NEWS ON OUR BROTHER GÖRAN

From James at The Three-Legged Stool:

Our very beloved brother, Göran, has been on hospice for a week. He has an aggressive form of prostate cancer. According to his niece, the does not have a lot of time before he joins the Communion of Saints. Please keep him in your prayers as he graduates from mortality. And remember his blood family and his adopted family one of whom I am privileged to be.

Growing up in the shadow of a Swedish Lutheran Church, I learned Children of the Heavenly Father at a very young age. It was always sung in times of distress and for funerals. The last verse of the English translation says:

Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord, His children sever.
His the loving purpose solely,
To preserve them, pure and holy.

Thank you, James, for giving us the sad news.

UPDATE: Today is Göran's birthday. If you're his Facebook friend, you can wish him Happy Birthday over there.

UPDATE 2: Here's the link to the post on our gathering in Leeds two years ago, which includes more pictures of Göran. If you click to enlarge the second photo down, you will see that Göran wears preaching bands. He looked like a character right out of an Ingmar Bergman film. He's a dear, dear man, and I'm privileged to have met him.