New Adventure

As many have heard I have a new adventure in front of me. About a year ago I lost my full-time job. So I began to look east to Norway. They need qualified organists and musicians. Last month I received the call that I was hired. At the end of this month I’m moving to Norway to serve as interim organist in Sandnessjøen in Nordland County. The name of the kommune (municipality) is Alstahaug. My title will be kantor-organist. It is a full-time appointment for 11 months. I will be serving 3 churches: Sandnessjøen, Alstahaug and Tjøtta, as well as 3 chapels that have occasional services. Sandnessjøen is north of Trondheim about 5 hours by train. The town is about ½ degree south of the arctic circle. I’m very excited about this. My new address will be Høgåsveien 3, 8800 Sandnessjøen, Norway. The kirkekontor (church office) address is Kirkeveien 22, 8800 Sandnessjøen. The south-bound Hurtigruten stops in Sandnessjøen at 1:30 pm. Please stop and visit me. You’ll get a cup of coffee and a tour. (The north-bound boat stops at 4:30 AM).

Our ancestors came to America as the land of opportunity. I’m going back to the old country for opportunity and adventure. I sometimes feel like a combination of Askeladden and Kjerringa mot strømmen. The Ashlad got results from unexpected places, and the ornery women who went against the stream did the opposite of what was considered sane.

In this season of Easter joy I thought I would like to end this column with funny stories and jokes. Some years ago a couple from Lexington moved to Scotland for a year after their retirement. After a year was up they returned to Massachusetts and were asked what the weather was like in Scotland. They replied, “We had 9 months of dreadful weather. Then came winter.”

In filling out the forms for my move to Norway I have to fill out a residency permit. In Norwegian it’s called oppholdstillatelse. I found myself writing oppholdsforlatelse which means residency forgiveness. As they say, it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.

Some years ago when Dan Pinkham was music director at King’s Chapel in Boston, he was practicing on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. The telephone rang and Dan answered it. The person on the other end asked, “What time is your Easter sunrise service”? Without missing a beat Dan replied “11 am”.

A Norwegian pastor loved to walk in the woods and ponder the Holy Scriptures. One day, deep in the woods, he came across a bear that was very, very hungry. The pastor thought, “This is the end of me”. But he fell on his knees and prayed fervently to the Lord to let the bear be converted to a Christian (thinking this might help). After a few seconds the bear fell on his knees and began praying the Norwegian table prayer: I Jesu navn går vi til bords, å spise og drikke på ditt ord. Deg til ære, oss til gavn, så mår vi mat, i Jesu navn. Amen.

(English equivalent: Lord, bless this meal which I’m about to receive. Amen).

Thank you everyone. Wish me luck. I look forward to seeing you next April.

Vennligst,

Andrew