I’m back out on my writers path again, and again it feels good. A couple years ago we were visiting friends out in Colorado. I had started a conversation about my new Life Hike Letters project and was seeking input. My buddy Doug, a frequent reader (and commentator) of my stuff, didn’t hesitate to share some advice. “Keep it short.” I made a comment or two about that not really being my plan, because I’ve got a lot to say. He replied with “Keep it short!” I followed with more to say about my perspective. His reply… “Keep it short!!!”… The conversation continued back and forth a bit… and well… this one’s for you Doug…

Here’s a prayer by Thomas Merton that’s been a source of my pondering for many years now and has consistently been an ongoing inspiration for our ministry work.

So, what is today’s Ponderings… letter all about? It’s about the two highlighted statements above. Words that struck me with a new perspective. My desire is that before I share my thoughts, I’d like you to do some pondering on how these two statements strike you?

That being said, that’s all I have to say… for now… more to come!

With Care, Dan

I’m stuck. Yup… that confirms it, now I know that I’m stuck. And now that I know that, and since I’m writing this… I’m thinking that the best way to get unstuck is to start writing. Again, Yup… more confirmation that the title above is one of my better writing practices. The more I write, then read what I wrote, the more traction I seem to get. And that makes for a lot less time spent spinning my wheels in the mud, and more time for moving forward! Sorry for this little peek at the innards of my often muddy mind, but just my way of saying I think I’m back! Anyway, enough of that…

It feels good to get back at the keyboard and reach out to you folks. It’s been awhile since we’ve connected and this past year has been quite an adventure. Some of you that I see now and then might know what I’m talking about. But I’m guessing that most of you don’t know what’s been going on. So my main objective today is to share a few of my more significant experiences and try to give you a better idea of what my story looks like these days.

First of all, a follow-up to my Bum Wheel letters. It’s been almost a year, it’s mostly well healed, in fact very well healed! But I still have some work to do before I start running marathons again. (yes, a joke).

Next, I’ve been headed down this path for some time now, but as of December 31, 2025, I am happy to say that I fully retired as an Ordained Lutheran Pastor, and as President of Public Safety Ministries. The non-profit corporation has been officially dissolved, bank accounts closed, website shut down, and final financial filings and documentation are soon to be complete. It has been a great 21 year run, the timing feels right… and I’m looking forward to heading out on some new adventures!

And last, I want to share the experience that was most unexpected, and probably the most impactful. Through my pre-operation physical for my foot surgery, last spring, I was diagnosed with a bone marrow cancer. It is considered a type of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma called Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia. It is a very rare, slow growing, not curable, but very treatable cancer. I have been receiving Targeted Therapy (pills taken at home) treatment at Mayo Clinic since last summer. The results have been very positive, with few side effects, and now heading down the trail towards remission in the near future! The early prognosis from my Doc was “You are looking at 10-15 years-plus of healthy living” and all indications since then support that probability.

Well there you have it. All three of these experiences have taught me many things, giving me stories that I fully intend to share when I get a better handle on actually knowing what those stories are. Although I consider myself fully retired, I intend to write occasional letters, hopefully with some consistency to better keep in touch with all of you.

Thanks for reading, and allowing me to know a bit more of what I think!

With Care, Dan

So I had this thought today… and as I thought a little bit more, I decided I’d share it with you folks… my Fellow Hikers… my Friends.

There are two very important things you need to remember as you navigate your personal path on your Life Hike. First… remember to “Do Good.” And here’s what I think that means. Everyone has been given certain skills, abilities, resources, experiences, etc. And it is your responsibility to take those gifts, your unique and personal gifts, to go out onto your trail and use them to participate in the pursuit of a common good… to “Do Good.”

Second… remember to “Be Good.” And what I think this means, is to Be With God. Culturally, socially, religiously, spiritually, ethically, etc… whatever and however you identify God, the Divine, the Universe… be in constant relationship with that Sacred Source. Especially in all that you do as you participate in the pursuit of a common good… to “Be Good.”

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

Postscript…

Just thinkin’… Your thoughts?

“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's… ‘real life’. The truth is of course that what one calls interruptions are precisely one's ‘real life’, the life God is sending [to us]…” C.S. Lewis. The Collected Works of C.S. Lewis.

Dear Fellow Hikers,

Good morning to all! It feels good to be back at the keyboard. Our new fall season is upon us and it’s time to check back in. After a summer of surprises and circumstances that interrupted my writing routines, I was reminded of something I was told years ago about interruptions. There was a conversation going on about how life’s constant interruptions were getting in the way of doing our work. Someone then responded with “But our interruptions are our work.” It is a statement that carried so much truth in so many situations, that I’ve used it and shared it many times, just as I am today. I did some research to see if it should been attributed to anyone specific. The closest quote I found was the one above by C.S. Lewis. From a faith perspective I find that one very helpful too.

When we started the Life Hike Letters project in December 2024, I intended to post a letter every Friday morning, and was pretty faithful in doing so. After six months of Friday Morning Posts, I decided to change it up for the summer. I’d be less structured and casual with my summer routine, writing regularly, but without a schedule. The result… one letter in the past four months. Hmmm… and so my summer surprises and interruptions did become my work and my writing was set aside. It began with my Bum Wheel foot surgery, along with some additional medical side stories that occurred during that process. The other interruptions were not really surprises, just some work projects I’d been neglecting that snuck up on me. These interruptions all revolved around my need to figure out how and when to finish up my 45 year Law Enforcement Career Hike. The how is getting the attention it needs and is making good progress. The when is simply happening… now.

So, with that said, this fall season and possibly winter as well, Life Hike Letters is going to get retooled (an older guy’s word for rebooting) Again, my intentions are to continue with some occasional writing from time to time. Hopefully that will help keep these letters active, while giving me the opportunity to do some writing that I enjoy. Some good stories could come out of my Summer of ’25 adventures and I’d like to share some of them after I have the time and space to do them justice.

Thanks again for reading!

With Care and Gratitude, Dan.

I write this letter almost three months since my last Life Hike post. Although my intentions were to write you more frequently, my immobility and some other surprises that surfaced have kept me from reaching out. The biggest reason for my absence has not been due to a lack of material, nor the abundance of material. But due to the significant swings between the extremes of my too much stuff to write and not enough stuff to write. That has caused, what is best described as my analysis paralysis.

But these past couple days I have felt… dare I say it… a bit of control in my healing process, which leads to my journey back to the trail. And as I have learned through my physical therapy, the importance of moderation in returning to my pre-surgery activities, I’ll simply end this new beginning of letter writing with an excerpt from a letter written by James (not my Dad James, but the other one, Saint James…)

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

With Care and Gratitude, Dan.

Postscript…

Re: One Picture is worth…. Just wanted to share an image of the exceptional body work of my mechanic…

Norway to Newfoundland! This route, I quickly realized, was a subject in itself. It was the route the Vikings took when they set their clinker-built boats in the sea. I resolved to use the wanderings of these cranky, restless people as a rough travel itinerary, trekking the same gaunt cliffs they trekked, camping on the same wind-scudded skerries they camped on, breathing the same salubrious air. But I would play the occasional game of the travelers’s roulette, too. Since I couldn’t very well ship aboard the same boat as Erik the Red and his companions, I would ship aboard any boat I could find, even if it sailed somewhere off course. Also, between a fast boat and a slow boat, I would choose the slow boat. Between a slow boat and “walking”, I would choose the latter, as “walking”, makes the world the vast and savory place it used to be in the time long past… (“Last Places” 1990, by Lawrence Millman)

Dear Fellow Hikers,

I want to begin by clarifying something regarding last weeks letter A Bum Wheel… The entire letter was a metaphor that basically said (or at least was intended to say) that Dan’s body with a bum foot, is a classic, customized, personalized vehicle/truck/rig with a bum wheel. That said, it’s time to end the metaphor to share a couple things that are going to be impacted by my bum foot. I’ll spare you the details, but if you are interested, you can look back at last week's letter and follow the details of the bum wheel, which are essentially the same as my bum foot.**

Surgery is now scheduled for next week. It will replace a worn out tendon in my foot, that has caused a dysfunction/deformity of several of the bones in my foot. That dysfunction/deformity needs to be surgically repaired as well. The Doc is confident that when everything heals, I should be pretty much back to normal with a repaired, functional wheel. However in the meantime, I need to get some things in order at home in preparation for an extended period of time of limited mobility. I will also be pausing my weekly posting of our Friday Morning Life Hike Letters through the month of May. I intend to use that pause time to assess and evaluate our first two seasons / six months of writing these letters. During that time I intend to share some of those thoughts, ideas and experiences in letters that will be unscheduled, probably quite random in topic, length and frequency. I want to keep our writer/reader relationship active as much as possible.

