first person singular form, translated "I believe." Obviously that is a personal expression, and yet I think when the community is thought of as community, it might also be legitimate to say, "We believe," in that same sense. Finally it comes down to that. I believe. You believe. And then there are some things that we share together that we believe together. Sometimes people will say to me, "We don't believe that, do we?" Or, "What do we believe about..." and I have to say, "We don't believe anything." But, I understand the question, because there is a sense in which a community is marked by a certain spirit, a certain posture. This morning I want to say to you once again in just another way what has been said here many times -I believe, you believe, and while we share many things in common, it finally comes down to that personal conviction of faith, a faith not simply an assent to a number of propositions or creedal statements, but rather, that fundamental trust, that fundamental trust of our lives, and that's a highly individual exercise. Nobody can do that for you. You cannot abdicate the responsibility to anyone else, church community, church official. There were a couple of items that came into my hand as I was contemplating my fall preaching and those two items determined the sermon for this morning. One was a review article in The Christian Century about six weeks ago by a theologian named William Placher who was reviewing the newly published four- volume set by Jaroslav Pelikan, the eminent church historian. Pelikan published this in cooperation with Valerie Hotchkiss just before his 80th year. Not too bad at this point to be publishing a four-volume work of 3,796 pages. The first volume is entitled Credo. 606 pages and you can buy it independently for a little under $40. But, if you want the four volumes with the CD Rom, it costs $995. Now, can you believe anybody would invest that much money in four volumes that contain 2000 years of creeds and confessional statements? That's what Pelikan has done. Two thousand years, right up to the year 2000, of creeds and confessional statements from around the globe from every conceivable kind of community and denomination and confessional family. Four volumes, almost 4000 pages. That could take care of your leisure time for a while. © Grand Valley State University   �Credo: Personal & Community Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Pelikan has written much. I have an earlier five-volume set on the Christian tradition in which he traces the theological development over 2000 years. I have quoted Pelikan here, a good Lutheran theologian. He's the one who said, "Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." An excellent scholar, he has put all of this together and toward the end of his life recognizes that what he has just engaged in is an archival exercise. As Pelikan observes, many in this age feel "that even if the time for faith as such may not have passed, the time for teaching Christian faith as authoritative dogma probably has, and the time for confessing it in a normative creedal formulary certainly has." Placher, Christian Century. September 20, 2003. What he is saying is what I have given my whole life to and what I offer in this final offering is an exercise in creating an archive for the future. Now, he doesn't mean, I'm sure, that the church is done thinking theologically or that the church is done expressing itself confessionally. What he's trying to say is that we have moved beyond the era of dogmatic authoritarian religious prescription. The time of formulating dogmatic statements and absolute creeds is over. We can go into the reasons for that. Fundamentally, it is because we have begun, over the last one hundred years, to think historically. We have seen how all of this has developed, and we have come to see not the absolute character of these statements, but rather, their relative character. We have come to see how all of this has evolved, and so we are less ready in this time to give absolute allegiance to some kind of formulation. We know that we are people on the way, and we know that being religious is not having some externally imposed, authoritarian statement of truth placed on us, but rather, in being engaged in seeking to find our human experience illuminated by our religious observance and practice. I think that Pelikan is absolutely right. The day of the authoritarian church, the ecclesiastical hierarchy, canon and creed, is past or is passing. I might be wrong about it, but I don't think so, and I surely hope not. The second item that came into my hands about this time was the book I had with me last week, Elaine Pagels’ Beyond Belief. It is an excellent study, a very personal one. As I mentioned last week, Elaine Pagels gave up the church in her adolescence because of its absolute exclusivism. She was turned off by that. But, she still became a religious scholar, and she began her doctoral work about the time that a library was found in the sands of the Egyptian desert in 1945, the Nag Hammadi Library. A huge clay pot was found that had some fifty manuscripts in it. In the 4th century, when Athanasius was finally established on the Bishop's throne in Alexandria, they were in the process of determining what was to be the canon. Athanasius is the church father who first mentions the 27 books of the New Testament. Athanasius was a tenacious, ferocious kind of leader He passed © Grand Valley State University �Credo: Personal & Community Richard A. Rhem Page 3   an edict that all other writings that didn't make the cut of the canon should be banned and burned, and probably some monk who didn't like that kind of an attitude gathered some of the most valuable manuscripts, put them in this clay pot and buried them in the Egyptian sand where they stayed for 1600 years. Elaine Pagels at the time of her doctoral work, as these documents were becoming available, did an excellent study which still is looked to today on the gnostic gospels. As she did that kind of study, she learned all about those early centuries and the formation of the Christian church as an ecclesiastical institution and the theological tradition that formed and shaped that church in those early centuries. She had left the church, but she does this religious scholarship and studies particularly that period of the church that was developing orthodoxy. Orthodox means straight thinking. She was well aware of that period of three or four centuries during which this diverse Jesus movement was being brought under control, reined in and given a normative form. Then, as I mentioned last week, she has personal tragedy in her life and one Sunday morning while out jogging in New York City, to warm herself, slips into the narthex of a church and finds herself deeply moved by the music and the prayers and the liturgy. She goes back, she goes to the lower level of the church and gets into a support group and finds her life being nurtured by the religious observance from which she had absented herself for many years. Just as Pelikan sees no future for that dogmatic structure of Christian faith, so Elaine Pagels, who has studied the whole formation of that structure, while returning to community, to religious, specifically Christian, community, is not willing to return to that authoritarian, dogmatic, ecclesiastical structure, for she says, "While I learned again the things that I loved in the Christian tradition, I also learned the things that I cannot love." Part of what she cannot love is documented in that insert in your liturgy which I included from her book. I'm not going to read that, but in that little section she tells about the church father Irenaeus, who was a Bishop in the second century in the area of Gaul. Irenaeus, as a leader in the church, experienced people all over the place. He experienced all kinds of people who were having visions and revelations, who had their own intuitions, and their own insights and their own wisdom and they were all giving expression to it, and in a word, that Jesus movement, that early Christian church, was chaos. It was messy. There was no uniformity of expression of faith, and there was no uniformity of practice and observance. So, Irenaeus was one of the chief shapers of a movement that brought a normative structure to the Christian movement. Athanasius, I mentioned a moment ago, was another one. There were a number of such people. Finally, that Christian movement was brought into a uniform expression when the church was made legitimate by the Emperor Constantine. We speak about the Constantinian establishment of the church. All of that diverse expression was brought into an acceptable expression which was orthodox opinion. In the little insert I gave you, you can find how nasty that process can become because what happens © Grand Valley State University �Credo: Personal & Community Richard A. Rhem Page 4   immediately when you establish what is "in," is that you also rule out what is "out" and the process begins, the process of excluding and exclusivism and of a triumphalism that claims to have the very truth of God and damns that which differs from it. It is a normal process, it is a human process, we can understand how it happened, we can understand that these leaders were good people who sincerely believed they were doing the will of God. Elaine Pagels is sympathetic to these leaders, but as she indicates and as we religious leaders don't like to admit, if indeed we claim for your benefit that we have the truth of God, and if we believe that we are the guardians of that truth, and if we believe that for the honor of God and for the well-being of the church we have the obligation to hold to that authoritatively, then we can do that with all humility. Who am I but a servant of God? Except the servant has honor in proportion to the one he serves, and so if God has invested me with this deposit of faith, then some of the authority of God comes to me, too. As Elaine Pagels says, the process in those second, third, fourth centuries was to create a canon and a creed and an ecclesiastical hierarchy, and I'll tell you what, I was born too late. I wish I'd been born when there was a canon and a creed and authoritarian hierarchy. (I would like to have been a Cardinal, if not the Pope.) What a way to go! If you have the canon, and you have the creedal formulation, and the power to enforce it, you are golden! What I'm talking about is actually what happened very normally, very understandably in the process of the emergence of the Christian church into a dominant institution. Elaine Pagels says, "I can't go back there. I've come to see that I really need religious community. I've come to see there's a great treasure there that still touches me inside and I want to expose myself to it. But, I can't go back to those things that I cannot love, an authoritarian, dominating dimension marked by canon, creed and absolute, ecclesiastical hierarchy." I wonder about the future of the church. Pope John Paul II just celebrated 25 years and we're going to be seeing a lot out of Rome in these next weeks and months, maybe years, who knows? We know his failing health. Obviously, there were conversations in Rome. But, what a marvelous system. He has appointed all of the Cardinals that will appoint his successor, so the deck is stacked. How can he lose? But, isn't it amazing that that dogmatic structure can continue to perpetuate itself in our world today, our world of satellite and internet and four volumes of two thousand years of creeds and confessions? I wonder how long even the Roman Catholic Church can resist the democratizing spirit that undercuts authoritarianism? I think about a church sort of in-between, the Episcopal Church right now trying to keep from breaking communion. It's a grand tradition, again, but should the leaders of the American Church who believe that they have acted with integrity and honesty and in accord with the will of God as they understand it in the determination to consecrate a gay man to the office of Bishop, should they back © Grand Valley State University �Credo: Personal & Community Richard A. Rhem Page 5   down in order that the body of Christ not be rent? What is the future going to hold for grand ecclesiastical institutions? I don't know. But, I know this - and that's why I talk about it this morning because I want you to be very selfconscious about it -I know this, I am so delighted to be a part of a community, a religious community, a community committed to the religious quest, a community Christian in that it finds its access to God in the face of Jesus, the God of Israel whose creed was, "The Lord our God is one God." The Jew Paul saying that that one God for him was now seen through the lens of Jesus, his Jewish brother. It was Paul who pleads with the Ephesian community to be patient with one another and deal with one another in gentleness and to bear one another in love, and to keep the spirit of unity and the bond of peace. Now, Paul was passionate. He was so passionate about it because he did believe he had that apostolic mission, and yet in his better moments, he spoke to the community and those were all separate communities at that time, to be gentle and patient, forbearing one another and to keep that bond of peace and love. I am so happy to be a part of a community like this which is weak and vulnerable, that in the face of the world is powerless. The best way for a religious community to be is to be powerless and vulnerable so that we give attention to the things that are really those things to which we ought to be attending, and that is the illumination of our human experience before the face of that mystery, because finally, it is not some grand ecclesiastical institution or some absolute creed or some carefully defined canon apart from which there can be no other light, but it is credo, it is "I believe," and by extension, "We believe." A congregation that blesses diversity and encourages conversation, walking together. We're not isolated, atomistic, fragmented folks. We're in community and we converse and we care, we support. But, we don't have all that baggage beyond us. Nor do we have some authoritarian system imposed upon us. We can "roll our own" and do it together. I'm so delighted to be a part of a place like this, and I'm so proud that we have come this way together. It's not for everybody and we certainly have not arrived, but we've positioned ourselves to capture the future. Not everybody's happy about that. A couple weeks ago Don was accosted in the hardware store in Graafschap for affiliating with a place like this that doesn't believe anything. And this week we got an e-mail, it came to Barbara; must be that the Center for Religion and Life mailing that stirred this up. The subject is the truth. It's from Steve: I want to encourage your organization and Christ Community Church to abandon the liberal, non-biblical perspectives you are putting forth. You are misleading many people who are new believers or not mature in their faith with lies from the pit of hell. I pray that you will preach the gospel of Jesus Christ alone, not your gospel, and teach the Bible as the true and complete revelation of God to man. This will change lives and bring people into God's kingdom rather than waste time on the useless discussions you © Grand Valley State University �Credo: Personal & Community Richard A. Rhem Page 6   seem to promote. Thank you for your consideration. May God bless you and return you to the truth. Well, thanks, Steve, but no thanks. I've been there. I know about that experience of authoritarian domination and authoritarian absolutism and narrow exclusivism, and I don't ever want to be a part of it again, because you spoil me. You're wonderful. And together we live before the face of God with confidence, with joy, and it's so good. References: Elaine Pagels. Beyond Belief, 2003. William Placher. (Review of Jaroslav Pelikan. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vols. 1-4. University of Chicago, 1984.) Christian Century, 2003. © 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 Pentecost XIX Scripture Text Deuteronomy 4:4-9, Ephesians 4:1-6 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References William Placher, Review of The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, 1984, in Christian Century, 2003. 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-0-20031019 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-10-19 Title A name given to the resource Credo: Personal and Community 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 October 19, 2003 entitled "Credo: Personal and Community", on the occasion of Pentecost XIX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Deuteronomy 4:4-9, Ephesians 4:1-6. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community Fundamental Trust Non-authoritarian https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0048ba6e0ef5d8b9f66533b5efa3148c.jpg f32de590e4ee495f31117e5a3dda185a 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 U.S.S. Michigan Memorabilia Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Ships--Great Lakes (North America) Battle cruisers Description An account of the resource The name U.S.S. Michigan has been shared by 3 vessels in the United States Navy. The first U.S.S. Michigan was the Navy's first iron-hulled warship (1843-1949). It was renamed the U.S.S. Wolverine in 1905 and decommissioned in 1912; the U.S.S. Michigan (Battleship BB-27) along with her sister ship U.S.S. South Carolina was the first “all-big-gun battleships designed and built for the U.S. Navy; the third and current U.S.S. Michigan SSBN 727 is a Trident-class missile submarine launched in 1980. This collection focuses on the U.S.S. Michigan (Battleship BB-27), but includes articles, images, and memorabilia of all three vessels utilizing the name of U.S.S. Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Beasecker, Robert (collector) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/475">U.S.S. Michigan memorabilia collection (RHC-48)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</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 RHC-48 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1900-2002 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 <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/475">U.S.S. Michigan memorabilia collection, RHC-48</a> 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-48-USSM18 Title A name given to the resource Crew of the U.S.S. Michigan Subject The topic of the resource Michigan (Battleship : BB27) Ships--Great Lakes (North America) United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Postcard of the U.S.S. Michigan crew Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ef0c999f4f57426f65aea8beae254e45.pdf fd5efa8581bf3da362e4dcaab642d519 PDF Text 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 Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club Description An account of the resource Scrapbooks of newsclippings, photographs, postcards, and ephemera of the Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club. Photos were taken at regattas on Reeds Lake; the Grand River; Peoria, Illinois; and in Chicago of club members, and events. Historical articles, reports of regatta events, and articles featuring members Charles McQuewan and Jack Corbett are included. Programs include the First Grand Regatta on Great Salt Lake 1888, and Peoria Rowing Festival, and banquet and music programs and the GR Log, a publication of the Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club. Materials from the Central States Amater Rowing Association, and the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen are also included. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1980s to 1940s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/481">Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club scrapbooks, (RHC-54)</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Rapids (Mich.) Outdoor recreation Boats and boating Racing shells Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-54 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 RHC-54_Ephemera-GRRC_F110 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1923? Title A name given to the resource Crew Positions on Scrap Paper Description An account of the resource Piece of scrap paper with notes in pencil: "Won Central States Regatta and Southwestern States Regatta in Peoria in 1922 - Also, won dual regatta with Detroit in 1923: Russ Davis (stroke), Alvin Hoek, Richard Tanis, Geo. Donker, Bill Young, Phil Thorndyke, Mart Buursma, Howard Macmillan (bow), and peter De Young (coxswain)." Also, "Cliff Allison Cox 1923" Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Grand Rapids Rowing Club Subject The topic of the resource Grand Rapids (Mich.) Outdoor recreation Boats and boating Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/481">Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club scrapbooks (RHC-54)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">No Known 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/3de1dcda5af49fbe5366add557ab7c14.mp4 d73bb0f091e4ad55d2db1e8927b6bd0d 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 Grand Valley Media Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Description An account of the resource Collection of digitized audio and video from the Grand Valley State University Archives. The collection includes ceremonies, speeches, sports, promotional, and instructional media. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/637">Grand Valley State audiovisual media collection, (GV000-04)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Universities and colleges Michigan Rites and ceremonies Speeches Sports Promotional films Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV000-04 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; audio/mp3 Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image; Sound Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2017 Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. 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 GV000-04_ATH_GVSU_nd_Crew-Practice Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Title A name given to the resource Crew Practice, circa 1960s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/637">Grand Valley State audiovisual media collection, (GV000-04)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Description An account of the resource GVSC Crew Practice. This black and white video shows footage of the GVSC crew team practicing on the river. The teams are shot from multiple angles they row in the water. Comments from the captain/coach can be heard on camera. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 Language A language of the resource eng Subject The topic of the resource Universities and colleges Michigan College publicity Sports Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image 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/251b7266f1f11ff8d0006f6caf881051.jpg 2e83da5b49775aa28a82f19dbbd141ee 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 Grand Valley State University Photographs Subject The topic of the resource Aerial photographs Universities and colleges Michigan Grand Rapids (Mich.) Allendale (Mich.) Building Facilities Dormitories Students Events 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Description An account of the resource People, places, and events of Grand Valley State University from its founding in 1960 as a 4-year college in western Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource News & Information Services. University Communications Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">News &amp; Information Services. University Photographs. (GV012-01)</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 2017-03-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</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 GV012-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s-2000s 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. Local Subject Subject headings specific to a particular image collection 1970s Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">University photographs, GV012-01</a> 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 GV012-01_UAPhotos_001008 Title A name given to the resource Crew team Description An account of the resource Crew team. Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Allendale (Mich.) Universities and colleges Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</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 black and white photo https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/084dd2e47c285ca4fae0c0ad31b937c7.jpg 7236d62d8f9bc224970ba4d6db15217c 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_LS00194 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1930 Title A name given to the resource Cricket carved on ivory--Trois Freres Description An account of the resource Black and white lantern slide of Paleolithic carvings of a cricket and cats on an ivory plaque from Trois Freres Cave. Subject The topic of the resource Lantern slides Drawings Cave paintings Archaeology Trois-Frères Cave (France) 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/3fcd9f0e44fdbb92a127ac6415ebd655.jpg 18ae84d06d2b45dfdc043a8c3c266ca5 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 Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 GV058-01_2011F-Crimes-of-the-Heart_003 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011 Title A name given to the resource Crimes of the Heart (theater production), 2011 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2011 production of "Crimes of the Heart." In this image a man and woman sit at a kitchen table. He holds her hand, while she places a hand to her chest with concern. The kitchen has yellow wallpaper, a fridge and white cabinets, and a window hung with white curtains. Boxes of food are stacked on top of the fridge, and a large ceramic rabbit in a straw hat sits on top of the kitchen counter. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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 2011s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0fb44863b663e53c6fb227ab39fdcddd.jpg 18b1a34ffa1820edb4c96b193c0c1f9c 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 Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 GV058-01_2011F-Crimes-of-the-Heart_008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011 Title A name given to the resource Crimes of the Heart (theater production), 2011 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2011 production of "Crimes of the Heart." In this image a woman speaks emphatically to another woman standing beside her. On the left, two other women sit quietly on a pop up bed. One of them holds a saxophone on her lap. On the bed is an open suitcase and a crochet bedspread. All the actresses wear midcentury fashion. The set is dressed like the interior of a house, with yellow walls, a staircase, an entryway, and a fridge, kitchen cabinets, and a table and chairs. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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 2011s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bb9135313dedd9fb6f78ef35204824d9.jpg e0f81bbc65dcaf66ced3c56fe62651ea 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 Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 GV058-01_2011F-Crimes-of-the-Heart_010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011 Title A name given to the resource Crimes of the Heart (theater production), 2011 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2011 production of "Crimes of the Heart." In this image a woman in a silk dressing gown stands and speaks emphatically. On the right a reporter takes notes on a pad of paper. The set is dressed like a kitchen, with yellow walls, white cabinets, an open window hung with white curtains above a sink, and a stove. The countertops are cluttered with jars, a fruit bowl, and a brown paper bag. A row of spices sits on top of the stove's backsplash. Above them a shelf is filled with various food boxes. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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 2011s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/301d4b7c28eb02f91002934fec4c7b13.jpg 762d8c77f03bc1e7c39fa0afa44c4ca9 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 Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 GV058-01_2011F-Crimes-of-the-Heart_014 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011 Title A name given to the resource Crimes of the Heart (theater production), 2011 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2011 production of "Crimes of the Heart." In this image three women sit at a kitchen table. They reach across the table to hold each other's hands. On the table are a napkin holder, a photo album, and an ashtray. The woman sitting in the center has her hair in rollers. All wear midcentury costumes. The set includes a fridge, white cabinets, an open window hung with a white curtain, and yellow papered walls. Various food boxes are stacked on top of the fridge. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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 2011s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7cda12d9051bc50c45f2faf3f2d7b30f.jpg aac6748b7c7c1edea4a6040e716da9c9 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 Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 GV058-01_2011F-Crimes-of-the-Heart_018 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011 Title A name given to the resource Crimes of the Heart (theater production), 2011 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2011 production of "Crimes of the Heart." Image of the full cast posing together on set. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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 2011s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1de485d8c4164c92609547c0ff8d86b7.jpg 5b5ae2a72cacd550d955248f6aa570c6 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 Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 GV058-01_2011F-Crimes-of-the-Heart_019 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011 Title A name given to the resource Crimes of the Heart (theater production), 2011 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2011 production of "Crimes of the Heart." Image of the full cast and crew posing together on set. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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 2011s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b9554a12b440b76e09bbbf5c8be58af1.jpg 3129733070e6afdfc6ad754db8d552ee 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-Pie-Factory-12 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lloyd J. Harris Pie Co. Title A name given to the resource Crimping Apple Pies Description An account of the resource A photo of two women who are crimping apple pie shells at a large table. There are three large shelving units behind them, which are all filled of more pie shells. The caption reads: "Again you see the home made touch by women in our Bakery." Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Factories Bakeries Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of Local History from the Saugatuck Douglas History Center for 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 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/028a52801362e0b2657db835e0160a74.mp4 2224af2cf554c623380d5b26e1caa198 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d086f2594e65749e6afa3fcee87263cb.pdf d5a3fdfcad1a9e9706baa49fa6a3debc PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW DON CRIPPS 126th Infantry Regiment, Red Arrow Division WWII Born: Battle Creek, Michigan Resides: Battle Creek Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project, Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, August 5, 2011 Interviewer: Mr. Cripps, can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself. For instance, where were you born? I was born in Battle Creek, Michigan and when I was nine years old we moved to the little town of Athens. That was during the depression and it was a little cheaper to live. My father worked at what they call the Federal Center now, it was the Battle Creek Sanitarium and my whole family worked at the Battle Creek Sanitarium and I worked different jobs throughout my lifetime too. I met a lot of famous people, Mrs. Roosevelt and lots of people. I had good contacts and when I—I always wanted to be a doctor, but there was no money to be had and I didn’t know what I was going to do, so—I was an athlete in school, football, I got letters in football, basketball and track. 1:05 Interviewer: When did you graduate from high school? 1939, in Athens, Michigan and then I want back to Battle Creek and I worked in the sanitarium there. For jobs, I worked at the main desk, I bell hopped and I worked on the sanitarium farm. I was in charge of the orchard one year and I had a number of different jobs. I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I stayed even though they were going into bankruptcy. The sanitarium was going broke and I lived at 1102, the tallest building there, for one year. I had my friend that I went to school with in Athens, we were always good friends, but I’ll be darned if he didn’t have a job at the sanitarium also. 1:58 The 1 �historian wants to interview me now because I can tell them things about the sanitarium that they don’t even have a record of. I’ve been to places they don’t even know were there. He is going to do it soon, but I can’t think of his name anyway. My friend said, “were going to be drafted”, and I couldn’t go on to college, so my dad knew a retired professor at the University of Michigan, but he also stayed at the sanitarium. He said, “if you like, I’ll start him on his career now until he gets the money or whatever he’s going to do”, so I started there and for that whole year I studied at the University of Michigan. 2:44 I took two subjects and still worked. When my friend said, “we might as well join the National Guard or we’ll be drafted”, so we—I joined with him knowing that I was going to be drafted. I was only in the guard for about a month and a half. We trained in Kalamazoo on the streets. Interviewer: When you were training in Kalamazoo, did you have weapons or anything like that? We went right back to WWI, I had the leggings that you—the windup leggings you know. Interviewer: The WWI uniforms? WWI, .03 rifles, which I had never seen an 03 rifle until we got down in Louisiana and we had campaign hats, the old WWI helmets, everything was WWI equipment.3:38 We marched up and down the streets and things like that and the fellow that was in there at that time , Captain Walker, I guess he was a WWI veteran and we had a 1st. Lieutenant, Fitzgerald, he was a WWI veteran, and then we had a 2nd Lieutenant and that was the only officers we had, and the 2nd Lieutenant’s name was Bush. He was a First Sergeant and he went up through the ranks and to the officer’s school with the guards. 4:16 Most 2 �of these young guys that came in were around twenty years old and in that area because there was no work anyway. They trained in [Camp] McCoy, Wisconsin and the next year it would be at [Camp] Grayling, Michigan, and to them it was like a big vacation anyway. We got twenty-one dollars per month at that time and then they federalized us, and we got on a train to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. 4:56 Interviewer: So, you were federalized on October 15th 1940? Yes, 1940 Interviewer: They load you on a train to Camp Beauregard. The whole group is the history of the men-- the dentist is taking care of was the whole group that was on that train. [this sentence is probably garbled, so check it against the original] There were no draftees yet. Interviewer: About how many men were in your company initially? There were supposed to be two hundred, but there were seventy or something like that. There wasn’t a full train. 5:22 We went to Camp Beauregard, which was used in WWI as a training camp and there is nothing, it is just a monument, we had no place to go. We were going to go there and they were going to build us a camp, Camp Livingston, was going to be built and it had already been started. We trained in a tent there and had a real rugged time, even the cook had a homemade stove he had to use and we marched out each day with a band and trained. That was like our boot camp. 6:04 That’s how I can describe it. We were there about six months I think, I don’t know for sure the exact time. Camp Livingston, which is near Alexandria, Louisiana, that’s the nearest town. We moved in and that was a luxury compared to what we were used to being in. Interviewer: What did the training itself consist of? What were you doing? 3 �Because they had the, well they didn’t know about the Japanese at first. 6:45 I was on leave on Pearl Harbor day in New Orleans and the loud speaker came on and said for all the soldiers to get back to camp right now. That was Pearl Harbor and then they decided they were going to train us for general warfare and the never had anyone train for general warfare. 7:08 Interviewer: Were they giving you any jungle training in Louisiana or did that wait until Australia? No, actually we had very little jungle training anyplace. We went into action before we should have gone. Anyway, we had no equipment, no machine guns everything was simulated. In fact, one time we marched all over the Louisiana swamp and that was like where we were going to fight. We just had the old 03 rifles and gradually they gave us the equipment they had now and while we were down there we finally got the Garand rifle, and we used that going right into the war zone. 8:00 Then I—the conditions around there were still pretty much—the blacks were still--they had drinking fountains for blacks and they rode in the back of the buses and it was a new world opened up. That was more or less the training there. Interviewer: Tell me just a little bit more about the jobs there; what physically did you have to do? Were you marching? Were you shooting? We had some target practice, but not very much. Each day we marched out behind a band out to about three or four miles out in the country, at Camp Livingston and Camp Beauregard both, we did the same thing, marched behind the band. We had our flag with our unit on it and in fact, we still got that flag, it’s in the museum in Kalamazoo now. 9:02 They probably told you about that. General Harding was our general at that time 4 �and then all of a sudden they decided we were going to go to Europe. It was pretty rough training if you’re not used to anything like that, so we went to Camp Devens, in Massachusetts and we trained there for a while. Of course, there we had barracks and we weren’t used to that sort of thing. I guess MacArthur wanted Harding’s division, so they shipped us clear across the United States and we didn’t know we were going to Australia. We went to San Francisco. Interviewer: What was that train ride like? 9:58 It was—in fact, it was kind of fun and most of us have never done anything like that. We went on the train and we got to San Francisco and they put us in the Cow Palace. I don’t know if you—that’s where they held animal shows and stuff like that. It was rather new at that time and we all stayed in the stalls of the animals. I happened to have one particular assignment and I was a corporal by that time and a corporal was in charge of a squad at that time. A buck sergeant, he was the platoon sergeant. Those ranks went up over the years from staff sergeant to tech sergeant. A lot of them went AWOL and I was on assignment to look at all the guys around and see if I could find our soldiers and actually, we didn’t care if we found them or not, it was that much fun. 11:03 We were there about a week or so, I think about a week, and then we got on the Lurline. The Lurline was a passenger boat between the Hawaiian Islands, a luxury passenger boat, between the Hawaiian Islands and the United States. They had filled in the decks with bunks four high and there were about five thousand troops going on that boat and they still had the civilian crew on the boat. 11:41 Interviewer: How many bunks were piled on top of each other? 5 �I think it was about—it was either three or four and at the end of the thing they made temporary toilets and they were putrid anyway. I was sick, it took three weeks to get to Australia and I was sick the whole time and you had to line up so many people around that boat that you had to line up two hours before you would eat in order to get your hand on your food. I was too sick to eat, so I just took some fruit and went back to my bunk again. That was quite and experience for us. We arrived in Port Adelaide in south Australia and the reason we went to Port Adelaide—we didn’t know at that time that we were headed for New Guinea eventually. 12:44 We were going to train for jungle warfare and actually what we were going to do was train to protect the Australians. They figured the Japanese were going to come in and take Australia because all the Australian troops were over in the Middle East. We went to the Port Adelaide and they parked us right near a winery, that was a bad place to put a bunch of soldiers, and I think it was about October at that time. It’s semi-tropical and the have orange trees and tropical trees. I can remember the pails we had and we had regular tents and fold up cots that you put up yourself. The Australians, being that they were a big sheep country, there number one meat was mutton and they thought, we’ll give the American the mutton and we’ll have the beef. 13:51 We could smell that mutton ten miles away and we couldn’t eat it, so got to sneaking out and going to the farms and bringing food home and cooking it ourselves. Eventually they let us have beef. We trained there for a few weeks while they were building a camp in Brisbane, Australia to continue our training. We had to go crosscountry by train because the Japanese submarines were all around. Most of our equipment was going by boat around—if you’re familiar with Australia and the shape of it, around Port Moresby [Melbourne] and Sydney to Brisbane. 