* Opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor are not necessarily those of The Messenger.
Every once in awhile something comes down the pike that needs a response. Such is the case of the most recent April edition of the Kenyon Messenger. It saddens me to think that we would have to talk about this in Kenyon.
I first became a resident of Kenyon in 1944. Due to the fact that my father was flying with the Army Air Corps in the Pacific Theater during WWII, my mother and I lived with my paternal grandparents on Slee Street. After the war, Kenyon would become my hometown for the next 18 years. It was a time when churches were evangelical, the school district ran as an extension of the home, and no one questioned what it meant to grow up in a Christian household.
After graduating from high school, I went to college, served my country in the United States Air Force, got my commercial pilot's license, bought an airplane, and settled down as a 4th grade teacher for seven years and as an elementary school principal for six more years. I would end my 24 years away from Kenyon when I accepted a principal's position at Zumbrota-Mazeppa Public Schools. This offered me the opportunity to move to a place called Trondheim, buy a house on a piece of property that my great-grandfather once owned and where my beloved grandmother was born in 1894, and where Linda and I would raise our family.
As I look back on my school days, I remember people like Gaylord Brobeck, a pharmacist who took me to Twin's baseball games and never sold drugs to young people, L.G. Picha, a beloved teacher and businessman who was always available for students who were in need of help, a mayor who played Santa Claus every Christmas, and city council members that would never consider the kind of decision our current council just made. Why? Because they were looking out for the well-being of the community...and its young people.
In referring back to the April edition of the Messenger, page 2 begins with an article by Pastor Larry Grove of Hauge Lutheran Church (AFLC). As a pastor of an evangelical Christian Congregation (we believe in the infallible Word of God), he is concerned about the family and its relationship with Jesus Christ. Beginning with love, the article ends with 'determining ways that we could more effectively minister to our people and the community by praying for each other and joining together to be most fruitful in our efforts.' It seems to me that making cannabis available to our young people, in one form or another, has nothing to do with Christian love or fruitful efforts. As a matter of fact, it is a grave contradiction.
As we move from page 2 to page 24 the narrative changes. Rather than talking about 'blood of the covenant which God has commanded you to keep,' it talks about cannabis sales and one of the worst possible things we could do to our school aged children and the well-being of the community. While I appreciate the value of cannabis under strictly controlled medical uses, this is not what we are talking about when someone pulls up to the Muni or some misguided business looking to make a profit. Moreover, if you think for a moment that you are sending the right kind of message to our school aged students, you are not being honest with yourselves. And to think that our city council voted 4-0 to approve the sale of cannabis. It is not something a Christian would do.
Finally, if you look at what has happened in places like Colorado and other states and towns that jumped on the cannabis band wagon early on, do you honestly think for a moment that a vote for cannabis sales in Kenyon will produce different outcomes? Not only will it promote dangerous behaviors for our young people, but it is not something I would expect from people who are parents themselves. Ladies and gentlemen, it is not too late to call our mayor (I once thought he was going to bring a positive change to the community) and our city council members to voice your concerns. And when you do; when you have put our young people first in both heart and spirit, come join us at Hauge Lutheran Church where Jesus says, “To open your eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts 26:18a). In the meantime, it is my prayer that our young people know what it means to grow up in a Christian household. God be praised!
Dr. James Russell Lehman
Kenyon MN
