By the Way: Everybody has a story to tell

By Sidney Nelson on August 31, 2019.

It is several years ago that several of my children asked and insisted that I should write my memoirs. My first inclination was that there was nothing in particular that they or others would find interesting. I had an eight-week session of medical treatments with time on hand that got me going. So I went to work on my computer. I made a number of discoveries. I revisited many sites, times and events that I had not thought of in years. I was amazed that I could remember the names of so many people I had not thought of in a long time. That in itself would have made it a worthwhile enterprise.

The second thing that I discovered was that there were a lot of things that it seemed only I remembered or knew that would be of interest to others. This being the case, unless I wrote it down the time would come when it would be lost. It could be a stroke that cancelled out my memory. Would you believe that my ability to write is being lost so that I can hardly write a cheque!

Over the years I did not keep a journal. I did however have a pocket calendar from my student days at university and seminary. So the dates of service in parishes, travelling in Canada, Europe and China can all be documented and found if anyone wishes to do so. So I do not need to lean on my memory to remember times and places. What remains to be done is to recall incidents that are special and unique.

It was a small gathering at a church in Saskatoon of young people from several Lutheran churches in the city. They represented young people from three or more Lutheran church bodies. They liked it so much they began dreaming how this might happen in Canada. Eastern Lutheran Church bodies were affiliated with districts of the U.S. To make a gathering Canada-wide they would have to be on board. So it was that from a youth staff meeting in Washington, D.C. I made a visit to Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. As a result a Canada wide youth gathering came to be in 1967. It took the work of many others to make it happen and “Luthercon ’67” took place in Waterloo-Kitchener. After the gathering many young people from western Canada went to the World Expo in Montreal. A year later my wife and our family of six children would move to serve a parish in Montreal

There are other ways to handle information for a memoir. A relative decided to do an interview with his father on a videotape. He drafted a whole set of questions beforehand and then did a live interview. Again he was able to preserve information that only his father could give.

It is interesting the way the New Testament came into being. While the disciples were all Hebrews none or little of it was written in that language. The information was an oral history which years later the early Christians said this must be written down or it will be lost for the next generations. The major language in the those later years was Greek. Like many of us the disciples were likely too busy to sit down and write the stories.

Every person is unique and each has a story to tell. Why not give it a try? You will be surprised what you discover! You may also appreciate even more that the history of Jesus and Christians is ours to celebrate and to share. What is more to read it in our own language!

Besides serving parishes in three provinces in Canada and Montana Sid Nelson also served as regional director for Youth and Parish Education for Canada of the Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1964-66.

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