14:46 On that trip, the 6 �first man in our division was killed. I just had his name and I’ll tell ya—he was from Battle Creek, Michigan. I had the name and I thought I could tell ya, but maybe I’ll think of it. Interviewer: Was he killed in an accident or how? He was shot at from the subs, so they named that training place—it was an unusual trip to take because each train in Australia has a different railroad gauge and you have to get out at the end of each station and go onto another train. It was an experience there alone, and then we got up to Brisbane. 15:44 We trained there for a short—it wasn’t going to be too long a time and then they decided they were going to ship us—while I was in Adelaide I happened to go to a school down there and I made friends that we have kept in touch with for sixty years. We’ve kept in contact constantly all the time. What I went to school for was, we thought we were going to have to live on the land and we had to go out in the center of Australia, which is a desert, and from the Aborigines we learned we could eat the grubs and stuff like that and where the water was in certain plants. We thought we were going to have to fend off the land. That’s a bit of background and when we were ready to go they put us on Liberty ships and they were new, not the old Liberty ships 16:51. We got on the Liberty ships-Interviewer: Now, before they sent you over to New Guinea, did you get any kind of jungle training or what they called jungle training? We had some, but it was nothing like what we actually did. We never had the proper equipment in the first place and what they had to do for camouflage, they didn’t have camouflage, so they took our uniforms and sprayed them green and by spraying them you couldn’t get any air through them. When we were actually in jungle warfare every time 7 �we would get to a stream we would take them off and try to scrub the paint off of them. When we landed, under very dangerous times at Port Moresby, we stayed there for, I don’t know, several weeks or not that long. 17:52 Interviewer: What sort of place was Port Moresby at that time? Port Moresby is the only place in New Guinea that looked just like an Australian town. Australians, of course, it’s one of their possessions, and it would be like any little Australian town, but we were outside of the town and we never got into the town much. At our camp we got diarrhea terrible and we couldn’t eat and our cooks, no way could you eat the food. In Port Moresby, we were at the foot of the Owen Stanley Mountains, which are twelve to thirteen thousand feet high and they figured, the Australian figured, that the Japanese could never get over that mountain, but they were starting to trickle over and those that got over weren’t worth much anyway. 19:01 We were bombed by Japanese planes. They had air superiority most of the time, so every night they tried to show us, from our foxhole, a big movie. They would show it to us, but that’s as far as we could go anyway with the diarrhea. They would turn the lights out and show it and then you would dive back in your hole. They got ready and they decided that part of them were going to go over the mountain and before I forget it, at first our Colonel of the 126th Infantry, a full Colonel, I did know his name, but I can’t think of it. He was making a survey over New Guinea before we actually went into action and he was shot down and got killed. 20:04 Part of us, our particular company, we got separated from most of the fighting in New Guinea, I probably told you that. We were on a different side than the rest of them were. Then they decided—the whole thing was getting Buna and the airstrip. MacArthur said to take Buna no matter who was killed or what and he never set 8 �foot in New Guinea at that time. He just said, “you take them”, and most of the men in that division, the 32nd Division, from Wisconsin and Michigan were killed, wounded or got diseases. 21:00 There was a lot of disease. I had malaria six times and most of the men that you interviewed all had malaria too. Interviewer: What sort of effects does malaria have on you? It’s a high, high fever and you just can’t move. A lot of men died over there because there was no one to take you out. Eventually--we didn’t have any medicine and all we had was quinine, in fact, at that time. There was an Atabrine; the Germans had it, which would have helped us a lot. We didn’t have it and the Germans being our enemy, we didn’t have Atabrine at that time. You just more or less laid down and stayed there until you could move again because there was no way of getting you out. After a while your fever keeps going down. 21:58 Eventually, while I was there, we got the Atabrine somehow. Whether they made there own formula or what, I don’t know. It helped, but it wasn’t any cure. I use to have to stand my men up and make sure they put the pill in their mouth because they wanted to go home. Everybody was yellow looking and all that. That’s how it affects your body. Interviewer: The Atabrine would also make that. Yes Interviewer: Back up a little bit now. Originally the division is basically mostly in place at Port Moresby and part of your regiment is assigned to walk over the mountains. Now, the part that you were with, how did you get over? 22:50 They decided—there was a little strip on the northern shore there, I think it was near Pongani, there was a strip they thought they could get an airplane into, but it wasn’t a 9 �strip at all, it was just an open field. I think one of the planes crash-landed there. Part of us got in that plane and I was one of them. From then on it was jungle walking and we hadn’t met any enemy yet. It was along the coast with all the coconut palms and all that. It was along that coast. The only food we got was by airplane and, of course, the Japanese had air superiority and we might get the food and we might not. Most of it was C rations and sometimes we got the Australian corned beef and hard tack. 23:56 Sometimes we got their food and sometimes we would go as high as three days and never get any food. You couldn’t build a fire or anything because the Japanese would be after you. The only equipment you had—you had a shelter half. It rained every night almost, terrible temperature, mosquitoes, we had to wear a net over there. The Garand rifle we had—in each squad there would be a Browning automatic and they finally got—one in each squad got the little hand machine gun with a drum of either fifty or twenty and we wouldn’t use the fifties because they rattle. 24:50 We hadn’t seen any enemy yet. Interviewer: Were you seeing any natives in that area? Well, there were some natives, yes. A lot of natives took some of our equipment and you couldn’t trust them. They were apt to take you right into the woods and dump you and the only pay they got was some of our c rations and that’s how we paid them. We were told not to go into any of the villages because those people would starve to death because they don’t know enough to keep food. They had little gardens and stuff and they didn’t want you near their women, which nobody would want to be anyway. 25:50 The animals—the only animals you got—you got the alligators and a lot of poison snakes, but we didn’t—with all the troops there I didn’t hardly see a snake, but some of them did and some didn’t. We also had that problem on our Louisiana maneuvers with the Coral 10 �snake. We lost several people down there. We were going along the coast towards where we were going to make contact with them and the first think--you still didn’t think you were in a war and all of a sudden—along that coast there was a sort of a backwater and river and the Australians had a little boat trying to get closer to the front and all of sudden we saw hundreds of bloated bodies of Australians. That was the first realization that we were in a war and, of course, that shook us all. 26:47 Interviewer: What happened after you came on that scene? Then we kept right on going and we couldn’t get boats in there either, so we couldn’t do anything about it. All we could do was continue and along with that there were some Australians too. We kept on going on up the coast and you couldn’t dig holes because six inches down there was water. The only water you had to drink was brackish water. We put a pill in it to purify it, but you couldn’t quench your thirst any of the time. Sometimes you quenched your thirst with the coconut palms. You could open up the coconuts and drink it and if you did you got diarrhea. 27:41 Interviewer: Could you do anything to catch the rainwater? We weren’t in one place long enough to catch any rainwater, no. There were little streams you could go into and we tore our clothes all off and scrubbed them in the sand because that’s the only way you could keep them clean. We didn’t have any heavy equipment outside of 60mm mortars and the machine guns. Interviewer: You basically had what you could carry. What you could carry and they said later they had tanks, but we had no, not any, big guns. Mostly mortars and machine guns. Then we got up there where they figured the enemy was and that we were going to have contact with the enemy the next day. They 11 �said for me to take the men a hundred yards up the road and assemble up there and I got up there and I didn’t have any men there. They all went back the other way, so we went back and reorganized and jabbed them a bit and started over again. 28:56 The team, before we went up there, the supply sergeant, he went berserk and he got into a hole and was shooting at everybody. He finally got killed and that was in the beginning of the action.. From then on we had a jungle path—there’s no communications, only a runner and no radios or nothing like that in there. We had different incidents and it’s kind of boring in a way, yet you didn’t see the soldiers and in the night two guys would sleep together so one stayed awake while the other slept. You could hear the Japanese make noise at night and say English things to get us out. 29:58 We didn’t take any—the Australians wouldn’t take any prisoners, but we took a few prisoners. We didn’t want— if we did the Australians would kill them before they got back to be questioned. We found some of our men that were taken prisoners and they bayoneted them against a tree. I’m trying to think—there was all this long grass and every time an airplane came over they didn’t know where we were either and it was a scary thought. 30:40 Interviewer: Do you remember the first time you actually encountered the Japanese or were fired on by them? When we got off the line we were constantly being fired at with mortars. The jungle’s hard to see people and the Japanese had been there enough time ahead of us, they were in pillboxes and with the equipment we had it was almost impossible against the pillbox. I’d been on a lot of patrols and sent my men on patrols and around the pillboxes there would be wire fence with cans on it so they could hear you coming. It was impossible to do anything against the pillboxes with the equipment we had. The Australians, they 12 �would tell them they had to take that pillbox and they would try to take the pillboxes and the guys would get killed. 31:48 Interviewer: Now, did you have Australian soldiers serving right along side of you? No, they were just close by and we were not side-by-side. They were just a few feet from us. Interviewer: They were sort of the next section of the line? Yes, and that’s the way we fought to clear up the place until we got near Buna. Actually I was on the outskirts of Buna and when I took cigarettes to my men a sniper got me with a 25-caliber bullet, that’s what they had, and they were exploding bullets, which were supposed to be outlawed by the Geneva Convention, but the Japanese don’t go by anything like that. 32:48 It exploded in me, in my heart and my lungs, but I never was out. They had to get natives; there were no Americans, no Americans there to haul you out, so they had natives. They couldn’t use any equipment we had, so they had to make something on poles. Interviewer: Did your own men get you back off the front line first? There was no front line really, that’s another thing, there’s no front line. They could be behind you, beside you, you would never know where they were. I got cigarettes to my men and at that time I didn’t care if I got wounded or not. It’s not like Vietnam, you know you got to be there for a year, and here you didn’t know if you were going to be there was ten years or not. You never knew the end of it. 33:49 When I was up there, right on the coast of Buna, all the big generals, General Eichelberger, they came up there and two or three other generals. Their bright Chino clothes stood out like a thumb you know, and as soon as they got back we really got peppered. They were supposed to have 13 �brought us a Christmas dinner and if they did I never got it, but I have my doubts that they did. Interviewer: You got hit on December 22nd didn’t you? December 26 and that’s one date I did not forget, 1942. Interviewer: So, they got the natives to take you back, and did you got to an aid station at that point? Yeah, they had to take me back—there was a little strip on the coast down there. They had an aid station and they got some little planes in there and all they do is give you first aid stuff. 34:55 They got little planes in there and they took you out one at a time and flew you to Port Moresby. I went to Port Moresby and they had a big tent hospital there. That’s where you went until they could get you back to Australia. I was shot up so bad that my folks got the telegram that I was seriously wounded in action. They didn’t know if I would make it and they had to operate on me and take these pieces of shrapnel out of my heart and without any pain killer. Then I was too sick to fly back, some of them could fly back, but I was too sick to fly. They had a hospital ship called Wannanilla and mostly it was meant for Australia to take them back to New Guinea. 36.04 They had room for a couple Americans I guess, so we got on that boat and went back to Cairns and the hospital was full, so we went back to Townsville and the hospitals were full. We went right down the coast and in Brisbane the hospitals were full and we got to Sydney and they let a couple guys off there and I was one of them and then they were going to Melbourne and they got you out there weren’t any hospitals built either, so they sent us clear up in the mountains in a resort that was like a little hotel with rooms separate. 