“The Risen Lord,” painted in 1951 by my artist friend, Rhody Yule of Faribault, who died in June 2011 at the age of 92.
When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene… She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.— Mark 16: 9-11
GROWING UP LUTHERAN, I knew Catholics couldn’t eat meat on Fridays during Lent. They ate fish. I never understood that because I consider fish to be meat.
But, still Lutheran today, I respect the Catholic Friday Fish Fry tradition.
Photographed in Omro, Wisconsin, eight miles west of Oshkosh along the Fox River.
This time of year, you’ll see advertisements and signs galore calling the faithful to feast on fish on Fridays.
These weekly Lenten fish fries should also remind believers of their calling to be, like Jesus’ disciples, fishers of men (and women and children). If I remember my bible facts correctly, Andrew, Peter, James and John were fishermen by profession and fishermen by discipleship.
Throughout scripture, you will find numerous references to fish, beginning with the beginning. In Genesis 1:26, God says:
“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
What a great responsibility.
Then there’s the story of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish. I remember as a child reading Sunday School bible lessons and how impressed I was by this. To think that the prophet Jonah would be swallowed by a whale, remain in the whale’s belly for three days and then be spit out alive seemed pretty miraculous to me.
And that’s exactly as it should have seemed. The apostle Matthew writes in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 12:40:
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jonah’s experience connects to Christ’s resurrection from the dead after the third day, as explained by Matthew.
At VFW Post 2778 in Appleton, WI., they apparently attempt to feed the masses as the Friday Fish Fry runs from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Finally, the other significant mention of fish imprinted upon my memory comes in the feeding of the 4,000 and the 5,000 plus. On both occasions, Jesus multiplied miniscule portions of bread and fish to feed the masses:
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14: 19-21)
I think Jesus would have appreciated a Friday Fish Fry.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
A harvest basket, photographed in the entry to Trinity Lutheran Church, Faribault, Minnesota.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through the generations.
MAY YOU BE BLESSED on Thanksgiving day by the presence of those you love. May your table be full. And may your heart overflow with gratitude to God for all you have been given.
From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!
Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
IN THE UNLIKLIEST OF PLACES, inside a box of vintage bullet pencils at the Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Flea Market, between the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D., and Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills, I spotted a mini sermon:
Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”—John 14:6
© Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
One of many rocks which grace the Kasota Prairie, rural Kasota, Minn.
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock or our salvation.
The Freedom choir sings during an outdoor mission festival in the woods south of Janesville, Minn., in August.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
A snippet of a crown in a stained glass window at Trinity Lutheran Church, Faribault, Minn.
3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.
“The Prairie is My Garden,” a painting by South Dakota artist Harvey Dunn, showcases the prairie I so love. Here I’ve photographed most of a print which I purchased at a yard sale for a bargain $20.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
American soldiers receive The Lord’s Supper in Korea, May 1953. Photo by my foot soldier father, Elvern Kletscher, who fought on the front line during the Korean War. My Dad wrote this home in a letter to his parents: “Sure was good to go to church. I had communion. I always try and make every church service they got over here. Once a week the chaplain comes up here on the hill.” Powerful words. Powerful photo of our soldiers kneeling on Korean soil to partake of The Lord’s Supper.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
A pastoral spring scene near Roberds Lake, rural Rice County, Minn., near my Faribault home.
7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
Psalm 95: 1-7, New International Version of the bible
Photos copyrighted 2012, Audrey Kletscher Helbling
A tattered prayer book carried by my father to Korea, where he fought on the front lines during the Korean Conflict. Touching these pages, I feel the faith of my soldier father.
LAST SUNDAY AFTER SERVICES at my church, Trinity Lutheran in Faribault, we watched a brief video about BibleSticks.
Never heard of them? I hadn’t either, until viewing that clip.
“The Military BibleStick is a digital audio player that is pre-loaded with a dramatized recording of the entire New Testament,” according to the Faith Comes by Hearing website. The organization, dedicated to getting the Word of God into the world, “offers 557 Audio Scripture recordings in 553 languages reaching more than 5 billion people in more than 185 countries.”
Part of that outreach includes the U.S. military. Demand is great for the 3 ½-inch long, less than one inch thick, camouflaged, battery-operated BibleSticks, I learned via the video. For whatever reason, the BibleSticks must be processed through military chaplains.
With a $25 donation, we could give a slip-in-the-pocket, portable New Testament to military men and women.
Although I personally don’t know of anyone who has used a BibleStick, I do understand the importance of access to Scripture, especially for our soldiers.
Flashback to February 1952, when my father, Elvern Kletscher of Vesta, was drafted. Less than a year later, he found himself in the mountains of Korea, a U.S. military infantryman fighting on the frontline during the Korean Conflict.
My father, Elvern Kletscher, preparing to leave his Vesta farm home in April 1952, six weeks after he was drafted.
On February 26, 1953, he was struck in the neck by shrapnel at Heartbreak Ridge. Later, he would be awarded the Korean Service Medal with 3 Bronze Service Stars, the National Defense Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Purple Heart.
During those combat days, when my dad feared for his life, when he was forced to shoot the enemy or die, he relied on his deep faith in God.
My Dad's worn copy of God Our Refuge.
And he carried with him a 3-inch by 4 ½-inch black book, God Our Refuge. A gift from the St. John’s Lutheran Ladies’ Aid of Vesta, the book includes gospel readings, devotions, meditations, prayers, hymns and more.
Within the pages of that volume, my dad found solace, hope and comfort in the face of constant death.
Now eight years after his death, I cradle the tiny book in my palm, brush my fingers against the brittle, black leather covers, open the curled pages that are loosening from the binding. I think of my father, how he carried this book in his pocket, how he flipped and read the 144 pages, how he prayed while trapped inside the cold earth of a foxhole, while engaging in battle, while lying inside his tent at night.
The inscription reads: To Elvern Kletscher with best wishes from the Lutheran Ladies' Aid at Vesta, Minn.
As I turn to page 117 of my dad’s tattered copy of God Our Refuge, I feel forever connected to him, my fingers touching the paper he touched, reading the words he read 58 years ago as a young soldier in battle:
“In Thine arms I rest me;
Foes who would molest me
Cannot reach me here.
Though the earth be shaking,
Every heart be quaking,
Jesus calms my fear.
Lightnings flash and thunders crash;
Yet, though sin and hell assail me,
Jesus will not fail me.”
HAVE YOU OR SOMEONE you know used a BibleStick? If so, I’d like to hear about your experience with this audio version of Scripture and what it meant to you.
My grandparents, Ida and Henry Kletscher, posing with some of their children, flank my father, Elvern Kletscher, who is about to leave for military service in 1952. My uncle Merlin is the youngest, standing in the front row wearing the bib overalls.
BEHIND EVERY PICTURE, there is a story, including stories about the images of my father and his family, above.
My uncle, Merlin Kletscher, found these two photos in the winter of 2010 while researching for a family reunion. They were tucked inside a worn copy of The Lutheran Hymnal, copyright 1941, published by Concordia Publishing House. That hymnbook belonged to my grandfather, whose name, Henry Kletscher, was inked in gold on the cover. He had taped the edges and binding of the much-used songbook.
The two photos were sandwiched between song 409, “Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus,” and song 410, “Jesus Lead Thou On.”
The latter was one of my Grandpa Henry’s favorite hymns, Uncle Merlin recalls.
“I have not found any other photos or negatives which leads me to think that these pictures were very dear to him,” my uncle says.
Now those photos are also very dear to me. When Merlin handed copies to me last summer, I teared up. Little did my father know then what horrors awaited him on the battlefields of Korea, how his life and death experiences would forever change him.
And my heart ached for my Grandma Ida, standing there beside her soldier son. I wish I had asked her how she felt, how they all felt. Now I have only these photos to show me the close love of a family sending their boy off to war.
© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.” Mark 14:17-18
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14:35-36
Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. The men seized Jesus and arrested him. Mark 14:44-46
They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him…With a loud cry Jesus breathed his last. Mark 15:17 and Mark 15:37
When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene… Mark 16:9
“He has risen! He is not here.” Mark 16:6
(Scripture from The New International Version of the Holy Bible.)
© Photos copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling of paintings by Faribault, Minnesota, artist Rhody Yule, copyrights reserved
Rhody Yule, a 92-year-old Faribault artist, painted this version of The Last Supper.
LIVING ART. A tribute to Christ. A contemplative event to mark the beginning of Holy Week.
However you view it, a dramatic presentation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper by a rural church should be on your must-see list for the weekend if you live in my area of southeastern Minnesota.
For 49 years now, St. John’s United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township, has presented Drama of the Last Supper in the old limestone church set among flat farm fields and scattered farm places near Nerstrand Big Woods State Park in Rice County.
At 8 p.m. on Palm Sunday, April 17, as darkness falls upon the land, the sanctuary too will darken and the spotlight will shift to 12 men seated at the front of the church. Alan, Grant, Craig, Kyle, Todd, Thad, Keith, Doug, Marty, Brian, Randy and Paul will assume the roles of the 12 disciples.
Christ, if I remember correctly from attending a previous performance, is not portrayed by an actor.
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” Matthew 26:20 – 21
The Betrayal, a painting by Faribault artist Rhody Yule.
So the scene unfolds with a monologue featuring each of the 12 disciples and their relationships with Christ.
“I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Matthew 26:29
Enveloped in darkness, listening to the somber words of forthcoming betrayal, worshippers experience the tense emotions that marked The Last Supper, setting the mood for a week that leads to the crucifixion of Christ and then, on Easter morning, to his glorious resurrection.
It is a thoughtful, serious drama presented by the local men, many of whom are repeat performers.
It is worth seeing, worth hearing and worth contemplating as Holy Week begins.
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19
St. Johns United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township
FYI: St. John’s is about a 15-minute drive from Faribault. Take Minnesota Highway 60 east and then turn north onto Rice County Road 24. The church is located at 19086 Jacobs Avenue. A fellowship hour, with food, follows the presentation.
© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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