Post: Readers Respond

I really enjoy each issue. They get better each time. Bob Bach's articles bring back good memories for me. Thanks. Ed Newton, Boring, Oregon.

I was fortunate to be present at North Park when Ivar Wistrom was the recipient of the yearbook dedication. The recent story from Bob Bach reminded me of other men like Ivar who were sources of wisdom and work. There was Carl Olson, a machinist who was a wizard with steel and introduced me to milling machines, Camels, and navy tales. He served as an aviation machinist mate, performing repairs on aircraft. At the time, the Navy required their machinists to fly in the planes they fixed — safe repairs were guaranteed. There was Jim Day: Scoutmaster, a strong man, an Army artillery officer and stone mason par-exccHance, who knew about crab orchard stone and Buicks. And "Doc" KaHem who had the shocking generosity to lend me a new '63 Olds Starfire convertible for adventures after Sunday Services. He also made available the summer job of sanding drywall, while introducing me to metropolitan Chicago geography. I also learned not to wash dust out of my hair from a bucket at the end of a sweltering day.

The dust, bucket, and hair are gone, but not the recoHection of these fine Christian men who had the astonishing openness to treat kids well and see potential where here few others did. Thanks to those IVARs, CARLs, JIMs, and DOCs, followed by a couple of NPC philosophy professors as well; and thanks for the article that triggered these recollections. Karl Klockars, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

I look forward to receiving Pietisten. The 10th anniversary edition was suberb. Enclosed is my check for the subscription and for the cassette recording of "Sounds of Sweden." C. Leslie Strand, Cromwell, Connecticut.

Just a note to let you know how much I enjoy Pietisten. I am enclosing some golf balls with The Old Brown Hymn Book logo, also a couple of tapes from old records by J.A, Hultman, who traveled across the country and to Sweden many times. As you know Phil, he preceded you by a couple of years as Pastor of Salem Covenant in Worcester. He was here between 1900 and 1906.

One prof at NPC whom I will never forget was E. Gust Johnson. He spent many years writing hymns and was a great friend of the poet Carl Sandberg. He had Sandberg come to NPC three times while I was there and I was invited to E. Gust's home where Sandberg, E. Gust, and I smoked cigars and talked about Sandberg's beloved Chicago.

Reading Arthur Anderson's article on the UCC's The New Country Hymnal, I can't help but think the same thing has happened to our Covenant Hymnals. When they pick people to serve on new hymnal commission, we should have good musicians. But, what they miss is people who love to sing and worship our God and Savior. A few of those people should be appointed and then we would get a better mix of the old and new.

If you know anyone who can sell me a better printer for putting The Old Brown Hymn Book logo on golf balls, please let me know. I've sold 9,500 balls this year. I sell 25 balls for $5 and they are all perfect. If you need any, let me know. I've sent them all over the country. The cost to send them is approximately 1O cents per ball. Don Berg, The Old Brown Hymn Book Association, Worcester, Massachusetts.

I was asked to be a "bridesmaid" in my friend's wedding which took place a few weeks ago. I have known Amrita since I was seven years old. Amrita is from Bhadarn, India, and her first language is Gujarati. I was looking forward to this Hindu wedding.

The day before the wedding, Amrita's aunt applied henna on our bodies. Henna is a tropical shrub which leaves a reddish-orange dye when applied to skin. Most people in the U.S. are familiar with henna only for dying hair. Her aunt took a plastic bag full of finely chopped henna and, through a tiny opening, squeezed intricate designs on the palms of my hands. The henna had to remain on my hands for at least six hours. After the time was up, I was able to scrape the henna off, leaving the printed design, It was a good thing I was warned to do everything I had to do in my house before that, because I couldn't do anything for 6 hours! Amrita's aunt put henna on her palms, fingers, the back of her fingers and hands, the inside of her arms and legs, and the top of her feet. Imagine how impaired she felt! The henna will last about three weeks.

Hindu weddings in India usually take three whole days. When Amrita's sister was married in a traditional wedding in India last year, it took three days and over 1,000 people attended (imagine feeding aH those people! ). Since this wedding was taking place in the US, it was just a one-day affair. The wedding took place in a large community center which comfortably held the 750 people attending, The wedding began at 10 a.m. and ended about midnight. From 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., the bride's rituals and ceremonies took place with only her family and friends present. The groom's rituals and ceremonies took place elsewhere with his family and friends. The two parties met only later in the evening.

As a sign of respect during aH these religious ceremonies, everyone had to remove their shoes/sandals at the front door. I walked barefoot the entire time I was there and wondered how in the world I would find my sandals again in the huge pile of shoes! Anyway, there was a lot of praying and chanting in front of the altar with their gods, bowing down, singing, lighting incense and dancing, Amrita had to undergo a "cleansing ceremony" using turmeric and water, This is supposed to make the bride's skin beautiful before the groom sees her.

