Time marches on!

Gosh, it has been two weeks since my birthday - my last post! How did that happen? A lot has taken place in those two weeks. Two friends died: Don Hazelton, who was my Dummerston neighbor decades ago, and Elliot Freeman, whom I have known for 40 years through the Guilford Church. Don was 93 and arranged his death. I visited him at Valley Cares a few days before he died and recorded a half-hour of conversation about his early life. Elliot was younger - 80 years old, just a few days short of his 81st birthday. We had sung for him at his home in Dummerston a couple of weeks ago. He had Alzheimer's. We went to Elliot's calling hours just yesterday evening, and in addition to talking with Diane, Elliot's wife, I saw many friends I had not seen for years - many from my years at the School For International Training, back in the 1970's.

Don Hazelton (1930-2024). Don was a farmer, orchardist, maple-sugarer - a lifelong resident of Dummerston. His wife, Bunny, died a few years ago (cf. my blog post, December 6, 2019).

Elliot Freeman (1943-2024). In earlier years, Elliot was a Navy pilot and Flew helicopters all over the world. Elliot's wife, Diane Larson-Freeman, is world-famous in English-as-a-Second-Language circles. "An applied linguist, known for her work in second language acquisition, English as a second or foreign language, language teaching methods, teacher education, and English grammar, she is renowned for her work on the complex/dynamic systems approach to second language development." (Wikopedia). Elliot and Diane have been faithful and important members of tne Guilford Church. Both Elliot and Don were gentle, lovely men.

Two photos from Elliot and Diane's wedding album which was on display at the calling hours. They were married in Ann Arbor, MI in 1974. ****************************** Despite these deaths, I think that what has dominated my thinking these past two weeks has been my work on the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). This parable has proved to be quite a challenge. I've devoted two sessions to it - the first session was just before my birthday and the second was this past week. I called the first session a microscopic view of the parable, and the second a macroscopic view. I.e., in the first, we zoomed in on specific words and unpacked their significance; the second, we tackled big questions like "what is the basic message of the parable in its original contexts in the Gospel of Luke and the teachings of Jesus?" This question has proven to be not easy to answer. When I get a chance, I'll insert some examples from my lecture notes. Other things? The UNC Men's basketball team - the TarHeels - won five games and will play for the championship of the ACC Conference tonight; the Academy Awards happened. I'm reading about Thornton Wilder; we sang at a funeral in Guilford and in Shirley Squiers home; we've been practicing with the Dummerston choir; we've been going to River Singers; we went to Town Meeting, etc.