Body parts wearing out is a normal result of the body growing older. Again, I share my experiences of the aging process in order to help you take the time to consider your own stories. Even though I’ve experienced discomfort, inconvenience, frustration, etc. with my experiences… I want to be clear in the fact that I am so grateful to have support systems from professionals, family, friends and my faith communities. I also want to express that my chaplaincy experiences have shown me how small my situations are, when compared to the overwhelming medical injury and illness challenges and suffering so many people and families experience. I pray that all those who are able, are finding the time and the resources to ensure that no one has to go through the inevitable suffering in life… physical, mental and spiritual… alone. Life is sacred… treat it, and those in need with care!

And now I will close with reference to the best quote (above) I’ve ever heard about the wonder and sanctity of walking… it stirs my soul to read those words about my ancestors in the context of their travels. (And my favorite part indeed bears repeating…)

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

Postscript…

Re: **the same as my bum foot… I wasn’t sure if the metaphor format was a good idea or not. But for what it’s worth, is was really fun for me to write… so I thank you for indulging me by reading Dan writing for fun!

Next Up: We’ll see what I will randomly come up with to write, with no particular schedule nor agenda, over the next few weeks!

I’ve had trucks most of my vehicle owning life. Some of my many trucks (yes, I’ve had many…) have not been considered trucks by all people. My 1970’s Datsun, extended cab pickup (a fuel efficient vehicle during the energy crisis of the 70’s) clearly was not a real truck according to my, full size 3/4 ton truck, colleagues. And actually, not real, according to me as well. Nor is my current full size SUV, that doesn’t even have an open truck bed. But never the less, I still refer to all of them as my trucks. My Dad, a Minneapolis firefighter for 30 years always referred to the fire trucks he rode in and drove as rigs. He also tended to refer to my trucks as rigs, usually by saying “That’s a nice rig… a lot nicer than any of the cars that I drove at your age.”

I’ve also frequently had multiple vehicles at the same time. Sometimes a truck or car along with a motorcycle. Sometimes a nicer vehicle (one that would always start) along with one that was a good “work, beater car/truck” (that didn’t always start). After I got married and especially after our kids hit driving age, we always had a few vehicles in the driveway. And that variety of vehicles, or rigs as we’re gonna call them today continue to occupy our property today.

That being said, one of my rigs has got a bum wheel. It’s getting older and has been making some strange sounds lately, progressively getting worse. It also appears that there are some alignment issues starting to show. I’ve started using it a lot less lately hoping to preserve it a little longer. I’ve brought it into the shop a few times now, each time with the mechanics finding small things wrong, fixing them if it wasn’t too costly, but never finding the real problem. Then there’s my occasional efforts to identify the problem and fix it myself… again with no solutions to fix the real problem.

Like I said, this rig is a little older than my others, and a somewhat unique model. My local oil change and routine maintenance mechanic suggested I take it to a specialist who would have better diagnostic equipment. So I did… and the results were very conclusive. The mechanic showed me everything that was wrong and the different options for repair. And he gave me his professional opinion on how to actually fix the problem I’ve wrestled with for several months now. His credentials, experience, and authentic personality, gave me the confidence to go with his very detailed plan. But of course, as I believe you usually get what you pay for, our plan wasn’t going to be cheap! (Fortunately my extended warranty insurance will pick up the majority of the costs!)

The short version of the diagnosis is that the tire/wheel assembly has a bad cable that has been damaged for quite awhile now, and will continue to get progressively worse if not repaired. The cable secured and controlled some of the inner workings of the assembly, and as it was now failing to do its job. Now the associated parts were breaking down and no longer aligned properly… needing to be replaced/repaired as well. I have a lot of confidence in my wheel guy and now waiting to get all the parts ordered and an appointment scheduled. We also needed to go through all of the insurance process approvals. Once that’s all done, I can finally get the bum wheel fixed! If everything works out, we should be in and out of the shop in a single day. Since this rig is a classic, it will take some time for the parts to fully integrate back into the wheel, and will include a fairly long process of breaking in all the rebuilt parts.

So there you have my ongoing saga of a bum wheel… I’m optimistic that the repair process will return the wheel to an almost, like new status. My out of service rig should be back on the road in a month or two, with limited test drives to make sure all the parts are in good shape and working together!

And what, you might ask, does this have to do with our Life Hike Journeys that are the focus of these letters? Here’s a few Life Hike take-aways that I’ve discovered, or simply confirmed of my existing beliefs. The first is that we’ve all been blessed with a variety of rigs that help us get where we’re going on our Life Hike Journeys. These are unique rigs that are customized to meet our individual needs, responsibilities and experiences. Next, it’s essential that we care about our rigs, understanding what they are, how they work, and the care/maintenance/repairs they will eventually need. And my final take-away… that it is critical that we all have our own, unique, customized network of service (care) providers to help us out when our individual efforts just aren’t enough to keep our rigs in good shape (healthy)…on the road… doing the stuff that needs to be done.**

Well, that’s it for this week. I hope everyone has a Happy Easter and good travels in their rigs as you continue on your Life Hikes!

With Care and Gratitude, Dan… Just Dan

Postscript…

Re: **Doing the stuff that needs to be done. One of the things I believe that always need doing, is making sure those you know and are part of your communities, have the necessary advice and resources to create their own network of service providers. There’s nothing more healing than knowing you don’t have to go through challenging times alone!

Re: Getting my Rig Serviced… One of these weeks when my “service in the shop” gets scheduled, I’ll be a bit pre-occupied and may miss a week or two of letters. Tony always worries when my letter isn’t waiting for him when he gets up on Friday mornings… so I want to reassure him, I’ll be back as soon as I get my Bum Wheel worked on.

And Finally… Yes, it is a metaphor…

Next Up: “TBD…” (Publish Date: Friday 04/25/25, S2/L21)

Dear Fellow Hikers,

Time for another Letter From James, My Dad. But first, some background and context details* on today’s letter…

Who received and saved these letters?… This letter is addressed to his younger sister Ruth, (who eventually became Ruthie at her request.) So why address the letter to his sister, but title it with a Dear Everybody? I’m guessing he wanted Ruthie to get some mail from her big brother. Maybe to make her feel special? I really don’t know, but that’s what I like to think. And who is Dear Everybody? That would be his Dad Ivar, Mom Elsa, (Swedish Immigrants who came through Ellis Island) younger Sister Ruth/Ruthie and a much younger Brother Johnny.

Who and Where was Dad at the time of this letter?… Pvt. James I. Carlson… Platoon 91- R.D. MCB… San Diego, California… a member of a platoon known as “The Running 91st” (a consequence for “failing to shine their shoes.”) But who was he just two weeks earlier? He was a South Minneapolis kid who went downtown with a buddy to enlist in the Marine Corps on January 27, 1943. As the story goes, after he signed the papers, the recruiter told him to go home… pack up his stuff… say his goodbyes… and report back that evening to catch his train to Camp Pendleton for basic training. He was 18 years old, left home with only a few hours of notice, and didn’t return home or see his family until January 12, 1946… just two weeks shy of three years.

