Letters to Christopher: Bringing Your Spiritual Journey into Focus Through the Lens of Your Family Stories

By James K. Wagner

Using a series of letters, the author responds to questions that an older grandchild might ask a grandparent about little known stories in tracing the family history. Readers are encouraged to record their own family stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973630296

James K. Wagner

James K.Wagner worked for several years at the Upper Room in Nashville, Tennessee, as the Director of Prayer and Healing Ministries. He is the author of several books on healing and wholeness ministry. In retirement, he is now president of the ecumenical spiritual movement Disciplined Order of Christ.

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Copyright © 2018 James K. Wagner.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

NRSV: Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

CEB: Scriptures taken from the Common English Bible® (CEB). Copyright © 2012 by Common English Bible and/or its suppliers. All rights reserved.

MSG: Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-3028-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-3030-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-3029-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018906706

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/01/2018

Permissions have been received to quote verses from the New Revised Standard Version Bible and the Common English Bible.

Sarah Young: From Jesus Calling. Copyright 2004. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Publishing.

Kyle Idelman: From Fan or Follower. Copyright 2011. Used by permission of Zondervan.

D.Elton Trueblood; From A Place to Stand. Copyright 1969. Permission granted by the Estate Executor of DET, Samuel J. Trueblood.

Albert E.Day: From Discipline and Discovery, Copyright 1988. Used by permission of Whitaker Publisher.

David Baldacci: From Wish You Well. Copyright 2000. Used by permission of Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Leslie Weatherhead: From The Will of God. Workbook Edition by Rebecca Laird, Copyright 1995. Used by permission of Abingdon Press.

Rueben Job: From Three Simple Rules. Copyright 2007. Used by permission of Abingdon Press.

United Methodist Book of Worship, Copyright 1992. Used by permission of Abingdon Press.

United Methodist Hymnal, Copyright 1989. Used by permission of Abingdon Press.

Hymn of Promise: Words and Music by Natalie Sleeth. Copyright 1986. Used by permission of Hope Publishing Company.

Rohr, Richard: From Everything Belongs. Copyright 1999. Used by permission of Crossroad Publishing Company

Matthews, Dale: From The Faith Factor, Copyright 1998. Used by permission of Viking-Penguin Group Publisher

Howard, Trevor: From Beyond Loneliness, Copyright 2016. Used by permission of Upper Room Books

Morgan, Richard: From Remembering Your Story, Copyright 1996. Used by permission of Upper Room Books

Van DeLaar, John: From article in Weavings Magazine, Vol. XXXI. No. 3. Used by permission of Upper Room Ministry

Wuellner, Flora: From Beyond Death, Copyright 2014. Used by permission of Upper Room Books

Wagner, James K.: From Blessed To Be A Blessing, Copyright 1980. Used by permission of Upper Room Books

Wagner, James K.: From Anna, Jesus Loves You, Copyright 1985. Used by permission of Upper Room Books

Wagner, James K.: From An Adventure in Healing and Wholeness, Copyright 1993. Used by permission of Upper Room Books

Wagner, James K.: From The Spiritual Heart of Your Health, Copyright 2002. Used by permission of Upper Room Books

To children the world over who will soon be experiencing the challenges, wonders, mysteries, and blessings of life.

Contents

Foreword

Prologue

Preface:   Unique and Unusual Correspondence

Letter 1     Calling the Unqualified

Letter 2     Qualifying the Unqualified

Letter 3     Equipping the Called

Letter 4     Hardwired to God

Letter 5     Moving On

Letter 6     Forgiveness

Letter 7     Awaiting Further Light

Letter 8     Living in the Fourth Quarter

Letter 9     Looking For Some Wisdom

Letter 10   Fan or Follower

Epilogue

Appendix A:   Family Conversations and Videotaping Guide

Appendix B:   Small Group Discussion Guide

Appendix C:   Personal Reflections and Remembrances

Endnotes

Bibliography

Foreword

I met my paternal grandfather only a handful of times. He lived in Nevada, and we lived in Oregon. During our occasional visits, Grandpa Seyfarth seemed unsure of how to let go of his strict German upbringing and relate to his two rambunctious granddaughters. In fact, I don’t ever recall having had a conversation of length with him as a child. However, when I visited him once as a young adult, it was as though a spigot had been opened, and all the stories he’d previously held back came spilling out. He shared stories of his youth, his experiences in the war, his family history, and even a bit of his humor. I tried to remember the dates and memories as they flowed freely, but in hindsight I wish I had better known how to preserve this treasure of family stories that had been poured into my lap.

Jim Wagner has gifted us with a guide for how to preserve the treasure of our family stories. In Letters to Christopher, not only does he honestly and poignantly share his own treasured family stories with us, but perhaps even more important, he encourages us to share our own history as well. The appendices to these letters are packed with practical suggestions on how to create our own letter exchange between generations through conversations, note taking, or even video recordings.

There seems to be a recent resurgence of interest in genealogy: television shows such as Finding Your Roots, ancestry websites, and even DNA tests that track our genetic history. We long to learn more about who we are based on and where our family has been. Letters like these between Christopher and his granddaddy are a gold mine for future generations. We better understand our own sacred stories when we know and honor the sacred stories of the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us.

I hope and pray that Letters to Christopher will serve as an urgent call for us all to share our stories with one another while we can, and to store these intergenerational treasures as gifts to future generations. When my grandfather passed away at ninety-nine years young, many of his stories passed away as well. I wish that I had taken the time to gather these before he was gone. May we be inspired to build intergenerational bridges of recorded stories that will be gifts to us today as well as for generations to come.

Sharon Seyfarth Garner

United Methodist minister, spiritual director, retreat leader, and author of two books (Praying with Mandalas and Mandalas, Candles, and Prayer)

Prologue

It’s only a bookmark, one of dozens that I have lodged within the pages of my books. Yet every time I hold this particular bookmark, I pause and am transported to my earliest family remembrances. Yes, it’s only a bookmark—a very old one—but this one is special and raises unanswered questions.

The printed message reads, A good book is good company.

The bottom of this slender piece of cardboard reads, A souvenir of Key West, Fla.

On the reverse side, written in ink, it says:

Jan. 29, 1957

Mr. Albert Stone

N. Ft. Myers, Fla.

Mr. Albert Stone—that’s my mother’s father, the one all of us grandchildren called Granddaddy Stone. A hard worker all his life, he barely made enough to provide for his wife and four children. He did assembly line work in a blanket factory, with forty years’ service before retiring. My cousins and I were not well acquainted with this man even though he was fully committed to his family. We do know his lifestyle was characterized by routine. All of us still refer to shredded wheat as granddaddy cereal because that was what he had for breakfast every day of the week.

I never pictured Granddaddy as an avid reader or lover of books. My hunch is that in January 1957, having retired two years earlier, he and Grandma Stone had moved from Ohio to Florida and were on a sightseeing trip to Key West. Apparently he wanted an inexpensive souvenir that has now been handed down through the family.

When I see this memorable bookmark in one of my current reading books, I wonder about his personal story. Where was Granddaddy born? Who were his parents? How did he and his wife of sixty-five years meet? Did he have any hobbies or serve in the military? What’s his favorite food? What was his life like in the early part of the twentieth century? How did he happen to become a Christian? What words of wisdom would he have wanted to pass on to his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren?

Now, a couple of generations later, all twelve of my grandchildren call me Granddaddy, and they are teaching their children to address me with that truly honorable title. Yet they really do not know who I am inside—my personal struggles, my family background, my work and educational experiences. They don’t know how I met my wife, Mary Lou, whom they affectionately called Nana. They might be surprised at some of the marriage values we cultivated that kept us loving each other for fifty-eight years. Every family goes through tragedy, disappointment, and failure. I wonder how my grandchildren will handle their setbacks in life as well as their successes, and whether they could gain anything by knowing something of mine. I was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church as an infant, but I retired at age sixty-five after many years of service in the United Methodist ministry. They don’t know how all that came about. The questions raised are almost endless.

Letters to Christopher is the title I chose as a vehicle to convey my comings and goings through the years. Christopher, my first great grandchild’s name, actually represents all of my