14 �36:50 I was in one of those rooms and I was there for quite some time and would see the doctor and nurses and Red Cross. I didn’t see anybody else up there. Interviewer: How well did they take care of you there? I was taken care of well, but you never see anybody and there’s nothing to do. I couldn’t move around and I was going to be there until—they were building a new hospital in Australia, in Sydney. After the Americans started using their hospitals they looked alike. They finally got that built and I was sent down there and finally I went to—I don’t know how many months I was there and then I went to Prince Alfred Hospital and was one of the main hospitals in Sydney and it was right downtown. 37:47 I would keep getting malaria and it takes about six weeks to treat you each time you get malaria. Downtown I thought I was going to go back home and they said—they needed help over there and if you want to go back, and actually I did, if I didn’t have to go back and fight again I’d just as soon stay there, so they sent me out to—they decided they were going to—that same hospital is where my son was born—they were going to send me out to a place where you recover and it was called Warwick Farm out in the outskirts of Sydney and actually it was a horse track, a horserace track. They had a tent city there, so we went back there to be treated. 38:39 Interviewer: Now, at this point could you walk and get around at all? I could walk around then, but I was limited and couldn’t do too much. I didn’t know what they were going to do with me and then they finally interviewed and they got me a job in Sydney in MacArthur’s headquarters. The Grace Building was the tallest building in Sydney and that’s only eleven floors high. They believed tall buildings in the earthquake zone were dangerous. I was put in charge, because I had some experience 15 �like that working at the sanitarium, they put me in charge as the chief clerk they called it, the chief clerk, and I had about thirty people working for me, some civilian and some army. 39:35 Interviewer: What rank were you at that point? I was a Staff Sergeant and they made me a Tech Sergeant, but if you look at the records, I was a platoon sergeant because all the officers were killed and the platoon sergeant was killed and several officers killed, and they were going to give me a battlefield commission, but I got shot up. Our Captain, and they probably never say much about it, his name was Captain Fryerson, he took over from the push, the push fight, and he stayed over there and became a Major, but Fryerson was a coward and he had to go back and be tried and all they did to him was make him a First Lieutenant and kept him in Hawaii, so I don’t know if he did better or worse. 40:34 Interviewer: Now, you’ve been assigned to MacArthur’s headquarters. When was that? I can’t tell you the exact date because a lot of that stuff has slipped out of me. Interviewer: Was it still in 1943? It must have been in 1943. I was in the hospital for quite some time. Of course the people that worked there, none of them liked MacArthur. His little kid would be in the hotel across the road and you would see him playing out there with a Philippine woman looking after him. All the people in my office were all people that had been wounded and the Captain was too. Then they decided to move back to Brisbane, so we went back to Brisbane. 41: 38 Before I went there I had a leave, a week off, and I went to the middle of the city to a hotel there and they had what they called a Trocadero, it was a 16 �dance hall and it had two orchestras, American soldiers, and a revolving stage. The Australian girls were to meet us there and dance with us to get acquainted. On the very first night I met my wife and they weren’t supposed to have anything to do with you on the outside, they leave you at the door. I went every night that week and I continued to go and visit her at her house while I stayed at this Warwick Farm, and then we decided to get married. No one had gotten married in those days; they didn’t allow the American to get married. 42:35 Interviewer: How did you manage it? I had to go see the commanding general of Sydney, I remember General Raleigh, a Brigadier General. My money had never caught up with me since I’d been wounded. He interviewed us and said he would have the Red Cross interview us. He said, “Have you got any money?” I said, “I’ve got a three pound note that I kept throughout the war, but I still haven’t been paid”, and he took money out of his pocket and gave it to me. That was one of the first ones and I had to go through a lot of red tape. Eventually there was thirty thousand Americans marrying Australians. I went back to Brisbane again and my wife came up to Brisbane too and we stayed there for about six months. 43:36 I went back to Sydney again to MacArthur’s headquarters and stayed there for a while and my wife had a baby, my son was born there. Then I went back to Brisbane again, and she couldn’t go up there this time and I was only there a short time. MacArthur’s headquarters was moving to Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, so we went up there. It’s a different situation when you’re in MacArthur’s headquarters you live like a king. That was all right up there and the point systems came out and I had points in that whole area. I’d been over there long enough in all the conditions and they said I could go home if I wanted to. 17 �They offered me a warrant officer’s job again, but I said I wanted to go home. 44:39 They said, being in MacArthur’s headquarters, I could either fly home or go on the boat. I said I didn’t want to go on the boat because I was sick for three weeks. I had to island hop and sty for two or three days until I could get a plane, and I finally got back to the United States, back to Chicago to be discharged. I went in there to be discharged and they said for me to go home on a month leave and come back and they would discharge me. Interviewer: At that point was your wife able to come with you? My wife wasn’t able—the war wasn’t over yet in Japan and she had to wait a year. She came back on the Lurline, the same beat that we took over. There were about five hundred wives and three hundred babies and the called it the “brides ship”. 45:42 They had an experience when they had that big storm on the ocean and in Hawaii the towns were flattened. Interviewer: While you were stationed at MacArthur’s headquarters, what kind of work were you doing there? It was in the Adjutant General’s Publication Division and we were the ones that printed all of your army regulations books and manuals and assembled them and shipped them out to the different units, to each one of them, to their headquarters. It was an interesting job and I was a supervisor and I was the top non-commissioned officer. 46:45 That particular place was right in Brisbane, the last place I was at before we went to Hollandia. You’ve never been to Australia, but there’s a big town hall there and it’s still there, the town hall, and we had a little separate building right beside it where the Adjutant General’s Publication Division was. It was an interesting job and we had to make all the 18 �corrections in all the army manuals and everything else and make sure that all these units got them throughout all the SW Pacific. We were going to go— MacArthur, while we were up there in Hollandia, had a cabin or a house built up there just for his wife and we were all ready to go to Manila when I had this chance to get out. 47:51 Interviewer: Did you get to see much of MacArthur himself or were you far enough away? He was just in and out. I’d see him in and out all the time and I’d see his little kid playing at the hotel across there, but he wasn’t too popular among the men that worked there and even the other generals. Interviewer: As far as you could tell, why was that? He was a show off kind of a man. Like when he went to New Guinea and he said he didn’t care if every man gets killed, you stay there until you take Buna. He never went up there once. He went to a lot of the places, but he never went there. Then he relieved Harding because they weren’t getting things done fast enough and they put in Eichelberger after that. 48:57 A lot of these famous people--a lot of incidents on the road going up there. One time, all the food was dropped by air and sometimes you go two or three days with no food because you got to keep on going to the next stop and one time everybody had moved out, but part of our company, they dropped a battalion's worth of food on us. All we did was stuff ourselves and they had chocolate bars and they had never perfected chocolate then that wouldn’t melt, so we stuffed our pockets full of it and it melted and got insects and weird incidents like that. We ate grass, but you couldn’t cook anything because you have mortars right on top of you. 49:48 We saw soldiers, 19 �Japanese, they wouldn’t be taken prisoners and they would run out into the ocean and kill themselves with bayonets or grenades so they wouldn’t be taken. . Interviewer: In that period when you were in that Buna sector where the Japanese were, was your unit ever able to move forward at all or make what you would call progress? They made progress, but very slow, you might make a hundred yards and things like that. The main thing was the mortar. I sent one patrol out from my platoon and I’ll never forget that. It was the nighttime and they came back, what few of them did come back and I went on a few of those myself because you can’t make men go if you can’t do it yourself. 50:50 One of the guys in the patrol came back and had no face at all; all he had was holes in his face. Back on Port Moresby I happened to meet him again, but he died. We had a lot—not just malaria, but the dengue fever, the black water fever, and all those, jungle rot and all that and most of the division was killed or wounded. Interviewer: They weren’t all killed, but ninety percent of them were either dead or unfit for duty. That’s right, they weren’t all killed. Interviewer: For a lot of them, Buna was the war even if they survived. 51:46 It doesn’t seem like it was worth it for what—every little step that you had going toward Japan, because they were island hopping from then on and a lot of this—it was all along the coast, but you’re in your own little shelter and you only had half a company and our Captain, he’s be right in the middle with his men all around him because there was no front line. No food, no conditions and it was horrible thoughts when you start seeing your men get killed one after another, 20 �Interviewer: In the longer run they did learn some things from it. MacArthur didn’t do quite that same kind of thing again; they had better equipment and better supplies and medicine. You guys were the guinea pigs. 52:44 We were there before we should have been there and the equipment we had—the BAR’s would rust and it was hard to keep your equipment. In every squad you had one 03 rifle from WWI because we could launch grenades with it, so we had one in every squad. Whoever had that machine gun, sub machine gun; he would get killed right off the bat because they hated him. In fact, finally I got one too and I took it from my men because nobody wanted to carry it. 53:31 Interviewer: Was that a Thompson sub-machine gun? Yes, with a 20 drum. We had fifty drums, fifty shells, but they rattled. Interviewer: Those were the gangster movie ones right? Yeah, but they were troublesome too, they wouldn’t always work. You got equipment— you didn’t have any equipment to take care of stuff like that. No supplies except what was carried up by natives and no contact because there were no radios and stuff. Eventually they had a few tanks in there, but we never saw any tanks. It probably shows you in the records that there were, but I never saw a tank there at all. 54:15 Interviewer: Most of that stuff comes in later. The Japanese had those 37 mm’s and we didn’t get them until later. We didn’t have anything big and we couldn’t fight against those pillboxes. The mortars wouldn’t touch them and machine guns wouldn’t touch them. Interviewer: You would have to get up very close with grenades and get lucky. 21 �I didn’t want to have to—you slept at night with your buddy and we were awake all night. You had several men who were killed. They killed each other because they thought it was a Jap. You would wake up and it was too late. Interviewer: Did you manage to catch any Japanese trying to sneak into your position? There were dead ones all around, rotten and smelly. 55:09 They were all around us because we couldn’t get up. You couldn’t dig down to make a slick trench because there was water. Those kinds of conditions were just horrible. I saw a lot of our men get killed. Interviewer: Now, to kind of move here back out at the other end. You finally get back to the states and have been discharged etc. What did you do at that point? Then I—because I didn’t know what I was going to do, and of course I had a son and a wife, and the year that I had training in college wasn’t enough and I had to get a job fast. So, at that time, I had to go around and check out different places and in fact I wanted to—I had enough cash to buy a new car, but they wouldn’t sell you a new car if you didn’t have an old one to turn in. 56:18 I was going to get a Ford, but at they time it was only $700.00 for a new Ford, but they wouldn’t sell it to you. I had to borrow my dad’s car until later on I got another car, but being interviewed I got to the Sinclair Refining company and I got a job there. It was a dress-up job in the office and the man that had the job before hadn’t gotten out of the army yet and he let it be known that he didn’t want to come back there again, so I got that job. 57:09 The boss was a real eager beaver guy and he had me belong to every organization and things like that. Then I’ll be darned if the guy didn’t come back and he said he wanted his job back and according to 22 �the government I had to give it up. Then I went to work for the Kellogg Company. They wanted me to be in the office, but there weren’t any vacancies yet, so I worked six months in the plant. I got in the office and I ended up in the research at Kellogg’s, which was interesting and from then on I worked there for thirty-four years in different capacities, but mostly in the engineering offices and planning section because of the experience I had in MacArthur’s headquarters. 