Sun. Feb. 14 [1943]

Dear Everybody

Well, today is Sunday. It’s 12:45 and it’s the first time I’ve had off. I’m actually laying in my bunk. We don’t do any drilling or anything, but there is always something. We got up at the same time, went to chow and then to church. Came back, put on our uniforms, took our rifles and took our platoon pictures. Then we washed out some stuff and then chow at 11:30. I got the letter you wrote on Thurs. and a card from Jean Colbinson (sp?). Thank her. I went to see Marvin Johnson, but he wasn’t in. Two guys in our hut got cakes yesterday so we had a feast. Some got candy. If you send candy send hard candy or some candy in bags because it has to go for 20 guys.

Boy is it hot out. One more week and we go to the rifle range. I’m pretty sure we keep the same address. See if you can’t get me a small duffel bag a Dayton’s or someplace. That other bag is swell for my soap, toothbrush and stuff but I’ve got stuff laying all over my sea bag. Soap, scrub brush, thread, Foot powder, (unreadable word) outfit and junk. I got another shot yesterday. Boy is my arm sore. And then we did rifle exercises and ran double time because our shoes weren’t shined. They call us around here “the running 91st.”

Well, I suppose there is more to say, but I can’t think of it. Oh, yes yesterday when we were out on the bayonet course we saw a transport pulling out just packed with marines. Boy, I’m not kidding when I say some of these guys that are through with advanced training are the toughest guys alive. You’d be surprised what they could do. As long as there are guys like that there surely isn’t much to worry about. Our Sarge has seen action, on Guadalcanal and he says they aren’t supermen but just tricky. Well, I’m going to close now and walk around for a while.

Love, James

I got a head start on our letter this week and had most of it done on Tuesday. But here it is Thursday afternoon, and I just can’t seem to finish up this closing paragraph. My intention was to share something I learned from Dad’s letter above… something that inspired me… but I got stuck. Not because there isn’t enough quality material, the problem is that there’s just way to much stuff to dig into. So, I’m just gonna end with hopes that you folks can find something interesting, maybe educational, hopefully inspirational with what Dad had to say as a young Marine over 80 years ago… timeless!

With Care and Gratitude… Just Dan

Postscript…

Re: Next Up: “TBD…” (Friday 04/18/25, S2/L20)

Re: *Background and context details… Most of these background details came from the actual letters and envelopes (when available) and through our personal conversations. In 2006 Dad also wrote a self published booklet about his USMC experiences. That writing has been very helpful in understanding his actual wartime experiences.

Re: James I. Carlson, USMC Service Timeline… The PDF below is a timeline my dad wrote and gave to us to help gain additional perspectives on his military service. I share it with you, our readers, for the same purpose.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable and pleasing to you Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (A prayer based on Psalm 19:14)*

Dear Fellow Hikers,

I was recently asked to share some of my ministry story with one of the churches that have supported me from the beginning. As I’m preparing my thoughts for the Church Partnerships Committee this week, I’m trying to decide where to start. When I speak in church/faith community settings I usually try to share the above prayer, based on Psalm 19:14. My goal is to set a tone for the message and hopefully for the conversations that will follow. I definitely like to include the invitation to Jesus, my rock and redeemer, to continue with his ongoing walk with me through a community conversation. But mostly I appreciate the fact that this Psalm, and its credited author King David, uses the words acceptable and pleasing, to set the standard for the message. Good words that are solid, clear and practical.*

As far as deciding on the content of the Partnerships message, that process is proving to be a bit more challenging. The reality that my full-time chaplaincy ministry will soon be ending is impacting my options. It’s causing me to spend more time looking back at the work of Public Safety Ministries, rather than forward, which is normally the direction of my conversations with supporting churches. As I started digging around in the archives of my mind and my soul, unpacking some of our experiences, I recalled writing a magazine article, more than a decade ago with that very title. And with that article, is where we will begin today…

“UnPacking”

The Minnesota Police Chief Magazine, Chaplain’s Message – Fall 2013

I love to travel. My favorite mode of travel is in my 2007 Ford F150 pickup (it just hit 150,000 miles on this summer's road trip to South Carolina) towing my 2012 Wolf Pup 16 foot camper. And my favorite part of traveling is the process of packing. I will literally spend weeks in advance of a trip packing and repacking the truck and camper, as well as the various bags, packs, camp boxes, gear containers and the best invention in the world - Rubbermaid storage tubs! My enthusiasm (also described by my travel partners as my compulsion, obsession, infatuation, etc) with packing doesn't end with the exit from our driveway. At most travel stops and at all campsites I'll repack and reorganize our stuff, where it's stored and how it is accessed throughout our journey. Then there is the issue of finding the appropriate space and location for the additional supplies, gear and items we accumulate along the way. I'm not sure if I love to travel as much as I love to pack, but I do love it when the two come together in harmony.

At the end of every journey there comes a time for the inevitable, a time to unpack. Unpacking is probably my least favorite part of traveling. Maybe that's because it signifies the end of the trip, the end of a vacation and the end of an adventure. I usually want to rush through the process, getting my travel companions to grab a load of stuff, haul it into the garage or house and dump it someplace out of the way. However, I am learning that unpacking is a critical component of the packing process. It allows me to assess the stuff that I carry, if and how it was used, if it was stored in the best place and whether or not I need to carry it on future trips.

The same can be said for our spiritual journeys, adventures and travels. How do we best assess the spiritual stuff that we carry in our souls? I think that by unpacking our souls on a regular basis, we can better assess the spiritual burdens that we carry. It gives us a chance to see stuff we have accumulated through the circumstances of our lives and our work. There are many spiritual burdens that we pack into our souls without realizing it. Our jobs bring us in contact with much tragedy and suffering in other peoples lives. Those negative spiritual burdens compound the inevitable personal hardships we face in our own lives. When our souls become full with the negative aspects of life, we often run out of space for the good stuff, and we need to unpack.

So the next question is “How do I unpack my soul?” The answer is quite simple, but often very difficult to do. We need to share our stuff. We can’t just “grab a load of stuff, haul it out and dump it someplace out of the way” as I stated above. We can share our burdens with someone else and share them with God, but most of all we need to share them with ourselves. We need to be aware of the stuff we pack in our souls and how that impacts our spiritual health and fitness. Once we are aware of the burdens we carry, we can repack, getting rid of the bad stuff and loading up on the good. And repacking with a friend and repacking with God make the process all the more enjoyable and considerably more productive. Happy Packing!

Take Care, Pastor Dan.

I originally intended to post this “UnPacking” letter a few weeks ago. But I soon realized that to me, the idea of a spiritual unpacking is more, much more, than a topic of conversation at a church meeting. At this point in time, as I transition from my Adult identity to my Elder identity, unpacking spiritually (as well as physically and mentally) is probably the biggest UnPack/RePack event of my life. Not only am I transitioning from chaplain to retirement, I’m moving on from over four decades of institutional life. A life of being embedded in Government/State institutions and Religious/Church institutions. When I start dumping those packs on the floor and sorting through all the stuff I’ve accumulated, the fact that I’m overwhelmed is an understatement.

Fortunately there’s more light in the stuff than darkness. Also, I have a healthy network of personal support resources… my family, friends, God, and the Carpenter are all right there with me. But also critical in many unpacking events, is having access to quality health care services. I have a pool of Professional, Physical / Mental / Spiritual, Health Care Resources available if and when needed.

That all being said (and I realize it is a lot, but it’s something that is important), over the next several months I’ll be sharing more on my UnPacking/RePacking adventure. I plan to share what I discover as I dig in this time around, again using my article as a guide. I suggest you might do the same with an UnPacking Adventure of your own. And I’d be happy to hear your stories as well!

With Care and Gratitude, Dan… “Just Dan”

Postscript…

Re: *Psalm 19:14… This verse is the foundation of a prayer I often use whenever I’m preparing and sharing faith messages, verbally as well as when in written word.

