Notes from

TOaDHaLL

SStranger To MeI don� t think I �ve met you. My name is Margie. I sa id this as I held outmy hand, warm and fr iendly, to a young woman standing in the foyeraf ter church.

I t ' s possible for someone to at tend for qui te awhile and I might notrecognize her face. That 's easy even in our relat ively smal l church.We're out of town. They're out of town or working. Add a l i t t le week-end s ickness, and there 's a chance you might not not ice a new personfor weeks, maybe years . So even i f I suspect I 've seen them before Inever, ever ask, "Are you new to Tr ini ty?" I 'm conscient iously neutralso we can give each other an out . " I don' t think I 've met you." " I 'vebeen in India." " I need cataract surgery." Anyways, i t ' s r isky-- the

Issue #1 - 2008Still Winter

2

whole business of introducingyourself to strangers. I forcemyself to do it, thinking Ideserve a little pat from Godsaying, "Nicely done, Margie. Iknow meeting strangers ishard. Your memory is bad. Youneed to pay better attention.Focus. (Her name is Heather.Heather.) I know you'd like tojust go home, fix an omeletand watch the Vikings lose, butyou reached out to someonewho needed a warm greeting.Enter into paradise." Then thatperson will be really gratefulfor this small gesture and per-haps it will be the beginning ofmore. Who knows?

None of this happened withthe above nice, young woman.She looked me in the eye andsaid, "Well. We have metbefore." (I'm thinking. Okay.Yes. That's entirely possible.However, for forgetting yourface, I'll make it up to you bybeing utterly charming here.)

"In fact," she went on, "Istayed at your house last year."

You know how comedianssometimes use the bass drum,snare, and cymbals to deliver asingle, syncopated beat? Ka-ta-boom. I heard it there in thechurch foyer, and it drownedeverything and socompletely derailedmy concentration thatwhen she did tell meher name, I still didn'tget it. Remember the�Bunny Suicides" cal-endar I'm so fond of? Ithought of severalbunny ways I couldflush myself out of thesystem right then.

So much for themeaningful practice ofhospitality. So muchfor years of modeling"I was a stranger and you tookme in." I can't even remembersomeone who stayed in ourhome less than a year ago.There was a little more to thestory, but later. Feeling like an

idiot is pretty familiar territoryand I've learned to quicklymove on--or write about it.Being confronted with one'slimitations and failures isn'tsuch a bad thing. Jung liked topoint out we learn nothingfrom our successesand everythingfrom our mistakes,not that I base myentire life on whathe says. ChristinePohl clears it upfurther when shewrites: "Humility isa crucial virtue forhospitality, andespecially impor-tant in keepinghosts' power incheck. Power is acomplicateddimension of hos-pitality." (MakingRoom by C.D.Pohl. p. 120)

Who Knows What Risk?As Christians, we're called

to practice a rhythm of hospi -tality at all times and in allstages of life. We practice itnot because we're perfect incaring for others or because wenever stumble in remembering

the details of another's life orare wealthy or have a lot offree time. We invite thestranger into our lives becausewe answer Christ who calls tous through them saying, "I was

hungry and you gave me some-thing to eat, I was thirsty andyou gave me something todrink, I was a stranger and youinvited me in." (Mt. 25:35)

Moving out of the safety ofprivate orderly lives, we meet

Him in the lives ofthe marginalized,poor, and father-less. The father-lessness part of theequation interestsme as my ownfather was killed inan accident leavingmy seventeen yearold mother with nomeans of support.However, today Ibelieve the father-less includes theone whose fatheris alive but hasabandoned thefamily. Or he may

be a father who is there buttoo busy with his own life tobe engaged in the lives of hischildren. We must be awarethat many we meet don't carrytheir hungers on the surface oftheir lives, rather they remainburied under layers of encul -turated behavior that requiregentleness and time to peelback.

Over the years we've invit-ed people into our lives, andapproaching the age of dirtallows me to look back andpontificate about this practiceof touching the stranger in ourmidst. Sometimes our encoun-ters were brief and soon for-gotten--like the young womanabove. (After that Sunday inthe foyer I learned she had vis-ited Paige who at the time wasrenting our studio apartmentbehind Toad Hall. Paigebrought her over to meet usone evening, and I had utterlyforgotten.) There have beentimes when it seemed whateverwe did was wrong or notenough or made no differenceat all. Not knowing the out -

Notes from Toad Hall

3

come of our efforts, we may betempted to ask, �Will the inter -ruption to my life be worth it?Is this person deserving of mysacrifice? Does he know Ishould be fixing the leak in myroof rather than hearing aboutwhat shenani-gans histeenage daugh-ter is up to?And what if myshower draingets matted andclogged withcreepy stuff,and pages areturned down inmy favoritebook, and thedrill is neverreturnedbecause I gotinvolved?�

When weengage astranger, we can't know therisk involved, nor should wemake it our goal to see longterm effects of our hospitality.The early church fathersviewed acts of hospitality inthe light of the welcoming actsof the Incarnate Lord. Longbefore modern humanitarianrelief efforts, Augustine argueddirectly against the tendency togauge the worthiness of anyparticular person by saying,"We are not to search out onlythose we consider worthy, incase the worthy might beexcluded. You cannot be ajudge and sifter of hearts."(The Good Works Reader byThomas Oden) Augustine goeson to teach that our givingshould not be based uponmoral worth since we ourselveswere taken in by Christ whenwe were dark and broken. Wereceive strangers because indoing so we are loving Christas he has loved us. Often weconnect for a longer time andthe person who comes in needbecomes a friend who givesback many times over.

A Thousand RecklessWays

The difficulties and joys ofhospitality lie close togetherand the following illustratesboth unexpected blessing andthe struggle of limitations

when we encounterstrangers.

When Denisanswered the door aslight, young womanwith blue eyes andstraight blond hairdown to her waiststood on the stepsclutching a wornbackpack. Deniscalled me to comebecause she was ask-ing to stay with usand we had a policyof no crashers. Ipicked up our one-year-old daughter andcarried her with me to

the front door. Denis intro-duced me, "This is Nancy. She'sasking to stay with us."

"But we're not a crash pad."I said it with a note of accusa -tion. It was 1971 and therewere still plenty of disenchant -ed hitchhikers crossing thecountry, searching for a placeto drop acid and find the

Stairway To Heaven. I wasannoyed that Denis hadn't justsent her away. The four youngmen already living with uswere funny and charming, buttheir all-night jamming sessions

and the amount of food theyrequired were taxing mypatience. We were leadersworking with a large assort-ment of newly converted orspiritually searching youngpeople. We called our home�His House�--which at the timesounded more evocative. Ourliving room was open forumevery night for music, discus-sion, prayer and coffee; but wehad to have limits.

"My dad dropped me offover there," she pointed to thePiggly Wiggly parking lotacross the street from wherewe lived "and I told him I'd bestaying here. He's gone back toLas Cruces." She looked at us."Please? I heard you wereChristians, sort of like L'Abri,and that you took people in."She was barely twenty andspoke with an appealing littlelisp. There was a vulnerabilityabout her and it seemed uncar -ing and dangerous to be simplydumped off in the middle ofour run-down neighborhood inAlbuquerque. We looked ateach other and a slight nodpassed between Denis and me."You can come in and stay thenight, but I'm not sure aboutafter that. We don't have a bed

for you, but we haveextra blankets andthere is the floor."Her face brightened,and she entered ourhome and claimed acorner of the livingroom. That night,when Denis led aBible study discus-sion, it was crowdedas usual and Nancymade some preco-cious, insightful com-ments--enough toswivel my head and

capture our full attention. Latethat night after everyone leftshe told Denis he needed toread more of Francis Schaeffer.And she told him exactly why.We learned she was a new

Still Winter 2008

Ten Years Later: Margie and Nancy

Notes from Toad Hall

Christian and had just comeback from a place called SwissL'Abri. She stayed the next dayand the next, andthat summerbecame the first ofseveral summersshe spent in ourhome as part of ourfamily. We've lovedher ever since. In2005 NancyRandolph Pearcey'sbook Total Truth:LiberatingChristianity from ItsCultural Captivitywon the GoldMedallion Awardfor best book of theyear.

The same year we metNancy, Kathy Barboa found us--or maybe we found herbecause I don't remember thefirst time we met her either.

Kathy had been on heroineand living on the street for ayear when Teen Challengetook her in and taught hersomething about the power ofthe Gospel. She made a profes-sion of faith and really wanteda new life. She was fifteenwhen she moved in with us.

Kathy had wealthy parents,but they got sick of her trou-bled life and kicked her out;she talked some about theirdetachment. When he washome, her father sat behind thenewspaper never looking up,not answering or engaging herwhen she talked to him. To gether mother's attention shedropped syringes and needlesin the hallway and on the frontsteps, hoping her mom wouldfind them and be alarmed. Buther mother never said any-thing.

Over the Rhine has a songtitled �All I Need is Everything�in which they sing, "Inside,outside, feel new skin / all Ineed is everything / feel theslip and the grip of grace

again..." (from the CD GoodDog, Bad Dog, 2000) It's truethat, bottom line, we all need

that everything,but Kathy was sowounded sheneeded rock bot-tom everything.And what did wehave to offer? Notmuch. We wereyoung and poor.

One nightas I sat onKathy's bed say-ing good night,we talked aboutlittle things, noth-ing profound andsuddenly shesobbed andcouldn't stop. My

sitting there so casual, tender-ly, almost absently touchingher was something her momhad never done. Just this ordi -nary thing undid her. We lovedher, but not perfectly. She wasa huge trial for us, combininglittle girl needs with sexystreet-wise attitude. Sometimesshe made me really mad. In theend she left us because shecouldn't stay off drugs or awayfrom themen whoused her.We toldourselves,it wasn'tour fault.For fouryears weheard fromher, some-times in themiddle ofthe nightcrying,wanting usto pray,needing usto come pick her up from somedump. She wanted life to bedifferent, but she never over-came her terrifying addictions.

Then one day as I prepareddinner listening to the news

with half an ear, I heard anitem that made me drop thedish I was holding. A youngwoman had been shot by anex-boyfriend in a lover's quar-rel. I turned to look and sawKathy's body lying on the side -walk in a pool of blood cov -ered by a sheet.

So had she been usheredinto heaven that day? I thoughtso. All her wounds would havebeen healed by the time of thenewscast. I saw her as freshand virgin in a way that wasn'tpossible here on earth. Jesuswould have killed her bluesforever. Someday, I'm going tobe so glad to see her again andlaugh about the way she some-times shocked me.

We play small parts in thelives of many people weencounter. Hospitality is prac-ticed in a thousand reckless lit -tle ways. We don't know whatwill be the outcome of caringfor the stranger. God is underno obligation to tell us, and yethe notices and controls theconsequences of each littletemporal act, and they will notgo unrewarded.

4

Still Winter 2008 5

When I opened my E-MAIL I had a very importantmessage waiting:

January 31 Margie Haack challenged your knowledge on aquiz called "Retro Toys & Games that we all lovedplaying with, and probably still do!!!". Margie's scorewas 85%. Can you beat Margie's score? >>7:43pm

I took up the chal-lenge...logged ontoFACEBOOK and beatMargie's score. (I got100%). Glad I playedwith all those toys asa kid. Of coursethere are manymore FACEBOOKquizzes I have notfared so well at.

Why are we talking about FACEBOOK? If you didn'tknow, Denis and Margie are both part of the FACE-BOOK universe (which is a much tamer form ofsocial networking then, say, MySpace).

If you haven�t signed on to FACEBOOK, it might beworth your while. Plus, if you befriend the Haack�syou�re bound to discover deep, dark secrets aboutMargie, like:

January 29Margie walked home in a blizzard. Her face wasfrozen and she should have worn boots. >>11:47am

And catch this...

Margie just ate the last piece of really great amaz-ing toffee. Denis doesn't know yet. She'll deallater.>>3:11pm

I love that even in the digital realm Margie keepsher conversations to more analog enjoyments in lifelike blizzards and toffee.

If you sign on for theRansom FellowshipGroup on FACEBOOKyou can post com-ments on articles youread in Notes orCritique, and con-tribute to dialogueon the direction ofthis ministry.

Speaking of WEB SITES. I had the privilege of work-ing with Margie and Denis on the recent redesign ofwww.RansomFellowship.org (note it is .ORG--if youtry the .com address you will not get to the RansomFellowship you know and love).

Hopefully you've had a chance to explore the siteas there is a veritible plethora (I like that phrase) ofinformation available for you online. You can alsoget back issues of this publication in case you

missed an issue or wanted to e-mail a copy to afriend.

We are always adding new and archival material tothe site. Most recently we added a couple eBOOKS:one on Bible study that Denis wrote; another on mil-lenial issues by Wim Rietkerk of the Netherlands.Wim's son Mark is in classes with me at Covenant. Ithas been great getting to know his family.

Speaking of family...we are now looking to expandthe family of Ransom WEB SITES by adding a BLOG.The name is currently top secret (we're still trying tothink of something clever), but will be unveiled thisspring along with a link off the Ransom FellowshipWEB SITE.

I should encourage you to check out the DONATEsection of the WEB SITE as there are a number ofunique ways there for you to support the vision andmission of Ransom.

It has been fun watchingMargie and Denis as theydigitize their lives. Wherewould they be now without their MacBooks and CellPhones. And I�ve heard thatiPod�s have been spotted atToad Hall as well.

Fortunately they still embrace the analog realm aswell, as they continue to improve publications, likethis one, and discuss important books, films, musicand faith issues that impact all of our lives.

To close...

Margie, Thanks for letting me occupy a seat atToad Hall this time around.

Notes readers, Ihighly encourageyou to utilize theresources offeredby Ransom online,including tons ofgreat articles,back issues,eBOOKS, BLOGS,etc. Also, Iencourage you tosend Denis andMargie notes ofencouragementfor the work theydo.

Lastly, as the behind the scenes guy, please feelfree to send suggestions on how we can betterserve you through the two publications and the various web spaces.

Blessings.

Matthew Hundley

Managing Editor and Webmaster Matthew Hundley

Pulls Up A Chair at Toad Hall

Give Thanks With UsIn January we were deeply

blessed by our board meeting.Over the years our members,spouses included, have becomea small community of peoplewho know and care intimatelyfor one another. (Visit our web-site to meet them: www.ran-somfellowship.org/people.asp)

Our board annually reviewsRansom's work, establishes andapproves a budget, does inter-nal audits, but just as importanttime is spent in Bible Study,discussion, and prayer. We loveone another and know our pas-sions, gifts, frailties, and griefs.

All of us express amazementthat our times together are suchbalm for our souls. We're allused to extreme busyness,board meetings, conferences,difficulties and stress on everylevel--this is just life. But whenDonald Guthrie stands in thekitchen making a cup of teaand shaking his head, saying,"This is so pleasant in everyway," and when a spousewrites, "as long as I'm welcome,I don't ever want to miss this"we know that what happenswhen we come together is morethan Business, it is God at work among us giving us asmall taste of true Home.

And finally, I was vindicated, as if I needed that. Letmy sweet partner eat Apples because he is now officiallya "Switcher!" Denis has a new MacBook Pro thanks to aspecial donation that came in last quarter to help withthis purchase. At our board meeting, Ed Hague helpedhim put the old pc down and get the Mac up and run -ning. Besides many other cool features, it has new capa -bilities which will be a great help to him in capturing thefilm clips he often uses in lectures and discernment exer -cises.

Perhaps our main take-away this year was that Denisand I were affirmed, blessed, directed to keep on, andassured that we have like-minded folk who continue towalk with us.

Notes from Toad Hall66

R

Coming UpFebruary 15-18: Rochester L'AbriConference. Denis will give plenary on Film& Comedy. Workshops: Interview with FilmDirector Toddy Burton and Spiritual Yearningin Popular Music. Margie's workshop: Graceat the Table: Lessons from UnlikelyCharacters.

February 29 - March 1: Covenant Seminary,St. Louis. Denis teaches a class on Music andTheology. It will offer a theological frame-work for understanding the role of popularmusic in Western culture, with an emphasisupon exegesis of music, texts, andbiblical/theological material.

March 1: Kirk of the Hills, St. Louis. MissionsConference.

March 3-5: St. Louis at large.

March 9: Trinity Presbyterian, Rochester,MN. Denis begins 5 week series onMuslim/Christian Relations for adult class.

March 21-24: Easter with family in Chicagoarea.

April 11-14: Tucson, AZ. Denis will bespeaking at La Vita House.

April 17-20: Calvin College, Margie attendsFestival of Faith & Writing.

April 25-27: Providence PCA, Concord, NC.Denis & I do a weekend conference.

May 4-12: Stay with Aunt Ruth whileMarsena & Jeff get away.

Ransom Notes

Still Winter 2008 77

FFamily Notes

Last November we had an unex -pected reunion when our kids camehome for Thanksg iv ing . Ch i ld renwere born, people moved, and jobschanged s ince we las t saw eachother. Sember & Shaun have been inChat- tanooga almost four years, andafter two Tennessee babies this wasSember ' s f i r s t t r ip back . Je f f &Marsena's household grew when AuntRuth moved in. Some of us are twiceas big as twice as old as when we last got together.

With 9 adults and 7 chi ldren ourhouse fel t l ike a hummingbird nest . Alot of us s lept on the f loor, certaintoys were conf iscated, and t icketswere sold to the shower. We had two(only) disasters : Isobel plugged theba throom s ink wi th to i le t paperwhich f looded surrounding neighbor -hoods; and, I broke my crock-potinsert t rying to make gravy on theburner . I t c racked to p ieces andgravy ran to Sheol and back again.

Anson�s Cake

Marsena & Paige

Calling Doctor Paige

Paige & Isobel Tea Party

Gravy Hell

Jerem & Sem Kiss Micah

Kaiden, Shaun & Mason

Lishy & Uncle Jeff

Homelessness

We lie in our beds in the dark.There is a picture of the childrenon the bureau. A patch of moon-light catches our clothes thrownover the back of a chair. We canhear the faint rumble of the fur-nace in the cellar. We are sur-rounded by the reassurance of thefamiliar. When the weather is bad,we have shelter. When things arebad in our lives, we have a placewhere we can retreat to lick ourwounds while tens of thousands ofpeople, many of them children,wander the dark streets in search of some corner to lie down inout of the wind.

Yet we are homeless even so in the sense of having homesbut not being really at home in them. To be really at home is tobe really at peace, and there can be no real peace for any of usuntil there is some measure of real peace for all of us. When weclose our eyes to the deep needs of other people whether theylive on the streets or under our own roof - and when we closeour eyes to our own deep need to reach out to them - we cannever be fully at home anywhere.

Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABCFrederick Buechner, p. 46

In this life we are blessed if we have moments of tasting, ofsmall knowings when we're on to something very like home. Welong for it to be permanent, not just for ourselves but for all whowander the wastelands of earth. The words of Christ are sweetwhen he assures us: "Let not your heart be troubled. Trust inGod; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if itwere not so, I would have told you. I'm going there to prepare aplace for you." (John 14:1,2.) Aswe wait for the "already, but notyet" we are honored to share thefragrance of what's to come tothose who pass by.

Warmly,

Margie Haack

8 Notes from Toad Hall

FFinal Notes Toad Hall is the name of our home,christened by our children. It is fromthe book The Wind in the Willows, afavorite of ours. In it Mole, a shy yetdaring character, and Ratty, who ismuch nicer and more sensible thanhis name would imply, have manyadventures along the river. One oftheir friends is Toad of Toad Hall. Toadis something of an aristocrat and livesin a mansion. Otherwise, he has verylittle to commend him and reallydoesn�t deserve friends since he is acallous liar, lacks common sense and,well, he lives for the pleasure of themoment�which brings him no end oftrouble.

When we moved to Minnesota in1981, our children had rarely seensuch tall homes with their imposingthree stories. They were used to one-story adobes which rambled along inthe hot New Mexico sun. So, to ourchildren, a midwestern Gothic four-square looked amazingly like a man-sion. Possibly even as great a houseas Toad Hall.

Managing Editor - Matthew Hundley

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