Vergangen ist

There is beautiful chorale prelude by J. S. Bach which seems to have a rather melancholy color to it. The title in German is “Das alte Jahr vergangen ist.” Somehow the German speaks more powerfully than the English, “The old year now hath passed away.” A couple of verses are worth quoting: “1. The old year now hath passed away; We thank Thee, O our God, today That Thou hast kept us through the year When danger and distress were near. 5. Wherein as Christians we may live Or die in peace that Thou canst give, To rise again when Thou shalt come And enter Thine eternal home. 6. There shall we thank Thee and adore With all the angels evermore. Lord Jesus Christ, increase our faith to praise Thy name through life and death.” That first and the last verse really spoke to me about the year past. It has been a year of danger and distress, for sure. So many people sick, so many people having died, it really is hard to comprehend it all. How can all these people in the United States and around the world have succumbed to a tiny little virus? The facts are overwhelming. And looking at the statistics from other places one wonders if something different could not have been done. The daughter of my friend who died this past autumn came here to be with her mother. She, her husband and children live in Vietnam, where her husband works for the United Nations Resettlement Agency. By coming here she knew what she would have to go through to return home. She would have to quarantine when she returned. She would have to really search for flights. She would have to be tested before the airlines would let her board. In all she was away from her children and husband for 84 days. In a Facebook post she also stated that Vietnam has had 35 deaths from Covid-19. They have been virtually a closed country since the virus started to spread. She is not complaining. She’s just stating facts–only 35 deaths in the whole country. When she returned she spent 15 days in quarantine in a hotel with meals brought to her room. Although she could not see her loved ones until the 15 days had passed, she’s not complaining. In South Dakota over 10% of the population has tested positive for Covid-19. Some complain when asked to wear a face mask or socially distance. A article in the local paper resulted from an interview with some young people about what they were going to do on New Year’s Eve. Several were from Minnesota and were anxious to cross the border to South Dakota where they could go to the bars and mingle because of the lack restrictions here versus Minnesota. It seems to me that our priorities are way out of whack. Das alte Jahr vergangen ist. Please, may we never have another like it.

We’ve had some lovely chilly days. The wind seems to have gone elsewhere which is just fine with me. Due to the lack of wind and the superfluous amount of sunshine, I’ve been able to walk outside every day from Wednesday on. Bracing would be the descriptive word, but it feels so good to be out. Mind you, this is after the snowfall on Sunday and the blizzard on Tuesday. I returned to the cancer center for infusions every day this week, including New Year’s Day. On holidays infusion patients formerly were shifted to the hospital so the cancer center staff could have the day off. Due to the large number of Covid-19 patients they can’t accommodate the cancer patients so the staff has to work holidays. When I visited with the oncologist on Monday he reviewed the scans which I had on Christmas Eve. The CT scan showed very little change. The lesions in the lung are basically invisible. The liver lesions are the same or slightly smaller. The MRI showed a new little spot in the brain (6x3x4 mm). It could be cancer or a small stroke I didn’t even realize I had. The next MRI will show if it has grown or remained the same. If it shows growth or there are more spots that may mean the cancer has moved to the brain. I don’t feel any differently than I did before, so I’m not really worried. The doctor pointed out that I am at the age when these tiny strokes can occur. I really didn’t need to be reminded of my advanced age, but it was of some comfort to know that a stroke could be the cause of the spot. There is some other stuff in my head revealed in the MRI that is consistent with chronic small vessel ischemic disease. To save looking it up, ischemic disease has to do with trouble in the blood vessels in the

brain. In the rest of the body it is arteriosclerosis. That’s the simple explanation. Look it up if you want the complex explanation! Tomorrow is my last day at the console (until the next time). I have gotten in some good practice. We will see if the “good practice” holds through the service tomorrow. The church is opening again to the public so there may be a few more souls there than last Sunday when it was closed. Sophia has enjoyed her long afternoon naps in the sun. I completed another jigsaw puzzle, finding the last piece on the floor. I may have brushed it off the table myself or … I hope you have entered into the new year with hope. Thank you for the prayers and thoughts and communications. Be well. Be safe.