Re: *solid, clear and practical… Words used in Pastor Ekse’s obituary to describe how he preached God’s word.

Re: Next Up: “Another Letter from James, USMC…” (Friday 04/11/25, S2/L19)

I frequently get (much appreciated) responses on the letters I’ve been writing. This week I got a couple regarding “What’s in a Name?” that I I’d like to share. They were both backpacking stories that were similar to the ones I shared in the letter. So, I’m venturing down a new path of passing those stories on* to our readers! This stuff excites me because it shows how telling certain types of stories can inspire folks to dig up and tell their own stories on the topic.

Here’s the email of the first response …

“I hiked part of the CO trail with [my daughter] and my buddy… and his daughter… A short time into the hike we became part of our “trail family” - a group of about 20 people, all on about the same hike schedule. We all ended up camping near each other every night. If someone was late getting into the camp, there’d be buzz around asking who had last seen them and where.

As the trip progressed, trail names started to become prevalent. My favorite was “Heisenberg” for a guy who looked like the lead character in the Breaking Bad series.”

I followed up his email with a phone call. I remember him telling me about hiking with his daughter, but I didn’t remember him telling me about the “Trail Family” piece… definitely a positive experience for him and his hiking crew. He described his Trail Family as a group of people he’d never met, and probably would never see again, with a variety backgrounds and personalities. People who came together caring about, and caring for each other. A common interest in hiking… common space on the trail.. a good mix for a good community. And… a new trail phrase for our trail vocabulary! (Not to mention an interesting new trail name to add to our list.)

The second response came in a phone call that went something like this…

“Hey Just Dan! Read your Names letter and thought I’d remind you that you gave me my trail name… Coach! …”

Then we proceeded to tell stories (for almost an hour) about our hiking adventures out west.. as well as our faith journey adventures back here at home (including, as always, plenty of healthy laughter!) He finished up our conversation giving me some trail words to think about…

“Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the trail is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the trail is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

An Acknowledgment… Although I have previously given credit to the artist of the painting that I use (with permission) for our Life Hike logo, I wanted to acknowledge him again now that I’m using it for Life Hike Letters as well. The painting is On The Trail, (Fall Hikers), by Rick Allen (Kenspeckle Letterpress). On The Trail is a favorite image for me, one that just feels right for several reasons (see below). It hangs above my dining room table writing space, offering inspiration whenever I need it.

So who is this guy with a brand new blue, Kelty Tioga II backpack? He’s an early 1980’s version of your’s truly, on his first Beartooth Mountains backpacking trip in Montana… with Glacier Lake in the background. I was guiding (helping, definitely not leading) a church group of high school kids. I know it’s my first trip because I see my (chunk of heavy carpet padding) sleeping pad rolled up on the top of the pack… yes, fond memories here! The blue pack looks just like the one in the On The Trail painting. When I first saw the painting, I literally saw me… hiking the trail… taking up the rear… following an image of my hiking and faith-life mentors*… learning as I went… knowing I was well cared for… knowing I was doing my part… building a solid - clear - and practical*… foundation for a lifelong relationship with God.

With Care and Gratitude, Dan… “Just Dan”

Postscript…

Re: *passing stories on… Just fyi, anytime I share the stories of people who respond to my letters, I’ll do the best I can to contact them and get their permission. In most cases I’ll edit to try and remove anything that shares their personal information.

Re: *solid, clear and practical… Words used in Pastor Ekse’s obituary to describe how he preached God’s word.

Re: *hiking and faith-life mentors… Coach, O’Grady, The Carpenter…

Re: Next Up: “Unpacking…” (Friday 04/04/25, S2/L18)

1 Chronicles 1:1-16. Adam, Seth, Enosh; Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The descendants of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The descendants of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Diphath, and Togarmah. The descendants of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim. The descendants of Ham: Cush and Egypt, Put, and Canaan. The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raama: Sheba and Dedan. Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first to be a mighty one on the earth. Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, from whom the Philistines come. Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.

1 Chronicles 1:49-54, 2:1-8. When Shaul[f] died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor succeeded him. When Baal-hanan died, Hadad succeeded him; the name of his city was Pai, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred daughter of Me-zahab. And Hadad died.The clans[g] of Edom were: clans[h] Timna, Aliah,[i] Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, and Iram; these are the clans of Edom.These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah; these three the Canaanite woman Bath-shua bore to him. Now Er, Judah’s firstborn, wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death. His daughter-in-law Tamar also bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Darda,[a] five in all. The son of Carmi: Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the matter of the devoted thing; and Ethan’s son was Azariah.

Dear Fellow Hikers,

You’ve probably figured out the connection between today’s scripture and the subject of today’s letter. Yes I opened my letter on Names, with a list of Names. But it’s more than just a random list, it’s a genealogy of Israel going back to the beginning, the very beginning…with Adam. Yes, that Adam… of the famous duo Adam and Eve. A lot of labels and identities go along with the names on these lists. If you were to read all of the first nine chapters of continued genealogy in 1 Chronicles, you’d find much more context, content and identity contained in this simple lists of names.

So, “Whats my point?” Names are important, biblically, culturally and socially. But what’s even more important?… What kind of words are attached to our names that label us in so many ways… good and bad… true and false?

Here’s a small example I just read this morning. I receive a lot of faith based email messages, devotions, letters like the one you’re reading right now. I don’t read them all, but I usually try and scan them looking for material for our letters. In one I read today, the writer was trying to make a point about a phrase in the Bible. The phrase contained a challenging and outdated word. To emphasize his point he wrote: “it sounds like… something that some backwoods* preacher would hurl out…” I don’t know about you, but I like the woods. In fact I love the woods, and woods far back from roads, cities, congestion… backwoods… are even better.

If someone were to call me a backwoods preacher, I think I would be quite pleased. Unfortunately, in the context of the devotion, I believe the intent was to belittle a Bible phrase, and in the process, most probably unintentionally, the writer used a term that could easily be considered disrespectful. I believe the words we get to use in life are wonderful and a blessing… and also a responsibility. Especially when we’re using them to label people and their names, we need to be conscious of how they reasonably could be received. It’s just something I want us all (especially a reminder to me) to think about in our everyday conversations. Especially in the things we write.

And now on a related subject… Trail Names… In the distance hiking community, it is my understanding that there is a ritual of giving fellow hikers on the trail a descriptive name that fits each hiker… a “Trail Name”. Since I’ve never been a distance thru-hiker (the obvious exception is the Life Hike we are all on together), my knowledge on the subject is all book learned. So, I am qualifying my efforts to attempt a naming, and will gladly defer to any experienced hikers if I mis-speak or disrespect the process. My attempt here, is to give myself a trail name. It’s a name I intend to use to identify myself, but I do understand, the name really can’t be sanctioned unless others on the trail are actually willing to use it.

I got out a couple of my thru-hiking books to share a few Trail Name examples: Jumpstart, Stats Godric, Grandma, Journeyman, Runner, Wanderer, Wrong Foot, Second Wind, Ziggy, Medicine Man, Breeze, Happy Trails Guy, Walking, Chicken John… I’ve thought of using some of the obvious options that I’ve been called over the years: Chief, Book ‘em Dan’O, Rev, Preacher Man, Lieutenant Dan (always said with an Alabama twang)… But they just don’t feel right…

After a lot more thinking than is healthy, I’ve finally come to a decision. It was affirmed when I dug into todays scripture. A simple, clean, short version of the other biblical version my parents gave me, a name without a lot of societal, institutional or cultural baggage, simply… just… Dan.

1 Chronicles 2:1-2 “These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.”

With Care and Gratitude, Dan… “Just Dan”

Postscript…

Re: *Backwoods… Two things… First, whenever you see a word highlighted (bolded?) it’s my intention to emphasize the word, and the bold emphasis is not a part of the original quote. Second, I want to share that the words I heard when reading the word backwoods, were uneducated and ignorant. That may be a bit severe, but in that context, and from my personal experiences and perspectives, those are the words I immediately heard.

