A Rock and a Hard Place!

Submitted by Mary Todd Pendergast (United States), Aug 9, 2007 at 15:39

Hi Again Ross,

First about my name. Todd was my father and Pendergast is my husband and upon ordination I began to think about who I was and it led to the name addition. I would rather have taken my mother's name all along, but I probably would have ended up Mary Parlow Pendergast and that was a bit too whimsical to me. I don't know where in the South you are and I didn't know that combined names was a tradition. Interesting.

I don't know if you remember the program at the end of 1999 that listed the 100 most influential persons in the second millenium. Luther was third and Gutenberg was #1. Dang those Germans are clever. By accident of invention of the printing press was one of the primary things to begin the Reformation. Students and their troublesome tracts not only spread the word, but because they made Luther famous or infamous as the case may be, they protected him physically and so did the German peerage of the day. Not because they loved Luther but because they loved tweeking the nose of the Pope. The coming of the Peasant Wars didn't hurt the cause either, but it soon became too destructive and bloody and Luther returned from his hideout to calm the people down. The ELCA does have a pope by the way and his name is Mark Hanson. He is far to the left and he and I have had our differences.

Lutheran Churches are growing in the Midwest the most but actually shrinking everywhere else.

I am sick and tired of hearing people who are church leaders say, "All religions are the same and we all worship the same God. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to lay the tenets of Islam and Christianity and see that there is an enormous difference in the two when it relates to most everything. I look at the way that women and female children are treated in Muslim countries and it makes me wonder what millenium they are living in. I have read about the British pulling out of Basra and the slaughter has begun.

I believe that my preaching is about to change. It is probably good that I am near retirement.

Well, it is fun chatting. I have friends in Atlanta and perhaps I will get to the South one day and experience Southern Hospitality for myself.

Peace,

Mary

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