58:09 A lot of that helped me. I just stayed there and I had four children and I belong to a lot of different organization and active in the church and active—I’ve been a DAV, American Legion, I belong to them all. Now, all of my children are grown up and my son was a full Colonel and my son in law was a full Colonel, they were in Vietnam. I had one grand kid go to West Point and she had to go to Iraq twice as a Captain where she met her husband to be who was a Major and two weeks ago, on the holiday, they had a big wedding in Pennsylvania at the was college. It was a big outfit with three hundred people there. They had the crossed swords you know how they do? 59:13 My son keeps up—he probably knows as much about the 32nd Division as I do. He’s an ardent reader of history and he was a deputy commander at Fort Carson, the last job he had. He’s still dealing with the army. They sent him overseas and they send him to Washington every now and then. They want his opinion because he was on airplanes and disposing of equipment and because of the technical knowledge that he has. He’s well known all around and he knows all the generals. He should have been a general—he had a brigade command for one term, but because the army got cut back, the Colonel’s, had to do a brigadier’s job. :11 That’s how close he got to it. 23 �Interviewer: To look back on the whole thing now, how do you think your time in the service had an effect on you? You talked about the experience you got in Macarthur’s headquarters. What else do you think you carried with you out of all that? Well there was one thing—our original group is back to seven men now and I think we had about a hundred and seventy men and their all gone now and there was better comradeship What I find is people have their college friends, high school friends, and people you work with, but I think people that you fight with and protect each other is a different feeling. You have a different comradeship. These people are life long friends and not like the rest of them. I can’t compare them with the high school people or people you worked with or church people or whoever else, so in general, as I look back on it now, it was a good experience. 1:28 Interviewer: Thank you very much for talking to me today and that finishes the tape. 24 �25 � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Cripps, Donald (Interview transcript and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cripps, Donald Description An account of the resource Donald Cripps joined the Michigan National Guard in 1940 and served in Company C of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division during World War II. He describes training in Louisiana, service in Australia and New Guinea. He was wounded at Buna in New Guinea and then was stationed in Australia after he recovered. 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 United States--National Guard World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-06-05 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CrippsD 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> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 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/f5a57ebbea652f0e7dc1fb080b3fc5cd.mp3 675a02ad24568f37286deb06886c338a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d15f48b0bc53626dfa0850942b6726b6.pdf b0cb1d9b1d84a8463bab80acd52611d4 PDF Text Text Crisis From the Lenten sermon series: The Servant of the Lord Text: Isaiah 53:12; Luke 19:42-44 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Palm Sunday, March 27, 1988 Transcription of the spoken sermon ... he exposed himself to face death. Isaiah 53:12 If only you had known, on this great day, the way that leads to peace! But no; it is hidden from your sight ... you did not recognize God’s moment when it came. Luke. 19:42-44 “Crisis” is a word that strikes fear into our hearts. We do our best to avoid a crisis. We speak of life in turmoil as “one crisis after another.” Crisis is a word that fills the heart with anxiety and calls up images of fear – an accident scene, the emergency room, the family waiting room next to the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital, broken relationships, disaster, political upheaval – and the list goes on. From crisis on a personal level to crisis of cosmic proportions, it seems our world reels from crisis to crisis. But on reflection, the real meaning of crisis is not synonymous with danger nor need it be associated exclusively with feelings of dread. Our English word “crisis” is derived from the Greek “Krisis” coming from the verb to decide. The crisis point is the time of decision. In the case of a disease it is the turning point when a change takes place - either for recovery or for death. In the case of any historical progression or series of events, the crisis is the decisive moment when events will take one direction or another, depending on the decision made, the response to the moment. My point is simply that crisis can be seen in a positive light just as well as in a negative light. Crisis viewed only in terms of danger misses the equally true presence of opportunity. Although I have not got the documentation, I remember reading somewhere that in written Chinese, the character for danger and for opportunity is the same. Thus, this insight is reflected in various languages revealing the reality of our historical existence – at history's critical junctures, at the critical junctures of a nation's history, an institution's existence, an individual's life, decision is demanded and, depending on the decision made, the consequence will be judgment or grace, peace or destruction, life or death. © Grand Valley State University   �Crisis Richard A. Rhem Page 2   In this Lenten series, our focus is on Jesus, the Servant of the Lord. We began with the declaration of John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” words recorded by John in his Gospel which recalled the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, the innocent one who bore the sins of his people. We noted that John the Baptist hoped Jesus would destroy sin and wickedness, bringing judgment on the world. John the Baptist hoped Jesus was the one who was to come – the return of the fiery Elijah calling down the wrath of God from heaven. Jesus, however, found his identity rather in the Servant of Isaiah – the one who brings salvation to earth's fartherest bounds, who is light to the nations, who does not crush the broken reed or snuff out the smoldering wick. He set his face steadfastly toward Jerusalem, just as the Servant in Isaiah 50:7 set his face “like a flint.” His identity clear, he carried out his mission with deliberate intentionality. If we go back to the second message in the series, the focus on Jesus' identity and intentionality, we find in the text in Luke 9:15 Jesus setting his face resolutely toward Jerusalem. Luke uses the framework of a journey toward Jerusalem to tell a large part of the story of Jesus. He begins this long section with these words: As the time approached when he was to be taken up to heaven, he set his face resolutely toward Jerusalem. We can trace references to Jerusalem throughout the subsequent chapters (13:22, 31-35; 17:11, 18:31, 19:11, 28, 41). The lesson for today, Palm Sunday, finds Jesus entering the city amid the acclaim of his disciples and, as he catches sight of the city from the heights of Olivet, Luke records that he wept and uttered a lament filled with pathos: If only you had known, on this great day, the way that leads to peace! But no; it is hidden from your sight. ... you did not recognize God's moment when it came. This was God's moment for Jerusalem. God visited Jerusalem in the person and the ministry of Jesus. Luke's account of Palm Sunday is carefully detailed to fit his purpose in writing the Gospel. Jesus comes a King, but a King of peace. Did you notice that there are no palms or branches in Luke's account? Palm branches occur in John's Gospel. They were associated with nationalistic celebrations and John is portraying this misconstrual of many who hailed Jesus as a national deliverer. But Luke makes it clear that Jesus comes not as a political Messiah. In John's Gospel the acclamation is to “The King of Israel,” but Luke says only “King”, omitting the reference to the Nation. © Grand Valley State University �Crisis Richard A. Rhem Page 3   This is a King with a difference; this is a peaceable King who comes humbly as the Servant of the Lord, precipitating a crisis to be sure, but not a crisis of national liberation, but rather a crisis of peace or destruction. There is a great debate among New Testament scholars as to whether Jesus understood himself as the Messiah or not. The Messianic consciousness of Jesus has been argued back and forth for decades. I wonder if the answer does not lie in the fact that Jesus avoided the Messianic designation because he knew that in the mind of the people it was so heavily freighted with political and nationalistic association that it was unusable for his purpose. He resisted all efforts to make him a King - one who would supply bread (John 6) and overthrow the occupying power. Rather, he adopted the model of the Servant of the Lord who willingly bore the transgressions of his people, thus bringing peace. The crisis for Jesus occurred early in his ministry when he struggled in the wilderness. He chose the path of obedience and suffering. He set his face resolutely, like a flint, toward Jerusalem and now arriving there knows full well he will be rejected and being rejected will die, but in the rejection Jerusalem will bring upon itself disaster. For Jesus, the crisis faced, the decision of obedience and faithfulness resulted in death – but finally in resurrection. For Jerusalem, the crisis faced, the decision of rejection resulted in terrible destruction. Luke spoke of God's moment - literally the time of visitation. Time in the Greek is Kairos - time understood in terms of its content - filled time, time filled with significance. Not “Chronos” - the idea of time as duration, the succession of moments. There are those moments within the succession of moments, the flow of time which are critical, crisis moments - filled with danger and opportunity. How we respond, how we decide at such moments determines our destiny. History is a tale of judgment and grace because it is a flow of moments punctuated by Kairos times - moments of crisis. God's purposes will be fulfilled, but the part we play is determined by the response we make. We are always caught in the tension between the way of the world and the way of Jesus. The way of the world seems so real. The way of Jesus seems so futile - indeed, it leads to crucifixion. But the paradox is that the apparent conquest of worldly ways ends in death and destruction and the way of Jesus leads through death to resurrection. © Grand Valley State University �Crisis Richard A. Rhem Page 4   Today we remember Jerusalem's crisis. Today we know that we, too, stand in crisis: To preserve our life, or to lose it for the sake of the Gospel. To play it safe, to secure ourselves, to operate with worldly wisdom, or to trust God and follow Jesus in the ways of peace. Our world is full of crises: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict reminds us so starkly of Jesus' words and weeping. Northern Ireland, South Africa, Central America. Christ Community - called anew to total commitment to the ministry of grace, healing and care. And each of us - to find our peace in Jesus. © 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 Palm Sunday Series The Servant of the Lord Scripture Text Luke 19:42,44 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-0-19880327 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-03-27 Title A name given to the resource Crisis 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 March 27, 1988 entitled "Crisis", as part of the series "The Servant of the Lord", on the occasion of Palm Sunday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 19:42,44. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Palm Sunday Peace Servant of the Lord Way of Jesus https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eaca64acb08a5474f767577e5505e26c.mp4 366be8a7c84afbd1033693f19300dc36 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f336ddfa0fb39eb68bd4b9ff1bd4db86.pdf 79cc3954ad2066ee96fc10da1499ab7a PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Arch Crist (00:17:34) (00:44) Pre-enlistment: • Graduated high school in 1945 • Lived in River Falls, WI • When to River Falls State Teachers College; which is now part of Wisconsin University • After a year of school he decided to enlist instead of being drafted • If he was drafted he would have lost some of his college credits • He had little money to pay for school so the GI Bill was another reason for joining (2:40) Enlistment: • He chose the Army when he enlisted • Was inducted at Fort Snelling near Minneapolis, MN • Went to Fort Sheridan, IL for deployment to basic training • Basic training took place at Fort Lewis, WA in 1946 • After basic he was allowed leave to go back home • Was sent to San Francisco to get on a troop ship to Japan • Stopped in Guam before going into a harbor in Yokohama • Took a train into Tokyo, were he stayed at a replacement depot (temporary Army camp) (4:30) Troop ship/Trip: • After going under the Golden Gate Bridge the swell of the ocean affected many soldiers, and caused a lot of them to become sea sick • Had bolted down standup tables were you would eat your food • Spent time in Guam at a Navy recreational center on the beach, had some cold beer (6:16) Military Occupational Service (MOS): • He was in the 1st Cavalry Division, 8th Regiment • 8th Regiment was the sister regiment to General Custer’s 7th regiment • The 1st Cavalry Division was an armored infantry division • Basic training was in Tokyo and then moved to Omiya; which was about 30 minutes away • Started a camp newspaper and a drum and bugle corp. in Omiya • Marched in a parade in downtown Tokyo on the Imperial Palace grounds in front of General MacArthur �• • • • Woke up early for daily calisthenics, and emergency drills They had to practice at the firing range with multiple firearms He was the best marksman with the Browning Automatic Rifle in the 1st Cavalry Division He had to attend instructional classes and forced marches (9:02) Friends: • Meet one of his best friends in Omiya, and eventually Arch went on to be his best man in his wedding • Arch also decided to follow his friend by joining his fraternity at University of Illinois (10:01) War Crimes Trials: • When he was on pass he went down to the courts to watch the war crimes trials of Tojo and Suzuki (10:40) Free Time: • He would do a lot of reading, tennis, and swimming • They would go into Tokyo on the weekends • Generally they were usually so busy they only had the weekends to enjoy some free time (11:01) Holidays: • Spent this first Christmas on the troop ship off of Guam • The only thing done to celebrate was to put a small Christmas tree on top of the Ship • Celebrated another Christmas in Japan (11:46) Fear: • When he landed at Yokosuka, an old Japanese naval station, in Yokohama they had to get on trains that were run by Japanese ex-military personal. • The replacement depot near Tokyo was surrounded by barbered wire and so when they went out at night on the town they thought they should carry 45 caliber hand gun for protection • After a few months they stopped carrying their firearms because the US did not prosecute the Japanese Emperor Hirohito (13:48) Lessons learned/Opportunities • Got his college paid for with the GI Bill • Experiences while being in the Army in Japan gave him a perspective on life that he might not have otherwise had • His military experience was a very positive one, but of course that had a lot to do the fact that the war was over �• • Ended military experience at a Private 1st class, and did not go on to further military service He felt lucky that he did not reenlist because he would have been sent onto Korea, and the 1st Cavalry Division played a major role in halting the Chinese/North Korean counter attack (15:49) After the Military: • Went to University of Illinois and joined Beta Theta Pi, and graduated with a bachelors in Journalism • He then went to Minneapolis and was hired by their local paper the Star & Tribune • He then went into advertising in the Twin Cities � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Crist, Arch (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Crist, Arch Description An account of the resource Arch Crist joined the US Army in 1946 and left after a year and a half. He spent his training time in the U.S. at Fort Snelling, Fort Sheridan, and in Fort Lewis. He was shipped out from San Francisco to Japan where he was part of the occupational force. Before getting to Japan he stopped in Guam where he celebrated Christmas. He tells of his experiences in Japan while in Yokohama harbor, and while at the base in Omiya. He attended the War Crimes Trials in Tokyo, and took part in a parade on the Imperial Palace grounds. General MacArthur was watching the processions at the Imperial Palace that day. He talks about the close friendships he made while in Omiya. He also mentions how his experience in Japan was shaped by the US government's decision to let Hirohito escape trial. He went on to be a journalist and then an advertising executive in Minneapolis. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Crist, Karl (Interviewer) Forest Hills Eastern High School (Ada, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Veterans Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-05-20 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CristA 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> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 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/8448ba0d2e22b211c5cfb49c46b211df.mp4 4c93aeece1a99fac420db8222c6e4947 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/be45ef49fe08d2f0ae64ef9b1753efeb.pdf 6c75353c5a97dfa347021eceaa57a3d5 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam Anthony Critchlow Total Time – (01:44:30) Background · · · · He was born in Boise, Idaho on November 9, 1948 (00:26) He did not leave Boise until he joined the military He graduated from Borah High School in Boise, Idaho in 1967 (00:38) His dad passed away when he was ten years old o He was an auto body mechanic o His mom worked odd jobs after his father passed away · When he was in high school he was aware of Vietnam but did not pay much attention to it (01:37) · After high school he went to work as a dishwasher at the restaurant his mother worked at o He was nineteen and knew the draft was going to call on him so he went and enlisted (01:54) Enlistment/Training – (02:02) · When he went to enlist, he took a test and received a high score o They told him he could pick what job he wanted to have (02:21) § He chose to be a cook § The recruiter was slightly dumbfounded because of the high score on the ASVAB test (02:44) · He signed up around the beginning of November of 1967 (03:14) · He went to basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington (03:20) · The facility at Fort Lewis was essentially World War II barracks · The soldiers were “only one step above pond scum” (03:38) · When soldiers first go in, they get more shots, take more tests, given a speedreading on Morse Code, and taught all of the basic skills o They were also taught how to dress properly · If soldiers did anything wrong, it was automatically 20-25 push-ups (04:23) o There was never a level of punishment beyond push-ups · It was not very difficult to adapt to military life · He was always the slowest person because of his weight (05:12) �· Many of the men that had problems were men that were drafted (05:47) o They would always bicker and not do what they were supposed to · Within his training unit, they would sometimes have “blanket parties” for people who caused problems for the unit o They would roll someone up and “beat the crap out of you” (06:26) · He was in basic training for eight weeks (07:09) o He was sent home for Christmas · He was told that everyone was supposed to be infantry (07:49) · He then received his orders to go to Fort Lee, Virginia, for Advanced Individual Training (07:55) · It was culture shock when he first got there o He worked with a lot of black men · He was trained by blacks and whites (08:31) · Cook training consisted of how to read a recipe, how to read the worksheets, how to make the food, etc. (08:43) · He was at the Advanced Individual Training for eight weeks · Soldiers were allowed to leave the base on some weekends (09:46) o He made three or four trips to Washington D.C. · When on tours through Washington D.C., soldiers wore their Class A uniforms (10:35) · He never had any problems in Washington D.C. for being a soldier Active Duty – Part I – (12:10) · He was assigned to Frankfurt, Germany o He went home for a wedding and then flew to Germany (12:15) § He flew out of Fort Dix, New Jersey · When he got to Germany the soldier he was replacing had re-enlisted so they sent him to Vicenza, Italy (12:43) · When he landed in Vicenza, the cook had re-enlisted there as well (13:02) · They then sent him to Verona, Italy where he stayed for one year (13:11) · In Verona, it was 24 hours on, 24 hours off with every other weekend free (13:28) · He was able to take his time and travel through Europe o He wore civilian clothes when traveling · The Italians liked the soldiers as people, but they hated them as Americans (14:09) · When he would cook for the Army, he was told how to and what to prepare · He volunteered to go to Vietnam (15:11) · He thought that Italy was boring and that there were better choices in life than to be in Italy for three years and get out of the service · During this time he was paying attention to the Vietnam war and knew that it was where the action was (15:41) · He was in Italy for almost exactly one year �· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · o He was sent home for 30 days before leaving for Vietnam (16:03) He then went to Fort Lewis and went through preparatory training They then flew out of Fort McCord, Washington (16:31) He flew on a charter civilian craft They flew in to Alaska where they refueled the plane before flying to Japan and then on to Vietnam (16:58) He landed in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam (17:05) The mood on the plane was relatively calm o Men were reading, smoking, chatting, etc. o When they got off the plane, the stewardesses were crying (17:30) His first impression was that sand was everywhere o It was extremely hot and muggy (18:01) Once the soldiers were off the plane, they went to a reception center until they were told where to go (18:34) o He was there for nearly three days He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and his in-country training was in Bien Hoa, Vietnam (19:32) o He was there for nearly one week § They did a lot of guard duty, fake jungle patrols, fake Vietnamese attacks with blanks, and how to load people onto helicopters o Everyone received the training (20:39) He then boarded a C-130 and went to Camp Evans (20:52) At Camp Evans it was extremely bright and extremely hot (22:15) The soldiers got their orders and shifts that they would be working The food in Vietnam was primarily roast beef, chicken, or some turkey on holidays (23:40) o There were also canned vegetables and potatoes The cooks would get up extremely early every day He noticed that the African American men hated the white men and tension existed (25:46) o They would never hang out together no matter how much they tried The racial split was predominantly in the lower ranked servicemen Most of the cooks were on their first tour (26:44) o Many of them were going to retire immediately after Vietnam o Some of them were fairly old There was a lot of drug abuse on the military base (27:23) Some of the men smoked OJ’s – an opium and marijuana laced cigarette (28:21) o The drugs would sometimes affect job performance but all the jobs would get done If soldiers took one step off of the road they were immediately court-martialed They were not allowed to go to any bars or visit any ladies (30:07) When at Camp Evans, there were rockets that landed within the camp but they never made any contact with buildings on the base He began volunteering to join units that would relieve another company or unit in �· · · · · · · · · · · · the field because he did not want to stay at base the whole time (31:26) o He wanted to see more action The cooks were called “RIMF’s” (Retarded Ignorant Mother Fucker) (32:09) The first firebase that he went to was Firebase Blaze (32:24) o This was still in 1969 o He stayed at Firebase Blaze for nearly a month His unit put all of its supplies on a military mule [basically a platform on tracks used for moving supplies on a base] and loaded it onto the helicopter The firebase was very dusty and dirty (34:24) The soldiers lived in a hole in the ground that was big enough for a cot (34:36) The base never saw any attack when he was there He experienced his first “mad minute” where soldiers were ordered to just fire any ammunition that they had (35:55) o They would just shoot anywhere o They did this in case the enemy was sneaking in – it served as a deterrent (36:28) The weather was extremely hot and muggy – it would get cooler in the evenings because it was in the mountains C-rations were only used for lunch and there was always a hot breakfast and dinner (38:38) He would follow a similar routine at every firebase – he went to Firebase Bastogne, Firebase Birmingham, and some others (39:25) He remembers the monsoon weather at some of the firebases o He saw a typhoon around January o The military hooches stayed fairly dry during this weather (40:22) He remained with the same group for the majority of the time – they were the ones that always wanted to volunteer (40:51) Active Duty – Part I – Ripcord – (41:13) · He went to Firebase Ripcord on May 13, 1970 (41:59) o The Vietnamese artillery were on the lower side and the Americans were on top · The field kitchen was originally in a trench that was next to the helicopter pad (43:02) o They then decided to make a hole in the ground that was 10x12 ft. o They put sand bags on top to make sure it was waterproof (43:51) o It was only big enough for soldiers to come through and get their food but not to sit and eat · During his time there he was told that the enemy was around them (44:59) · There were times when there was so much fog that they believed an attack would happen · When he returned from R&R, Ripcord was getting hit with one mortar in the �· · · · · · · · · · · · · · morning and one at night (45:45) o The following day it was two in the morning and two at night – the day after that was three in the morning and three at night o There was much more activity as he was about to leave All of the cooks were replaced with new cooks (46:46) o There were two cooks on the firebase that were injured He remembers seeing one of the fellow cooks walking with shrapnel in his face and another cook's brains all over him (49:14) He went to Sydney, Australia for his R&R because it was the furthest location from Vietnam that he could go The Australians would try to convince the Americans to not go back (50:05) He feels that R&R was a chance to see something that he would never be able to see otherwise (50:50) When he was at Ripcord he could walk around and do what he wanted There was a cave on a mountain below Ripcord from where a Vietnamese soldier shot down an American helicopter (52:45) When he left Ripcord he was ready to leave (54:52) He went to the kitchen that had been blown up to get his stuff before leaving – this is when he saw his friend covered in