Re: “Just Dan”… So what’s your trail name? And why? And will others be willing to use it?

Next Up: (Still deciding on a topic…) (Friday 03/28/25, S2/L17)

“Pastor Ekse, one of our older and highly respected pastors, died suddenly on the 24th of November, 1930, and his funeral, attended by an unusually large number of people, was held at Singaas Congregation’s Church near Hendricks, Minnesota, on the 28th of November…”

Dear Fellow Hikers,

Today I want to share an Elderhood Trail story at a reader’s request. My seminary friend Matt has heard me often talk about my Great Grandpa, Pastor Jacob Ekse (1860-1930), on my Mom’s side. He emigrated from Norway to America in 1882. Pastor J.J. Ekse, an ancestor that I never met, but through a three page obituary** (that I found in a pile of family history papers) has inspired me for many years. But the inspiration has increased significantly the past couple years as I’ve begun my Elderhood journey. I think that’s probably because the obituary was written as he had just completed his elderhood journey… as an older and highly respected pastor… now returned to dust.

His story makes me think about how each of us will be remembered when we complete our own Elderhood Trail Hikes. The obituary includes a very interesting story of how he died, a biography of his life, a re-cap of the funeral, and some traditional funeral ending comments of Pastor Ekse’s life. I intend to publish the text in its entirety in a future post. But for today, I want to share a few excerpts that are becoming the foundation of my elderhood inspirations. These paragraphs, located in the middle of Pastor Ekse’s story, spoke to me of his character, his personality, and the gifts God gave him… the things that guided him in his calling to guide others in the development of their relationships with God. This I believe is everyone’s calling… to authentically live their lives as God created them to live.

I am not writing this letter to say that I have the same characteristics and gifts as my Great-Grandpa. However I am saying, that I aspire to follow his lead. I want to work hard to identify the gifts that I have been given… develop and utilize those gifts in the places I feel called… and share them in the ways God intended. I hope you enjoy the kind words that the obituary writer shared about Pastor Ekse. I have highlighted the words that most inspired me.

“… All this and more that could be mentioned shows clearly that Pastor Ekse was a man who enjoyed the trust and respect of people not only as a true christian with a living faith, but also as a man with considerable learning and gifts of leadership. They looked up to him as one of the leading men within our church. Both in times of strife and peace he was the same humble, peaceful, well balanced and dedicated to God man and christian who well understood how to hold the reins and steer in such a way that the Lord‘s work was advanced and that the congregations grew in a smooth and steady way from year to year both as far as the inner and outer life were concerned…”

“… Ekse received the grace to perform a great work where our Lord had placed him to labor in His kingdom on earth. As a preacher he was above the average and his proclamation of God‘s word was solid, clear and above all practical. He was allowed to experience quite a bit of spiritual awakening in his congregations from time to time. He never thought he could go it alone. He had a need to make use of all the gifts of grace in the congregations and time and again he invited laymen and pastors from outside of his own congregations to come so that they together with him could throw out the net of God‘s word and then draw it in again, and not so few times it happened that Pastor Ekse together with his coworkers were able to make a good catch. Many came to life in God, the Lord be praised…”

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

Postscript…

Re: ** The Obituary… Other than the font, italics and bold emphases (those are mine), the obituary text above was copied using the sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling as it was originally translated from Norwegian. I believe the obituary was translated many years after the original Norwegian text was written in 1930.

Next Up: “What’s in a Name…” (Friday 03/21/25, S2/L16)

Today we begin our second Life Hike Letters Season* with our 14th Life Hike Letter (S2/L14). Reaching this milepost, I want to let you know how grateful I am that you’re joining us on this journey. As the saying goes… So far, so good! At this point, the only visible difference between Season One (Winter) and Season Two (Spring) is that I changed my Substack photo* from my winter weather backdrop, to a springtime look.

As I promised, this look back at Season One will be quick. If you are interested in reviewing the content, flow, style, format, etc, of our first 13 letters, you can find them on our website. I am pleased with how those letters have turned out. My writing process, my writing hike, is often a bit of a muddy slog. I am very grateful for the people who have helped me in the writing, editing, and publishing of these letters. But what pleases me most is the fact that we have fulfilled our commitment to consistently show up in your inboxes every Friday morning. That is the foundation of this ministry of presence… persistently showing up…

That’s how I made it through my eight-year ordination process… also, often a muddy slog… but I was happy that the Bishop acknowledged my efforts. I’m not so sure it was compliment, but I certainly was pleased!

As we look ahead to Season Two, my intentions are to stay on the same path, headed in the same direction. But we also have some new ideas for going forward. For starters, I’m going to relook at the content of Season One. I’d like to do some work that would bring these individual ideas together, creating a collective identity of our Life Hike beliefs and practices. Hopefully the results will provide readers with some resources that could benefit their personal Life Hike faith journeys.

I’d also like to spend Season Two exploring some new topics of conversation. For example, I’ve always wanted to share some of my perspectives on the topic of The Separation of Church and State. I believe that administration of those two institutions definitely needs to be separate. However, to focus on maintaining the divide between these two critical “Society Influencers” can be very dangerous. Even though a level of separation is very important, we must focus on how Church and State can connect and work together to benefit the overall health of our communities. I would also suggest that we look at adding Business institutions to this cooperative mix. Religion, Government and Economics… God, Politics and Money… now there’s a conversation ice-breaker for your next party!

Some of the other topics I’d like to spend some time with include: Cultural Christians / Believer Christians… Seeking A Common Faith Tradition… What Is Church?… Ministering To The Nones (Religious Affiliations: “None”)… People: Good, Bad, Safe, Dangerous?… I’d also like to do some Book and Media Resource Reviews. If anyone has any additional ideas, I’d love your input! That’s it for now, thanks again for reading!

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

Postscript…

Re: *Life Hike Letters Seasons… You’ve probably figured this out, but I’m using a Season#/Episode# (in our case Season#/Letter#) model to label and organize our letters. Since we actually made it to a second season, I figured it was time to share some detail on how I define our seasons. Christianity has a Liturgical Year with a variety of seasons (such as Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Pentecost, etc…) Since I’m working to figure out what type of ministry labels fit our Life Hike ministry initiative, I felt the more common terminology of our natural/nature seasons would be a better fit for us. So we will have four seasons, three months each, Winter - Spring - Summer - Fall.

Re: *Substack Photo… This is the round photo of the Substack Author that pops up here and there, often in the upper right hand side of some of the substack pages/documents.

• Winter Weather backdrop: Cold weather clothes and snowy overlook of the St. Louis River on a trail in Jay Cooke State Park.

• A Springtime look: Me sporting my official 2024 Twins Spring Training Hat, with a backdrop of “almost” budding trees in the woods behind our house.

Next Up: “Dan’s Elderhood Trail Travels…” (Friday 03/14/25, S1/L15)

Nov. 17, 1944.

Dear Mom, Dad, Ruth, and Johnny,

I just came back from the show so I stopped in here at the mess hall to write a few letters. It was some show with Gloria Jean and wasn’t too bad. We get quite a few new pictures here but some are pretty old too. But tonight we had a newsreel, about the first one I’ve seen. It was about the liberation of France. They sure seemed happy and I can surely tell why. Sometimes I think it would be much easier fighting in Europe as there, there is someone who really appreciates it. The picture brought that out. Out here people don’t much care as long as they can live peacefully, except for the Japanese of course, and naturally they’ll never give us a welcome like the soldiers got in France …

I got a letter from Ruthie today and she mentioned that some pictures are on the way so I’m looking forward to them. Boy I’ve got so many letters to answer I don’t know where to begin. I’ve let them go for quite awhile so now I’m behind. I haven’t had any packages lately but they should start coming in soon. Got a paper too. We still have about the same routine here everyday but the time flies anyway. Tomorrow is our inspection day again so we won’t do an awful lot. The chow hasn’t been very good lately, mostly spam, C rations and canned food. We had fresh food for about a week.