All the women changed their clothes around 5 p,m. in anticipation of the actual wedding ceremony which would take place once the groom arrived. By this point, I had changed clothes and jewelry three times for the previous ceremonies. Each "bridesmaid" wore the sari of her own choice, which made everyone look unique. The bride had to wear a red sari for the official marriage ceremony. The attendants and the bride wore literally dozens of golden bangles and jewels.

As I finished changing for the last time, a woman came up to me and said excitedly, "Dina, the groom is arriving, why don't you run outside and take a picture?" I was expecting to see him coming out of a limo or at least arriving in a nice car. Boy, was I wrong!

The groom arrived on a real, live, white horse decorated in red and gold. He was crossing a major intersection as he came slowly down the street. He and his horse were surrounded by at least 40 women dancing to Indian music playing from a vehicle moving in front of the horse. Approximately 250 family and friends surrounded the horse and the dancing women, all arriving to meet the bride and her family and friends who were already in the building. He was dressed in traditional white, wearing a golden turban. After slowly entering the building with his entourage, he was seated up front in a golden chair.

There were a few minor ceremonies involving only him, and then he was covered with a white sheet. Amrita, the bride, was now going to enter from a private room where she had been waiting. Her brothers and male cousins slowly carried her on a palkee. A palkee, or palanquin, is a covered carriage/canopy carried by poles on the shoulders of two or more men. She was then seated on another golden chair across from the groom. The sheet was then removed allowing them to see each other for the first time that day.

There were many more activities taking place as part of the marriage ceremony until about 11 p.m., when they were finally officially married. For example, the bride and groom circled around a small fire four times symbolizing their vows, their life, their love, and the afterlife. They also touched a stone with their toes, symbolizing that their love will last and is as strong as the Himalayan mountains. Other ceremonies involved her parents. During this time, people were either watching, socializing, or eating. They served chapatis, a flat, round, fried bread which is my favorite. They also served, yogurt dishes, purris, spicy vegetables, and rice. No meat was served.

As a "bridesmaid my job was to sit behind Amrita with about 15 other close family members and friends throughout the full day of ceremonies. Whenever any one of us became tired, thirsty, hungry, wanted to take a picture, or had to go to the bathroom, however, we were free to move around. I was hoping I would blend in at the wedding and as it turned out, everyone assumed I was from India. Only when a guest decided to hold a conversation with me in Gujarati was I "discovered!"

I had a great time. Participating in this wedding brought home the cultural diversity which is now an integral part of the U.S., especially in New York City. After seeing this wedding, even the fanciest American wedding seems so brief and plain. This Hindu wedding was extraordinarily colorful compared to one in which the bride wears a white gown and all the bridesmaids that dress alike! Dina Odenyo, Bayside, New York

Report from the UN Mission in Angola. Angola has hit a political snag. The new government is attempting to crack down on corruption by expelling illegal residents, but there is something called Human Rights and an Organization of African Unity (OAU) resolution against mass expulsions. In the process, the government has seized the goods of these individuals. The result has been a flurry of diplomatic delegations to Luanda. We [the UN mission] are expected to "do something," but this is a matter of sovereignty. We can only raise the issue of Human Rights and the need to respect them. This is futile because these foreigners are effective scapegoats. The economy is collapsing before our eyes thanks to corruption, mismanagement, and past borrowing. This latter in the form of facilitating government loans to enterprises run by friends, relatives, etc.

The same process is typically American. The S&L is the most sinister form of it. We lost $500 billion, remember, with minimal comment inside or outside of Congress. So, Angola is "doing want comes naturally." But here, poverty is everywhere and is fast becoming misery.

UNAVEM (United Nations Angola Verification Mission) is entering the most critical phase of its mandate: the demobilization and social reintegration of Angolan soldiers. Out of the 100,000 foreseen to be demobilized, 60,000 are UNITA (Union for Total Independence of Angola). If the form of this process is known (we will provide specialized kits for agriculture, plumbing, carpentry, etc., plus intensive vocational training in these fields), the government-provided content is not. Without a viable, effective demobilization structure, the soldiers will rightly begin to force their own redistribution of income, and this via the barrel of their AK-47s or other equally effective means.

We in UNAVEM have already had a foretaste of this form of military banditism. Several of our colleagues have been robbed and or killed on the highways, and we have been the victims of replanted land mines on roads we had only recently completely demined. The stakes are high and so is the violence, The UN and the government are going to have to speed up their acts if they are just going to break even.

So, the US is fundamentally opposed to Butros Ghali's second UN mandate and has gone to such lengths as to threaten African heads of state that if they persist in their support, the US will ensure that any African candidate for the second mandate is vetoed. This is heavy-handed, flat-footed American foreign policy at its finest. Washington continues to believe that power and muscle are what matter, and US foreign policy has been either laughable or a disaster or both simultaneously for some twenty years. Just look at the people we have put into power in Africa, like Idi Amin and Mobutu of Zaire, to name only two.

The damage we have done worldwide is incalculable. Is it any wonder that Americans abroad are encountering increased hatred? US diplomats are often obliged to live in modern fortresses to protect themselves from daily threats. But the political chickens do come home to roost.

Robert Thompson, Our Man in Angola