another soldiers brains He then traveled back to Camp Evans (56:25) He stayed at Camp Evans until he left for Cam Ranh Bay where he stayed until he left for Fort Lewis (56:35) The trip back to Fort Lewis was extremely cheerful (56:58) On the trip back, they landed in Japan where they were told not to buy anything because they might cause the plane to weigh too much for takeoff o He bought a camera lens in Japan (57:29) He then landed in Fort Lewis where he received all of his tests and medical exams Discharge/After the Service – (57:55) · He was discharged at Fort Lewis (58:13) · When he landed at the airport they were told not to look at anyone in the eye, not to talk to anyone, and not to say hi because they would get spit on by protestors · The soldiers were still in uniform at this time (58:47) · When he landed, his mother met him, he found civilian clothes and flew home · When he got home he got a job as a delivery car driver for eyeglasses (59:36) o He stayed at this job for nearly three years Reenlistment – Active Duty – Part II – (59:51) · He then reenlisted into the Army because the Boise economy was bad (59:59) · He talked to a recruiter at the state fair where he was told how much money he could make �· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · o He realized he would double his current pay When he reenlisted, he remained a cook (01:00:41) o He had to remain a cook to keep his rank He got married and then talked to his wife about his reenlistment (01:02:02) He remained in the United States when he reenlisted and was stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia (01:03:13) o He fed all of the MP’s and instructors for the school at Fort Eustis The food was much better than in Vietnam (01:03:38) o There were fresh vegetables His wife was able to go along with him during this assignment where they lived off the military base (01:04:03) o She got a job at Dunkin Donuts They remained at Fort Eustis for nearly a year until he received his orders to go to Europe (01:04:38) In Germany the soldiers took a lot of race-relations courses He received more orders for Germany (01:06:31) He was assigned to Stuttgart, Germany (01:07:12) o He showed up with his wife so they had to be put up in a hotel because the military housing was full § This lasted for 39 days (01:07:43) During this time they had to find a car, find a house, and get their drivers licenses o At this point he was an E-5 (sergeant) When he initially returned to the service, he felt like all of the fellow servicemen were terrible (01:09:52) o No one wanted to do their work There was a different attitude between the volunteers and those that were drafted (01:10:19) When he was in his assignment in Germany, he was moved from Stuttgart to Nellingen, Germany (01:11:15) o It was a joint Army and Air Force base He and his wife were able to stay in the same apartment – they simply had an extra twenty minutes of driving time to work They bought an American car and were able to travel around Europe (01:12:43) After Germany, he received orders for Fort Hood, Texas (01:13:15) o Between Germany and Texas, he was sent for advanced training to be a cook § He learned supervising skills, how to take care of soldiers, how to read a map, etc. (01:13:41) In Texas he was in the 2nd Armored Division (01:14:02) He was in a Deuce and a Half truck and would drive all over with standard field kitchen equipment (01:14:34) He became an E-6 rank and was in charge of a mess team He spent one year at Fort Hood (01:16:11) His battalion was chosen to go back to Germany for another three years in �· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Karlstedt (01:16:30) o He lived in a town off of the base He was extremely disappointed to live back in Germany (01:17:32) Karlstedt was a depressing time because they did not want to be there After Karlstedt, he was given the option of Fort Hood or Fort Polk (01:19:52) o He had heard a lot of bad things at Fort Polk so he went to Fort Hood (01:20:23) At Fort Hood he became a part of the 110th Aviation (01:20:34) o He worked with helicopters in this unit When he would have to set up a field site, he would be flown to the site instead of driving He remained at Fort Hood for three years (01:21:10) He then received orders to go to Korea for a one year tour (01:21:21) o His wife stayed at Fort Hood In Korea he was stationed in Yongju-gol, Korea (01:21:35) He was an E-7 so he ran the mess hall and never had to cook He felt that Korea was beautiful and cold He was able to have a lot of contact with Koreans (01:22:36) o Nearly all of the Koreans spoke English Sunday was his one day off every week He went to Seoul, Korea for a couple of times (01:23:19) After Yongju-gol, Korea, he was moved to a base at Uijeongbu, Korea (01:23:39) o Every Sunday off he would go to Seoul to eat at McDonalds, KFC, or Dunkin Donuts (01:23:58) His time in Uijeongbu was much safer than at Yongju-gol The Koreans loved the Americans as long as they were spending money (01:25:10) He was able to call home once a week He was in Korea from 1985-1986 In Germany there were ammo bunkers in Denmark that they worked to protect from the Russians (01:27:48) There was a sense that there were still dangers and security was very important Some of the American tanks were shot at by the East Germans (01:28:34) After his overseas tours, he returned to Fort Hood (01:29:16) o He was placed into the 3rd Signal Brigade (01:29:18) He worked with nearly eighty cooks in the mess hall (01:29:37) He ran shifts and towards the end he was the training NCO and maintenance NCO (01:29:52) He finished out his Army career in this position Retirement – (01:30:36) · He retired from the military in 1990 (01:30:37) �· He went on convalescent leave in the summer of 1990 because he tore his meniscus · He took this time to look for jobs, find a home, etc. · During this time a start-up company named Micron were hiring so he took in an application (01:31:16) o He found a house during this time · Micron offered him a job (01:32:29) o He worked as a machine operator making computer memory chips o He stayed with the company for nearly seventeen years (01:32:58) o He was laid off from Micron in 2008 (01:33:44) · He then received an interview EDS (Electronic Data System) and was offered the job o He worked for them for two and a half years until it was bought out by Hewlett-Packard (HP) (01:34:52) o When HP took over his scores dropped with their system § He was then fired from the company (01:35:50) · He then applied for unemployment and received it · He got a job with the U.S. Census (01:37:10) · He still collects his military pension · The military food remained primarily the same during his twenty-three years of service (01:37:43) · His sole goal was to receive his retirement (01:40:11) · He found a way to work with all kinds of people · When the war in Iraq started, he was told that he was going to go to Iraq, but he said no o He did not place an extension for his service · He never received his medal for retiring (01:43:02) o They refused to give him his medal because he refused to go to Iraq · His highest medal is the Bronze Star (01:43:44) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Critchlow, Anthony (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Critchlow, Anthony Description An account of the resource Anthony Critchlow was born in Boise, Idaho in 1948. When he was nineteen years old he decided to enlist in November of 1967 as a cook in the military. He went to basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington for eight weeks before going to Fort Lee, Virginia for another eight weeks of Advanced Individual Training. Anthony was then assigned to Frankfurt, Germany but was eventually sent to Verona, Italy where he remained for one year. He volunteered to serve in Vietnam and, after addition training at Fort Lewis, he was sent to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. Anthony was sent to Fort Evans until he volunteered to serve as a replacement for Firebases. He initially served at Firebase Blaze until he was sent through Firebase Bastogne and Firebase Birmingham. His final Firebase came in May of 1970 when he was sent to Firebase Ripcord. He worked in a small field Kitchen at Firebase Ripcord until he was sent home. He re-enlisted three years later and stayed in the Army until 1990, serving in Germany, Denmark and Korea, as well as at Fort Hood, Texas. 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 Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-10-03 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CritchlowA1458V 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> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 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/998dd80c9c7787de011b8b2ef3270207.mp4 c9bac4dc9c8348e4187e48eeea95fbc5 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0454662fdcf15d6aee597880ab741372.pdf 2d3eba0957bf3e5b80242109a23b7d40 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview War on Terror--USS Cole James Croft Length of interview (26:46) (0:25) Background Born in Gainesville, Florida on November 29, 1977 (0:27) Graduated from high school in 1996 played sports and was in band (0:35) Decided he wanted to join the military during his senior year of high school (1:02) First looked at Air Force; didn’t have the job he wanted so joined the Navy (1:22) (1:29) Training Went to basic training in Great Lakes, Illinois (1:45) Did a lot of physical and mental training and learned about history of Navy (1:50) The training course lasted for about eight weeks (2:01) Stayed in Great Lakes and received additional training in electronics (2:15) Lived on base until able to bring family then lived off base (2:41) Orders were chosen based on grades and class rank (3:00) Chose orders to go to Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia (3:33) (3:45) Active Duty Assigned to work on the USS Cole (DDG-67) (3:51) First impression of the ship was amazement at the size and complexity (4:21) Duties included ship maintenance cleaning of the ship (4:30) Once he finished his tasks he was pretty much done for the day (4:45) Guided Missile Destroyer; carried lots of firepower and had many guns (5:30) Ship was able to carry 90 missiles, not including torpedoes (6:00) Never had to fire missiles on enemy, but did missile training (6:47) Ship went to Caribbean, Europe, and Middle East; Spain was his favorite (7:04) Sometimes allowed to leave the ship and visit locations (7:30) Did not interact with locals very much; mostly restaurant employees (7:50) (8:00) Attack Ship went to Yemen for refueling to boost their economy (8:06) While in port the ship was torpedoed by an Al-Qaeda ship [attacked by bombers in a small boat] (8:40) Sailors beneath the deck thought that there was a fueling explosion (8:53) Smaller boats around ship were collecting trash and were all authorized (9:25) He was sleeping during the attack and immediately knew something was up (9:45) Ship was hit near the galley and officer quarters; those areas became flooded (10:28) Attack took out major communications lines and caused significant damage (10:45) All the training paid off; everybody knew what to do immediately (11:15) Repairs were made; sailors had to stand watch to make sure repair stayed (11:56) Once the repair shafts broke the ship was in danger of sinking (12:12) �Felt that all the training had prepared crew adequately for the situation (13:03) Ship’s commander was the fall guy; didn’t think that this was fair (13:15) Crew stayed on the ship for about 3 weeks after bombing (13:30) Ship stayed in the harbor until Navy decided how to transport it back home (14:06) Used a semi-submersible ship to go under wrecked battleship (14:27) Crew moved to another ship to get hot showers and food (15:36) Sent to army base in desert before flying to Germany then back home (15:37) While ship was being repaired; in charge of monitoring contractors (16:25) It took about 14 months for the ship to be repaired (17:16) (17:20) Next Assignment Got temporary assignment in Norfolk, Virginia transporting prisoners (17:25) Next worked security for a company that overlooked ship repairs (17:49) Main duty was night security and transporting prisoners from brig (18:34) Worked with this job until he got out of the Navy (18:45) Thought about making the Navy a career but his wife was against it (19:00) 5 million dollar reward offered for capturing the ship’s attackers (19:12) (19:15) Post Service 10th anniversary of USS Cole’s bombing in coming up (19:20) Receives email every time the USS Cole is mentioned in the news (19:48) He is going to try to make it to the 10 year reunion in Norfolk, Virginia (19:50) Thinks the navy definitely was positive influence on his life (20:05) Military and electronic knowledge helped him get his current job (20:07) Completed a six year tour learning interior electronics (20:35) Moved back home to Gainesville, Florida after being discharged (22:10) Works in a manufacturing company testing MRI machine parts (24:32) While repairing an MRI machine discovered he had brain tumor (25:40) Had tumor removed and went back to work (25:45) Currently going to school for a business degree; plans on getting masters (25:50) Encourages all young men to join the service (26:20) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Croft, James (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Croft, James Description An account of the resource James Croft was born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1977 and enlisted in the Navy after high school in 1996. He was assigned to the guided missile destroyer USS Cole and sailed with her to the Mediterranean. The ship then went on to Yemen, and was attacked by Al Qaeda bombers there. He remained assigned to the ship while it was under repair, and completed his enlistment at Norfolk, Virginia. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Snyder, Elaine (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-04-11 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CroftJ1559V 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> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives