Blog

By Eric Nelson

Aren’t there times when you just crave an uncomplicated and basic thing? Perhaps it’s Mom’s cooking—simple, good old-fashioned food. Maybe hiking in the woods—away from traffic, cell phones, and computers—being close to nature and the simple pleasures of God’s handiwork.

Similarly, there are times when we need to get back to basics in our religious experience. Micah 6:8 summarizes this well: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” That verse describes a simple, direct walk with our Lord.

Ellen White seems to make a similar point when she writes, “Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times” (The Great Controversy, p. 464).

When we first gave our hearts to the Lord and experienced fresh and new devotion to Christ, it was not so that we could argue our points of doctrine more convincingly.

Rather, it was to experience a faith walk—complete with forgiveness, victory, and the joy of Christ’s presence in our lives. Those basic elements are what really made the Christian life worth living. It was not just a religion of dos and don’ts. It was—and should continue to be—a faith lived out in a simple, biblical manner.

When we find ourselves feeling like our walk with Christ is not as strong as we wish for it to be, we need to get back to those basic, simple elements of our connection with Christ. Perhaps we could spend time reading the Gospels, spend more time in prayer, take time to renew our personal relationship with Christ, or re-read Steps to Christ or The Desire of Ages. Those are the pure and simple elements that best help us renew our first commitment to Him.

The Book of Revelation (2:4) speaks of a people who have lost some of their earlier devotion, commitment, and love. It says, “You have forsaken the love you had at first.” We do not want that to be a description of our relationship with Christ. We want to have a vibrant and strong connection with our Lord. Thankfully there is an answer. Jesus’ power to keep us in a strong relationship with Him is just as strong as his power to convert us in the first place.

What would it be like if our churches were full of people who acted justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly with their God? What would happen in a community where the Seventh-day Adventist Church members had a revival of primitive godliness? I think those churches would be the most convincing testimony that with the power of the Holy Spirit we will attract those we wish to reach. If we truly lived our faith in simple, practical ways, the impact of our religion would be a powerful witness to others.

At an early Adventist revival tent meeting, a man was convicted that he should correct his life and get right with God. Returning home from the meeting, he passed someone that he had cheated in a sheep sale. He promptly confessed his wrong and asked to make it right. As this other, non-religious neighbor walked away from the event, he remarked, “If that’s what it means to be converted, I want some of that too.”

Perhaps it is time for us to return to the basic practice of our faith—the first love and devotion we had with our Lord and Savior. May we experience a pure and simple faith walk with Christ.

Eric Nelson is RMC vice president for administration.

A conversation between Rajmund Dabrowski, editor of Mountain Views, Katie Morrison, Rocky Mountain Conference communication intern, and Jessyka Albert, young adult pastor at Boulder Adventist Church.

Among the avalanche of reactions to the General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas, with its controversial decisions and the tone of the debates surrounding them— particularly women’s ordination—many millennials appeared confused and disappointed. They had, in many cases, hoped for different outcomes. Numerous media commentators noted how many voices expressed feeling rejected and abandoned by the church. Some declared their intention to walk away, and many church leaders have wondered whether the “back door” of the church will widen.

On a fresh summer Friday morning, at the Cheese Importers café in Longmont, Colorado, two millennials, Jessyka Albert, young adult pastor at the Boulder Adventist Church, and Katie Morrison, Rocky Mountain Conference communication intern, joined Rajmund Dabrowski, Mountains Views editor, and talked about their own reactions. They also considered the broader picture of “young adults in the church,” discussing ways to embrace them in our community of faith. Their conversation addresses an issue that will not go away.

RD: Millennials, are they a problem or a solution?

JA: It depends on your relationship with them, I think. It depends on how you’re engaging with them. If you aren’t engaging with them, they could be a problem. Maybe what we view as a problem is actually the solution.

RD: Is it important to know who is asking the question? Occasionally, you hear some Adventist old-timer say, “These young people are bringing this and that into the church. They are creating a problem for us.”

JA: We forget that young people founded our church, and that generation grew up and it kept growing up. It got stuck in an older rut. We look at young people and see the church of tomorrow. We say, “Get ready! You’ll be in charge some- day!” instead of saying, “Hey, would you like to be in charge of something now, learn how to do it, get your feet wet?”

RD: And also make mistakes and learn from them.

JA: Right! I feel like that’s a lot of pressure on young people to think when it’s our turn, we need to have it all figured out and not make any mistakes.

RD: Sometimes this seems like an academic question because that’s how it gets treated! Church leaders ask for professors in our universities to provide answers. Surveys are conducted. Is this the way we should approach youth involvement? Maybe we could issue a simple invitation to young people: Help us with the conundrum.

KM: A lot of it comes down to attitude. Many young people have this jaded view of the church—from what they’ve seen growing up—but have a glamorized view of the outside. They think they can have abounding success if they get outside the insulated Adventist world. Friends of mine are constantly leaving Adventist schools because they’ve been in Adventist education all their lives and they don’t want to limit them- selves. I see their point. I wonder the same thing about myself, with getting this internship [at the Rocky Mountain Conference] and only getting professional experience in the Adventist church. Will it limit me?

JA: Many of us think we have a glass ceiling. We tell ourselves that we can only grow so much in the Adventist church but could grow so much more in the world when the reality is the exact opposite. We think we can only live up to so much of our potential in the church since there’s not much being given to us. We do hit the glass ceiling; there’s nowhere else we can have a voice, so we walk out. We say, “I’m going to go somewhere where I can keep growing, keep learning and keep serving.”

KM: We take that one Bible verse out of context [“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” —1 Peter 4:10 NIV]. We tell ourselves, “The church won’t let me use this gift so if I’m going to use it, I need to go.”

JA: I think it’s a big matter of trust. You have to see it not only from the perspective of the young people, but from that of the older generation as well. They don’t trust us. I don’t mean that as a mean or negative thing, but they just don’t trust us because they love this church so much. For some reason, I feel like sometimes I’m not trusted to be a leader in the church as a young adult. But then I come to certain places, like Boulder, and I’m just 100 percent trusted. All of a sudden, I’m in this place where I’m growing like crazy and the glass ceiling has just been lifted from above me. It’s so sad because not many young adults get to experience that.

RD: I represent a past generation or two. I can’t help but look through a “glass of tradition,” and I like some regularity. Many older people say, “We’ve always done it that way!” How does this square with the way we read the Scriptures?

JA: We know the God of the Old and New Testament as the same God. We’re all in agreement on that. But the God of the Old Testament was about fire coming down from heaven, loud voices, and burning bushes; He was all about these big moments. The God of the New Testament is Jesus. He is telling stories, humble and unassuming. His methods changed from Old to New Testament. That doesn’t mean He changed. He just did things in a different way. I think that the church needs to realize that young people are going to do things in a different way, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to uphold the values and the doctrines and the truth of our church.

RD: When I’m looking at the example of Jesus, He was not afraid to challenge the establishment. He talked to women! He didn’t object when a woman touched His garment.

JA: He was breaking all the rules!

RD: From time to time, we break the rules, whether or not we’re young people. I know I have. And, sometimes rules need to be broken in order for life to come back to where it ought to be. I remember a story of a preacher who was also a poet in England. He entered the pulpit with a hidden brick, and began his sermon by saying, “I would like to bring some fresh air into the church.” He turned around, and threw his brick through the stained glass window. This story makes me think that if this could happen more often in my church—if some of our leaders could challenge us to this in the church today—it would be much different now.

JA: It’s important to remember that we aren’t trying to break rules just to break them. There’s purpose behind it. We aren’t just trying to be rebellious and change the church into what we think it should look like. We’re trying to do things to make it better and shine a light on a fresh perspective. Imagine a cake without frosting or sprinkles. It’s still good. But we are saying, “Hey, wouldn’t some frosting or sprinkles make this better?”

RD: Looking at the church organization as well as the local congregation, how can we do this?

JA: The most important part of my life as a young adult has been having good mentors. We need to be able to bridge the gap between the younger and older generations. That comes through relationships. We can’t just expect to simply watch older generations and say, “I think that’s how it’s done.” Having positive mentors, especially at the local church level, and having the older generation extend a hand to the younger generation, could really close the gap. No one seems willing to put a hand across this huge gap because we don’t know why we’re reaching or what will happen. The older generations expect us to know what to do right away and when we don’t, we lose out on that opportunity.

RD: We can’t help but note that many young people are leaving the church. The back door seems to be widening, especially with the recent developments in the way our global church is treating women in ministry. We say to young people, “Stay, don’t go, and don’t abdicate your voice.” They ask, “What’s in the church for me?”

JA: We don’t necessarily have a voice. What voice we have is very muffled and it’s put in a corner. At the General Conference, we saw our voice measured. We were told that only young people aged here to here have a say and it’s only this much. It’s not an equal playing field. We talked about it at Sabbath school after GC, and a 16-year-old girl was struggling with the decision on women’s ordination. We had to tell her that her age group wasn’t even represented among the delegates. I have to tell this teenage girl, who’s upset about the decisions made, “I understand you’re upset, but by the way, your age group had zero say in this and you won’t have a voice until you’re 18, at which time you’ll have a little say.” It was very frustrating and hard for her to digest.

RD: But what can we do? The problem seems to be in choices the leadership of the church has been making lately. One can only hope they take note of these serious issues, and address them, recognizing that if the young people are walking out the church’s back door, maybe the church leadership needs to open the windows . . .

JA: Or, why isn’t there anyone at the back door asking where those leaving are going? Why isn’t anyone saying, “Why don’t you come over here before you go?’ There’s no place for young people to sit down and have an idea without hearing older members say, “That’s nice, but let the adults talk.” There need to be more outlets for young adults to learn and grow and express their love for ministry.

RD: Perhaps young people need to start inviting themselves into church life options.

JA: Katie and I are the same way. We don’t like going places by ourselves, especially if we haven’t been personally invited and we know exactly who will be there. We don’t go unless we are guaranteed that it won’t be awkward. I’m sure some in the church would love to see a bunch of young people wanting to be involved in leadership and service. But we’re scared because our generation’s biggest fear is rejection. We don’t want to put ourselves out there and be turned away.

KM: We’re also extremely self-centered and entitled, which makes it worse.

JA: We think it needs to be handed to us on a silver platter.

KM: Exactly. We’re leaving because we’re always asking, “What does church have to offer me? What am I going to get from this?” My church did a skit a couple weeks ago where a group of individuals stood up front and read a profile. The first was a young person, describing her experience as someone who isn’t included. The second was a girl with tattoos, piercings, and dyed hair, who spoke about the judgment that her appearance receives. A man read his profile, listing his struggles with family and work and how hard it is to put on a happy smile and hide his true emotions at church. Each person ended with this phrase: “I wonder  what church will be like for me today.” The final profile was just a voice—Jesus. He said, “All my children have been avoiding me, ignoring me. It’s been really hard this week but today my kids are all here. I wonder what church will be like for me today.” Instead of being self-centered, our focus in the church community should be all about Jesus. We should be asking, “What can I do to make someone else’s experience better?”

JA: I see this as a pendulum. The Adventist church caters to the older generation, which is on one side of the pendulum. The younger generation on the other side, says, “We’re not okay with that unless we get all this.” All of a sudden the older side cries, “You just took away everything that was important to us!” The pendulum doesn’t need to be swinging to either side drastically; it needs to be centered on Jesus.

KM: That eliminates the “us versus them” controversy.

JA: We need to become a “we.”

RD: Dr. Jan Paulsen, who for seven years engaged in Let’s Talk conversations with young adults around the world, said plainly: “There will be no church in the future without the creative presence and engagement of those who are young.” There’s a lesson for the leaders of the church here, I believe. Open the doors, because those young people out there need to be inside as contributors to all of our lives in a community of believers. We need to embrace and learn from each other and above all, learn from Jesus who loves every single person, age notwithstanding.

JA: We are all children. The older generation is still full of children of God, just as much as the younger generation is. In a sense, we’re all young adults.

RD: Even the 90 year olds.

JA: We’re all young in God’s eyes.

By Wayne Morrison

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed with the tasks of the day? You work hard, run fast, hustle all day, but find yourself looking back and realizing that all you accomplished was good, but what didn’t get done was actually more important.

Every year or so, I track everything I do for a two week period. This includes every call I make, every task I do, every meeting or visit I have, for the sole purpose of evaluating what I am spending my time on. I then divide my activities into three simple categories: things I should never do, things I could delegate, and things I must do myself. It always amazes me how quickly the “less important” rises to the top, and the “most important” slips out of sight.

What I am talking about is not time management, although I do believe we need to stop from time to time and check our list of spiritual priorities. Is it possible we could get some “important truths” confused with the “Most Important Truth?” If we could track all of our conversations, our comments in Sabbath School class, our sermons, our conversations at work and with our neighbors, what is it we talk about most? I’m not asking about conversations in general, but rather about spiritual conversations. When spiritual things are talked about, what do we say? What has made its way to the top of our spiritual conversation list? How quickly do we mention the Sabbath, state of the dead, diet, commandments or other “unique truths?”

Today’s challenge is that perhaps we have been far too focused on our “unique message” and have allowed the “simple gospel” to slip from our conversations completely. What do you mean, Pastor Wayne? Are we not a peculiar people with a special message? Yes, we are! But what if we allow “important truths” to steal from our message the “Most Important Truth?”

We have some unique truths that God has given for better lives and a deeper understanding of both past and future events, and these can help us to live longer and more peace-filled lives. “Unique truths” are good; they provide answers to questions people are asking and should be shared as an added bonus to the “Most Important Truth.”

What is the “Most Important Truth?” It is the gospel as described in Romans 5:8, Philippians 2:5-8, John 3:16, and many more. The “simple Gospel” says that we were all lost, but Jesus, sent by His Father, came to seek and save the lost! God reached down from heaven in the person of Jesus and wrapped His arms around us, loving, forgiving, healing, protecting, and providing for us all we’ll ever need. That, to me, is good news! It is what I believe should form the substance of the most important conversations we have.

Where do the unique truths fit in? God loves me and, as a manifestation of that love, He gives me insights into His character through important principles to live by. These insights allow me to love Him more as I understand Him better. They help me to be happier, healthier, and at greater peace with both God and man. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life!” He is “The Truth” that all “other truths” point to, or help me understand more completely.

I believe that we need to take time to evaluate the priorities of our conversations to be sure the “important truths” have not over taken the “Most Important Truth.” Jesus and His salvation is not the byline; it is the core, the hub of everything Christians should be about.

Will you join me in keeping the “Most Important Truth” most important?

Wayne Morrison is the pastor of the Brighton Church.

By Rajmund Dabrowski

Months before the General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas, an avalanche of speculations, rumors and personal agenda items flooded conversations, publications, and social media. A friend asked me, “Ray, why aren’t you saying anything? You’ve been around and could possibly tone down the rhetoric.”

“I do not see this as a noble task,” I responded. “There is more to life than adding to the noise and chatter about the obvious church politics culminating in San Antonio. Besides, being a target for the lunatics that have suddenly come out of the church’s stale woodwork does not come close to my view of religious entertainment.”

Frankly, I care more about “pure and simple religion” than about positioning myself among the purveyors of personal agendas for the church, who often react with hateful and vicious talk laced with a sprinkle of outright lies. Call me old-fashioned, but I care about the language we use, especially when describing matters that are associated with spiritual aesthetics. Call it spiritual formation that has a value for my life, a way of life I inherited from my upbringing and personal contact with Scripture and its Author.

Observing the Adventist blog conversations in particular, one could not miss the negative strategies at play, especially when the topic of women in ministry surfaced as the church’s primary 2015 concern (again). The interlocutors, who in the recent past had exercised notable influence in church mission, suddenly claimed expertise in areas they had not been known for. The cyber talk moved off center, and motives to “rule the church and rule the world” replaced unity with uniformity. All in the name of true religion.

In her commentary on “What It’s Really Like to Be a Woman Pastor,” Alicia Johnston, a church planter from Carolina Conference, wrote: “There are independent organizations and individuals that used to be dedicated to evangelism who have made it their mission to discredit the ministry of female pastors. It saddens me deeply.” Myself, I wondered about the effect of that evolution on the church.

When comments on the blogs were laced with name calling, which included expressions of hatred toward those with contrary opinions, I could not help but see the image of a church that has perhaps lost its balance. Some noble and notable church leaders, through a few strokes of the keyboard, became “Jesuits,” “servants of Satan,” and “antichrists,” to list a few. When I read the Pauline admonition to “set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12, NIV), a thought crossed my mind and a smirk appeared on my face: Judging by the group the apostle is addressing, one can assume that this advice is for the young people. Some of the interlocutors are already “seasoned,” so perhaps this does not apply to them anymore!

Have some of our fellow church members (often hiding their names behind pseudonyms) forgotten another classic comment by Peter (2 Peter 3: 5-7) about brotherly kindness ? What about this text? “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless” (James 1:26).

After posting an article on the Rocky Mountain Conference’s Facebook page about the vote dealing with women’s ordination, the flood of reactions—thousands of comments— was taken over by hateful language. We had thought that our community was quite tame until this happened! It would appear that we have a fringe of “Hateventists” among us. What do we do with them? They should be loved, but would many of us want to walk hand in hand with them?

A communication colleague of mine suggested posting the following statement: “Reminder on Christian Dialogue: The Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in respectful, Christ-like dialogue between Christians, and indeed, all people. There is no place for disrespectful statements, unfounded accusations, and hatred to exist on our social media pages. Thank you for understanding and demonstrating respect to all.” Responses indicated approval; we could definitely hear people applauding.

Most reading these words are not hate-talkers—but if you should recognize yourself as a Hateventist, perhaps you might consider a simple request: Watch your language!

Rajmund Dabrowski is RMC communication director.

By Jim Feldbush

At 7:33 a.m. on May 9, 1980, the freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a support column of Florida’s Sun- shine Skyway Bridge, sending more than 1,200 feet of bridge into Tampa Bay. The connection had been broken and the people on the north side could no longer reach the people on the south side. After much debate, it was decided that a new bridge must be built. It would look a little different, but its purpose would be the same—to once again connect these two communities.

For more than 150 years, the Adventist church has had a special message regarding health. This message is especially intended to build bridges, to connect the community within our church walls to the community outside.

During the past few years, there’s been a surge of public interest in living a healthy life. Internet, television, and radio outlets are flooded with articles on exercise, sleep, good nutrition, and the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Of course, these themes are not new to Seventh-day Adventists; we’ve been talking about them for years. In fact, we have a unique whole-person approach to addressing these health issues. And because there is such intensive public interest in good health right now, it’s a perfect time to build new bridges.

The five Adventist hospitals of Colorado (Avista, Castle Rock, Littleton, Parker, and Porter) have built a new bridge to connect with the members of their communities, including employees, physicians, neighborhoods, and patients. By using a concept called CREATION Health (with educational materials produced by Florida Hospital, a part of Adventist Health Systems) to serve the members of these communities, the five hospitals have seen lives changed as they’ve helped hundreds improve their blood pressure, blood sugar, body-mass index, etc., as well as witnessing the difference God makes in life and health.

What is CREATION Health?

CREATION Health is an acronym (see sidebar) for a timeless message of living life to the fullest. It is simply a new and attractive “bridge” for truths that have long existed.

This approach takes people where they are and leads them on a journey over time that will help them live fuller and healthier lives. It’s about taking away negative labels, treating people with love and respect, and creating long-term, trusting relationships that lead to better lives. It’s about using time-honored principles to reach people with the healing love of Christ. Through community events, biometric screenings and activities in our hospitals, teaching patients about the benefits of whole person care, and meeting with small groups of physicians to help them live fuller lives, the Colorado Adventist hospital approach to CREATION Health is making a significant difference in the lives of many.

The philosophy of the hospitals’ efforts is encapsulated in the words of Ellen White: “. . . As the medical missionary works intelligently to relieve suffering and save lives, hearts are softened. Those who are helped are filled with gratitude. As the medical missionary works upon the body, God works upon the heart. The comforting words that are spoken are a soothing balm, bringing assurance and trust . . .” (Manuscript 58, 1901). The team has discovered that an attitude of grace and understanding for each individual’s journey has made all the difference.

The CREATION Health team is building bridges by simply doing good, as Jesus did, and by helping to improve the health of those they meet.

Jim Feldbush is director for mission and ministry at Porter Adventist Hospital. To learn more about this innovative program, contact Dr. Eric Shadle, CREATION Health Manager for the Adventist Hospitals of Colorado, at [email protected].

By Katie Morrison

As a lifelong introvert, the thought of joining sixty thousand Adventists in an unknown city for ten days was daunting. Add the fact that I would be working with seasoned media professionals from all over the country, potentially the world, and my head was spinning.

I was thrilled at the opportunities I had been promised. You’ll get a press pass! You’ll make so many connections! You’ll see our church leadership in action and get an inside view of our processes! How cool for me to be able to tell future employers that at the age of 21 as a summer intern, I had been privy to daily General Conference press briefings for the North American Division and had churned out as many as three news stories in a day.

Those first few hours in the Alamodome, I focused on the surrealism of my situation. I’m in a press box! I’m meeting the NAD president! There is someone in a blue blazer pushing buttons in the elevator for me! The actual working and writing came later.

And the work was intense. Press briefings gave us assignments for the day and allowed me to connect with international communication professionals. I was given story after story, interviewed 5K participants and Bible character re-enactors, and snuck in time to buy new shoes. No one warned me about all the walking!

Sitting in the press box during the business sessions was frustrating in a few ways. I didn’t realize it would be so noisy and chaotic. People were constantly chatting, asking for spelling on a delegate’s name or for a photo. The sound system came through jumbled in the press box and with all the other voices, you really needed laser focus to hear the session—at least I did. Apparently those talking were also in- credible multi-taskers because they heard every single word.

Maybe I had trouble hearing because I didn’t under- stand. I didn’t know I was from “NAD” until I got my name tag (“Katie Morrison, NAD”). There was a man sitting across from me in the press box with the label “EUD.” I figured out the three letter codes were divisions, but what’s included within those divisions? It’s so confusing! Is there a code cheat sheet someone could print for me?

The conversation on the floor itself was a whole new beast. I had never been to a church board meeting or a school board meeting or anything close. I wasn’t aware of the constant backtracking and the amount of time it can take for a simple agenda motion. I was aware of the difficulty inherent in attempting to have multiple people agree. I do have siblings after all. The delegates were like a 2,500 sibling family.

As I watched dozens of delegates line up, I thought of my own family. When we’re all gathered together, we constantly fight for attention and the chance to speak. I saw that happening on the floor. There were people that just wanted to say their piece, whether it actually helped or not.

To me, General Conference just seemed like a big camp meeting on steroids except with more decisions being made. Instead of just speakers and messages, it’s a board meeting on steroids mixed with a camp meeting on steroids.

It almost felt like there was a distinction between times about worship and times about the people, a mental switch between God and decision making. Obviously God was there in everything but the atmosphere changed and seemed very clinical and mechanical. During one meeting, a dele- gate made a comment and the chairwoman said, “Let’s let the Holy Spirit take care of that matter.” I was caught off guard, thinking, “Oh right! I forgot about the Holy Spirit!” People who work in the church and on school boards might be used to that language. But to me, it felt very robotic.

Even though it was “against the rules,” I loved the moments when the delegates applauded a powerful point. In my mind, it helped heal some of the division created by the comments and debates. We don’t always disagree, the applause told me. We are one church and we will work it out.

I believed being as a media representative would be the most important aspect of my week in San Antonio. I thought the work I did and the pieces I wrote would make the trip memorable. I realized instead that it was the people I encountered who made the week amazingly special.

I had the opportunity to interview Hau Yajie, the ordained female pastor of the largest Adventist church in the world. Through a translator, I glimpsed a fraction of her enthusiasm and passion. She had the most incredible story, having started a church in China by initially gathering fewer than 10 people in her living room. Her faith and confidence in God’s calling was inspiring, and I still remember her saying, “No matter what position I have, ordained or not, I just want to do the ministry.”

On my walk to the dome one day, a man noticed my badge. “Are you a delegate?” he asked. I was asked this more frequently than you’d think, despite my face resembling that of an eighth grader.

“No, I’m with the media from the NAD,” I replied.

He, along with his wife and son, asked me questions about my home and my job with an accent I couldn’t place. I told them about my recent relocation to Colorado and my internship before turning the question around to them. “Where are you from?”

“Canada,” he answered, “but I’m originally a Frenchman from Belgium.” Instantly I was captivated at this physical embodiment of culture before me. I listened as he described his journey from Europe, his impending 50-year wedding anniversary, and his apology after briefly speaking to his wife in French. “We made it a point to speak French in the home,” he explained in his charming accent. “We wanted our son to be bilingual.”

We parted ways and I kicked myself as I lost the three figures in the crowd. I hadn’t gotten their names; and that was only the first in a string of mysterious encounters with strangers I would never forget.

Katie Morrison was RMC summer communication intern.