You asked where and how Tex Miller is. The last I heard he was still out here somewhere but was heading for the states. He can’t walk yet but most likely his other wounds have healed. And Mom asked about those days while in Hawaii. We were on maneuvers with the 6th Marines then.

No, I don’t think you will have to send the papers directly but just send them once in a while like you have been doing. Red Williams is sure doing good.

I’m enclosing a check I drew here so I want you to bank it for me except for some that you can buy Christmas presents for the family and Mrs. Sweet with. That’s my pay from April, except for a little I’ve drawn so you see it doesn’t take much money out here.

That’s about all now as it’s getting late and I’m tired so I’ll close.

Love, James

Sgt. James Carlson

Dear Fellow Hikers,

So here I go… As I’ve now shared one of Dad’s letters publicly, I’ll make my attempt at doing it justice, both to him and to you as his readers. I went through a couple dozen of his letters trying to find one I could use to launch this project. I became very frustrated looking for the letter that would be the foundation where I could build his story. It was then that I realized that the value of these letters isn’t going to come from any one letter, but by looking at his three years of letters collectively.

Knowing this, I went back to the letter pile looking for one that would be a good representation of the others. Although many of the letters look very similar in structure and content, I did recognize that the letters often had a subtle change in tone and/or content. This I realized came from Dad’s ever evolving change in context as he aged, and as his life changing experiences became more frequent. It’s also interesting to note that the specifics of the changes that occurred are rarely mentioned in the letters.

Eventually I came across the above letter of November 17, 1944. Like most of the letters, the “topic of letters” would often dominate the narrative. Letters sent, received, not sent, no paper or envelopes available, packages shared with others, money sent home, magazines forwarded… lots of ink spent on keeping in touch with the stability and memories of life back home. A break from the chaos and traumatic realities of life lived in war (which was seldom, if ever, mentioned in the letters from what I’ve read so far).

What follows is some critical context that should help you better understand who Sgt. James Carlson was at the time the above letter was written (Three months after the Battle of Saipan, with troops occupying the secured Island of Saipan).

Dad enlisted in the United Sates Marine Corps (USMC) in January 1943 when he was 18 years old. He spent 16 months training in the U.S. and Hawaii (Hawaii was not yet a U.S. state), before shipping off to the South Pacific in June 1944. Now 19 years old, and Sergeant of a forward area radio squad, he arrived in the Marshall Islands where they prepared for an amphibious assault landing on the island of Saipan, in the Mariana Islands.

On June 15, 1944, Sergeant Carlson and his Radio Team, (Lt. Shannahan, Cpl. Bartlet, Pvt/Cpl* Bedekovich, Pvt/Cpl* Sullivan, Pvt/Cpl* White) landed on the beach in the second wave of the initial assault, entering the Battle of Saipan. A brutal battle that would last nearly a month. A battle where Dad would receive a Bronze Star. From mid July 1944 to December 1945 Dad remained in the South Pacific landing on a variety of islands, in a variety of combat and non-combat capacities. In August of 1945 Atomic Bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 14, 1945 Japan surrendered.

On January 12, 1946 Dad was discharged from the USMC in Great Lakes Illinois, and soon back home with his family in South Minneapolis. (Three years from the day he enlisted. In that time never returned home on leave.)

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

Postscript…

Re: *A Letter From James… I struggled with referring to my Dad as James in the title of this Life Hike Letters project. He never referred to himself as James as far as I know, other than when he needed to use his legal name. (Same with me and Daniel/Dan). His Mom was the only person who called him James, and I don’t think I ever heard her call him Jim. Yet, Every letter I’ve read so far is signed “Love, James.” It’s really not a big deal, but it does make me wonder if there’s a reason for using James that I’m not considering… Hmmm…

Re: *A Note on Historic Details… If you should do any further on-line research on the events I’ve mentioned above, you may notice some detail inconsistencies regarding terminology, specific dates, names of locations, etc. Dad left us a lot of reference materials of his war experience in addition to the letters… including books, articles, his own narratives on certain events, as well as a lot of stories told orally. Sometimes details don’t line up exactly the same, and when they didn’t, I respectively used Dad’s details. I believe none of these discrepancies contradicts the truths of what occurred.

Re: *Pvt/Cpl… Dad only identified these Marines as enlisted men. If further research identifies specific ranks I’ll add an update..

Next Up: A New Season! “A quick look back, and a look ahead…” (Friday, 03/07/25, S2/L14)

From the beginning, Life Hike Letters (LHL) was designed to share letters, letters of my story that hopefully could help you better hear your own stories. I’ve also hoped that I’d have the opportunity to share some stories of others that have inspired me to better hear my own stories over the years. Although I intended to write a Sky Pilot letter today (that will now happen in Season Two of LHL), my inner voice suggested that I close out Season One by heading down a slightly different path. Today I have the opportunity to begin to share a story of a critical guide and mentor in my Life Hike journey. I also have the opportunity to make good on a commitment I made over a decade ago to that guide and mentor...

I wrote the letter below as a church devotion back in January of 2022. I’ve also used edited versions of the letter on several occasions over the years and received a significant amount of positive feedback. So I invite you to read it today as I conclude with… here’s to you Dad!

January 2022

Dear Readers,

Since I’m writing about letters today, I thought I’d share this message in an actual letter! Before my Dad died a few years ago, and before his dementia set in and took much of his memory, he gave me a box containing a couple hundred letters. They were letters that he wrote home to his family from January 1943 through January 1946. Three years to the month, while he served with the United States Marine Corp. His mom saved the letters and passed them on to Dad when he returned home from the war. When he gave them to me he said, “I want you to have these, maybe you can figure out something to do with them.” When I first got the letters, I randomly opened a few to see what I was working with. It was then that I realized what I had… literally… I had something sacred to share.

I’m not sure why, but although I’ve had these letters for many years now, I’ve never felt the time was right to “do something” with them. On the occasions when I’d pull out a letter and read it, I’d always feel I wasn’t doing the letter, or Dad’s words, justice by sharing them at that point in time.

Although the letters were from a USMC Sergeant, fighting on the front lines of some very significant WWII battles in the South Pacific… he was still just a skinny, 21 year old kid from South Minneapolis, writing home to his family. He was a kid that I didn’t know, and still don’t know. But through those letters I’m getting a better understanding of who that kid was. He was a kid that experienced something totally incomprehensible for most of us. He was a kid who turned out to be my Dad, who always lived a life full of gratitude and faith, a Dad who never quit appreciating all the gifts he’d been blessed with, and who passed those values on to us kids, and his grandkids, the best he knew how.

As a chaplain and pastor, I’ve spent a lot of time in conversation with individuals and small groups talking about their real life experiences, experiences that have greatly impacted their faith lives. It was in those conversations that a person’s history, their experiences in life, and the things they’ve learned, are revealed to others… where the history and wisdom they’ve acquired, is shared so others can learn and grow in their own lives. And now I sit, looking at this pile of hand written letters, sacred letters, from another time and from the other side of the world, trying to figure out how to share the stories, and do them justice.

So now, I wonder where else we might have some sacred stories, letters, conversations… tucked away in unexplored places… just waiting to reveal some valuable history and wisdom that is so needed in our world today. Why don’t you join me in doing the hard work of exploring and digging up some of that “good stuff”. We sure could use it!

With Care, Pastor Dan

As always, I really do appreciate you taking the time to read our letters. I’m especially excited to finally start fulfilling my commitment to Dad by …doing something with these letters… (occasionally and indefinitely is the plan!) I can’t think of a better audience for his stories than My Fellow Hikers!

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

Postscript…

Next Up: A Letter From James, USMC… (Publish Date: Day 02/28/5, S1/L13)

“Believe it or not,” (Idea Guy, Pete) exclaimed, “you and I don’t even have to worry about being in shape.”

That sounded odd. (Author, Kevin) How could we pull off an expedition such as this without being in top physical condition?

“Because,” Pete said… “the hike itself is the thing that’s gonna get us in shape for the hike”

“Really?” I mumbled, trying to wrap my head around the logic.

“You bet. In fact that’s the coolest part of the entire plan.”

“Look,” he continued, “this warm-up cruise with Rich and his guys, it means the whole time we’re down there, the canyon is gonna be polishing us off like little gemstones, and by the end of the first phase, guess what?”

I could not imagine.

“You and me will turn into a pair of hard-core hiking buffs and all we have to do is show up.”

“Dude-we can do this thing off the couch.” *

A Walk In The Park, by Kevin Fedarko. pages: 89-90.

“The depth of our delusion in believing that we could traverse the canyon off the couch with little preparation and virtually no experience, was etched in the expression on Pete’s face … as well as on the soles of our feet 48 hours later. In just six days, the immense physical demands … had broken us to the point where we had collapsed. The following day we ended our bid and headed for home, vowing never to return.” (Caption of three photos showing the hikers physical conditions.)

Dear Fellow Hikers,

I bought and read A Walk In The Park this past December as a Christmas treat. (Full price, hard cover edition!) If you are interested in adventure travelogues, I highly recommend that you consider reading it. Along with the adventure story, I learned much more than I expected about the Grand Canyon, its physical and tourist identities, as well as the people who live in and around the canyon. But for today I simply want to focus on the two main adventurers and the off the couch* philosophy that they (initially) embraced. This is a classic learn from other people’s mistakes story that I plan to turn into a (ongoing) learning experience for me and our readers as well.

In last week’s letter I declared that “Love God Back…” is now the mission of our Life Hike Letters. My intentions were to simply write this week’s 500-800 word letter and explain exactly what Love God Back means. As excitement and inspiration took hold of me for this writing journey, the only thing I was missing was an enthusiastic: “Dudes, we can do this thing off the couch!” Fortunately, taking to heart my idea to learn from others mistakes gave me pause enough to not jump right on this trail and wing it as I go.

After several drafts of this letter, I finally decided to stick with what has worked well for me in the past. I’m somewhat insecure with my academic theology education and what I know about faith, God, and the relationships both hold with humanity. However, I do have very strong beliefs about my faith, about God, and my relationships with both. So I ask you today to get off the couch and join me with some of the work in preparing for a journey… a journey with yourself and your most intimate relationships, seeking a better understanding, of what you know, what you believe, and what you desire from (or especially if you desire) a relationship with God.

I begin this Love God Back journey by making an addition to a wandering I previously wrote: I Believe (S1/L5) Once again, I’m sharing some of my beliefs and some of my Love God story, hoping to better help you discover your own…

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

Postscript…

Re:*off the couch… Full disclosure, the author wrote an extensive footnote clarifying that both he, and his hiking companion Pete, did an extensive amount of planning and prep for the trip… however as the second quote above shares… it was not even close to being enough preparation. If you don’t have interest in reading the book, I suggest you do an internet search and look up some of the reviews, videos, photos and other learning resources that are very helpful in better understanding the depth of their adventure (that they did eventually complete!)

Re:*actively participate in that loving relationship… This is the only belief I share today that I’m going to support with a Biblical reference… God's first and greatest commandment… To Love God…

Next Up: “Sky Pilot” Who is your guide?… Who do you guide?… (Friday, 02/21/25, S1/L12)

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns. The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice; the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth.” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Dear Fellow Hikers,

I chose Psalm 46 for my opening quote today for a couple of reasons. Obviously I needed a Psalm that contained the word Selah. That narrowed my choices down to 39 of the 150 Psalms contained in the Bible. So why did I choose 46? Because 46 and I have history… we have a relationship… we’ve been through a lot together, especially in my law enforcement days. So it’s personal… and it simply comforts me. Down the road I’ll be writing a letter focusing on this psalm, but for today I ask that you simply read it… then take a minute or two and pause… then take few more minutes… and consider it.

Selah is a Hebrew word, so if you are looking for an absolute, academic definition for the word in English, you’ve got a lot of options to sort through. I suggest you find a faith leader you respect and trust, and ask them what the word means to them… how do they use it? Clearly, not being an academic myself, I reached out to a clergy colleague, who also has an extensive background in music, (which is very relevant), who gave me some possible perspectives. Through our conversation he suggested this option… “to pause and consider.” It only took a few minutes and I realized… “that fits!”It’s been my go to definition ever since.

So, here we are a couple months into our first season of Life Hike Letters, and I’m feeling now is a good time to Selah… to pause and consider what we’ve been up to… where we’ve been… where we’re going…

I feel pretty good about how these letters have been developing. I want to say thanks to those of you that have contacted me with feed back. I also appreciate all of you who have taken the time to open the emails, exploring, following and engaging my writing. I haven’t spent much time figuring out exactly how the analytics work, and what they actually mean, but I know that most of you folks are reading what I write. So I’m excited to say I’m gonna keep writing as long as there are people willing to keep reading!

The majority of letters I’ve written so far have been a written version of the “go to” messages I’ve been sharing verbally, in person for the past 20 years. Those messages defined the context of the ministry work we were doing, and carry much of the context we are hoping to establish as we go forward with the Life Hike Letters. My intention has always been that the stories I share have value whether received as a stand alone message, or as a single component of a bigger collective message. That hope continues with these written letters. However, I intend to take advantage of using the written word, and it’s sustainability and accessibility, to spend more time on the development of some bigger collective messages. Possibly developing into some Common Faith messages that could benefit us all in these continuing divisive times.

Most of what I’ve said today was not a surprise to me. For those of you that know me and have followed my chaplaincy work over the years, it probably wasn’t a surprise to you either. But I have to say, my final thought here… truly caught me off guard. My general letter writing process usually involves about three separate days of work. For 2-4 hours, each of those days, I spend time pondering, reading, pausing and considering, resting, and actively listening to my inner voice… my God voice.* On day three this week I was enjoying my pause (even might of dozed off a bit) when a thought flowed into my head. It was three simple words, words that have showed up before, usually quickly moving on. Today they stuck around.

Because of those three words, my letter editing took me into an uncommon day four of writing, editing and a continued process of selah… And with that… we now have this…

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

Postscript…

Re:*My God Voice… When I was a police officer, one of our department chaplains was Father Tim Power. When I became chief, he took a special interest in me (although I’m pretty sure he made most people feel like that), and we spoke often. In those conversations he would make reference to his inner voice that spoke to him as his God Voice. On more than one occasion as we talked about issues of faith he would say: “Well, my God Voice told me that…” or “I heard my God Voice say…” and I liked the sound of it.

Next Up: “Love God Back…” (Friday, 02/14/25, S1/L11)

The pilgrim’s motives have always been manifold: to pay homage, to fulfill a vow or obligation, to do penance, to be rejuvenated spiritually, or to feel the release of catharsis. The ritual act of pilgrimage attempts to fill an emptiness. It can happen halfway around the world, or pilgrimage can also occur just down the road. “The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred” by Phil Cousineau.

Dear Fellow Hikers,

A couple years ago, one of my clergy colleagues felt the call to travel the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. I was not aware of her journey until I saw a short article about it in our church newsletter. Fortunately, she wrote a follow-up article and also gave a travelogue presentation to one of our church small groups that I had the opportunity to attend. I need to say that I’m in awe of those who take on the challenges of a journey like the El Camino. And even more so of those who are willing to share their stories, so that others can better hear their own. I’m not going to go any further in telling my colleague’s story, because that’s her story to tell. What I am going to share is how her story inspired me to share the few paragraphs below…

One of the things that help us hear our own stories, in the stories of others, is when we find something in common. As I read the church newsletter, then the second one, then as I listened to the travelogue, I noticed my colleague made reference to The Art of Pilgrimage each time she shared her story. I noticed because the book appears to be as important to her as it is to me. I have a lot of books, but this one is special. I have about a dozen of these special books on the bottom shelf of my nightstand. These are the books that have inspired me most.

I bought The Art of Pilgrimage on February 2, 1999 at Excelsior Bay Books, an independent bookseller in my neighborhood. Since I am again inspired, here I am, 25 years later, re-reading the book for a third time. As I read, I realized something. Recalling my travels over the past 25 years I’m no longer looking for pilgrimages in my future, I’m looking at my completed journeys as the pilgrimages of my past, looking at them in a new light. That 20/20 hindsight is allowing me to see how important my travels are to discovering who I am. Intentionally looking at my past travels in the perspective of pilgrimage, is also giving me inspiration for some new travels.

As I close today, I’d like to share one quote from Cousineau’s book. It took me awhile to find the exact quote even though I marked it with two small x’s. Probably because the whole book is full of two small x’s. It is a quote that I’ve shared more than any other quote in the book. As I was adding the quote to the bottom of this post, I find it really interesting that over the years I’ve been neglecting to include the last line of the quote. Now that I’m beginning to wander the Elderhood Trail, that last line is probably the one I should focus on most!…

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

PostScript…

Next Up: “(Hmmm… I think I’ll surprise you…)” (Friday, 02/07/25, S1/L10)

“When I’m Sixty-Four”

When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now.

Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine?

If I'd been out till quarter to three, would you lock the door?

Will you still need me, will you still feed me,

When I'm sixty-four…*

Written and Performed By_______.

Dear Fellow Hikers,

Looking back, my seminary studies could be described as an alternative track to ordination. My coursework covered eight years of study in a variety of environments. I studied… at Luther Seminary in St. Paul Minnesota, at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) in Berkley California, through remote learning on-line, and in contextual learning at a variety of Law Enforcement Agencies and Lutheran Churches throughout Minnesota. I reached a critical milepost in my seminary studies during my eighth year, while at PLTS. I was struggling with, and worn out from, my education path. Frustrated with essentially everything, but with a focus on figuring out where I belonged. I decided to go to a trusted professor for some guidance. (Not really expecting any real help, just wanting to complain.) I asked bluntly, “Where exactly do I fit with all these people looking for traditional pastor work?” His answer was immediate and calm… “You don’t. But there are people who believe that what you are doing is important. And as long as you keep doing the work, doing your best, eventually it will all work out.” And through that journey, I continued to slog along in the darkness, but also developed a healthy stride, hiking in the light… and thankfully the light prevailed.* Without a trusted elder who let me know exactly where I stood… made me aware of my place, helped me assess my options, and develop a healthy plan for reaching the end of that trail… I wouldn’t be here, writing you today.

In today’s letter I want to share some thoughts about the place where I currently stand in the context of my Life Hike journey. That journey consists of three separate thru-hikes* on three separate trails. My three trails are… The Childhood Trail (CHT), The Adulthood Trail (AHT) and The Elderhood Trail (EHT). The big difference between a traditional thru-hike and a Life Hike (other than the obvious fact that one is real and the other is simply a metaphor) is that the thru-hike is measured in miles and the Life Hike is measured in time. The Life Hike trail distances (time spent on each trail in years) are decided entirely by the person hiking the trail, based on their own personal circumstances. For instance in my case, my Childhood Trail begins at birth and ends at age 24. I picked 24 to begin my Adulthood Trail because that was the year I began my first full-time job with actual benefits, complete with health care. It was also the year when I got married. I decided to start my Elderhood Trail…obviously!… when I turned sixty-four! That’s 24 years as a child, 40 years as an adult, and using my parents lives as a guide to estimate my longevity, I’m looking at about 30 years as an elder… until I return to dust. (Genesis 3:19)

The Elderhood Trail… Now, as I’ve officially completed my time on the Childhood and Adulthood Trails, I am filled with gratitude, apprehension, excitement, and some simple joy to be on my way traveling the Elderhood Trail! I’ll be in touch…

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

PostScript…

Re: *When I’m Sixty-Four… If you are 64 or over, and don’t know this song, I’m just sad. If you’re under 64 and don’t know this song I’ll cut you some slack. I’m not gonna tell you who wrote and performed it, but I will suggest you do a little research and learn a very valuable musical history lesson.

Re: *and the light prevailed… “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5 NIV

Re: *Thru-Hiking… Trails most associated with thru-hiking often take several weeks or months to complete, but any completed end-to end trail in a single hiking season is technically a thru-hike. Our Life Hike metaphor models the Triple Crown of Thru-Hikes in the US: The Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail.

Next Up: “Travels With Dan” (Friday, 01/31/25, S1/L9)

1 Corinthians 12:14-26 (NIV)

Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are Many Parts, But One Body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Dear Fellow Hikers,

I have always appreciated the above passage from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. I love how it passionately expresses the value of individual parts of the body, and shares how critical it is to also look at those parts collectively as a whole body. And knowing that as they suffer or rejoice, they will do it as one. This scripture has long been on my list of must do Life Hike Letter topics.

One of the benefits of being a police chief, and my ensuing job of being a police chiefs chaplain, is that I was able to attend a wide variety of police conferences and training events. Over the years I have heard more conference speakers and instructors than I can count. But it always amazes me how I can occasionally have a strong connection with certain messages and messengers. As I was pondering possible ideas for today’s letter, and studying Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, the words of University of Minnesota Football Coach Jerry Kill made their way into my thoughts.

About a decade ago, I was attending a MN State Chiefs Conference where Coach Kill was a keynote speaker. His message hit me hard as one of those strong connection experiences. I remember his message being very engaging as he did a demonstration, taking some chiefs out of the audience and running them through an exercise. The purpose was to show the importance of teamwork developed through players having a solid understanding of individual roles, and how those roles impacted the team’s performance as a whole. I don’t recall the exact details of his message, but I do remember his main and concluding talking point…“Know your job… Know the jobs of the people standing next to you… then go out and Do Your Job.”

As I worked through the words of the Apostle Paul (AP) and Coach Kill (CK), I realized that even though their words were different, the spirit of those words had a lot in common. But even with that common spirit, I felt that they were quite different as well. After about an hour of my word processing, I realized where I was stuck. AP was sharing a story of a belief. CK was sharing a story of a practice. But when we merge their stories together, we can read their words and believe: “Many Parts, But One Body…” And we can practice that belief by: “Doing Your Job…”

With this exploration and discovery, I have now discerned* that I could use that same spirit of these beliefs and practices, and apply them to our process of crafting a Life Hike Faith Community.** I truly believe we are on our way to becoming a community through these letters. And as with any community building process, merging beliefs and practices is an important step.

And now to finish this up, here is one of my new Life Hike Beliefs: “I believe that we are one body of readers, with an abundance of unique individuals, personalities and perspectives.” And in these letters I am promoting the Practice of: “Learning who we are individually… Learning who our neighbors are… With each of us Doing Our Part to come together as a community.”

With Care and Gratitude, Dan

Postscript…

Re: *Discern… Partnering with God to create an action plan for revealing a discovery. (my personal definition)

Re: **Life Hike Faith Community… Although I’ve given this idea a lot of thought, I really had no intention of going down this path of conversation today. But as I was writing, these words just came out. As I reflected on what I wrote, I decided to leave it in the letter. But know, that I know, that this is a big conversation. And as we head down the road I will to do it justice… going into significant detail… once I figure out what the heck that detail is…

Re: The Kid… As promised, here’s a couple words, literally two words, describing my adventure with the Kid in my recent Quick Post… “Kid-ney Stone.” … Nuff said.

Next Up:“The Elderhood Trail” (Friday, 01/24/25. S1/L8)