Reflections Upon a Blessed and Exciting Life – No.13: End of Elementary School

The 8^th grade, my 14^th year of life, marked a significant transition point. There were several clear indications that I moved from being a young child to being a young man.

One of those rituals was Confirmation at my church. This was a ritual in which we expressed a re-confirmation of our status as beloved children of God. This first happened at our infant baptism but was then “confirmed” when we were 14 or in the eighth grade.

Significant rituals marked the Confirmation occasion. In my time it was always on Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter. First was the matter of dress. My parents took me to Walburg Mercantile General Store. There we picked out my first-ever store-bought suit. It was smart and cost a total of $7.00, a major investment for clothes. I got a nice tie and anew pair of black patent leather shoes. I wore my new attire  it with pride for years and still have that now 73 year-old Kodak photo to prove how proudly I wore that suit.

The second phase of the ritual was a “public examination” in front of the entire congregation. The pastor asked the questions, called upon a “confirmand” to answer loud enough so the whole church could hear. The anxiety around this ritual was somewhat reduced by at least two factors. We pretty well knew what the questions would be and even the preferred exact words in the answer. Also the pastor wanted to prove that he had taught us well; so he knew on whom he should call for the easy or the more difficult responses.

The ritual was also important because each of us was given a “Confirmation verse”. This was a short text from the Bible. Mine was Romans 1:16: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.”

In those days, Confirmation also meant we were allowed for the first time to partake of the Sacrament of Holy Communion, a very important ritual for me to this day. “First Communion” was always on Maunday Thursday, the Thursday after Palm Sunday. We used a strange procedure as a part of this ritual. We knelt at an altar rail on the left and received the host (breat). Then we got up, walked behind the altar and knelt on the other side and received the wine.

Of course, those were always several social  dimensions to the religious ceremony of Confirmation. One was that our sponsors (God-parents) joined us for the service and at the big meal in our home afterwards. My sponsor all made it (except for one who had tragically drowned while he was still a young man). Of course, the sponsors gave us gifts. I remember the incredible gift of a full $5.00 and leather bound King James version of the Bible. That Bible (though twice rebound since) is still a treasure to me.

There was still another coming of age privilege attached to Confirmation. We were now allowed to become members of The Walther League. The Walther League was the official young people’s society of the church. The very first ritual after our Palm Sunday Confirmation which we as new Walther Leaguers could participate in was an Easter egg hunt on Easter, the first Sunday after Palm Sunday. It was a thrill for me to look for those eggs hidden in the pasture around our home.

 

Two unwritten permissions granted with Confirmation were the right to ”have a date” and for some, the first romantic kiss. I admit I was rather slow in accepting those new challenges.

The other major rite of passage was the 8th grade graduation ceremony. This was a big deal, always held on the evening of the last day of school. The graduates assembled on an out door stage. The audience, which could number as many as 200 sat in chairs and benches under the trees. There was always an “outside guest speaker” often the principal of a nearby Lutheran school. The graduation class chose a motto and posted it on the wall at the back of the stage. Ours was, “Climb Though the Path Be Rugged”. The class salutatorian delivered the welcome speech, the valedictorian, and the farewell speech. That was my job. I wrote it out and I remember my teacher (who was also my father) suggesting that I remove from my speech one word I had planned to use. The word was “antagonisms” will be as in “now all our old antagonisms will be left behind as we seek new life adventures.” I had been so proudly anticipating using that 4-syllable word, but my teacher was right in tamping down my eight-grade oratory.

Thus came to an end my elementary school years, certainly among the best eight years of my life.

Reflections Upon a Blessed and Exciting Life – No.14: Concordia College (Academy) Austin

Even before I was in grade 1 of my elementary school I knew what I wanted to be/do when I grew up. I was going to be a teacher in a Lutheran parochial school. That’s what my Dad was and he was my ideal. So it was an unquestioned given that Melvin was going to be a Teaching Minister. Only once (maybe when I was in the fourth grade) was this plan ever discussed. Mother was very sad and I recall her looking at me with loving eyes and saying, “Melvin, are you sure you want to be a Lutheran school teacher? There must be something better than that!” I was shocked. My guess is that Dad had not been paid even his meager $60 a month salary and that it was hard for Mom to feed and clothe her children and she really did not want her oldest son to go through that. Of course, I protested, “I want to be a teacher, just like my Papa!”

So there was no question about it. The first step was Austin College, now Concordia University, Texas. It was also called Concordia Academy. It was never called Concordia High School, although the only grades it included were grades 9-12 which were always called freshman sophomore, junior or senior. It was a prep school for recognized ministers in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. There were two classifications: “Ordained Minister” and “Commissioned Teacher”.

It was small. I don’t think that in my days the total school enrollment ever exceeded 100. It was for “boys” only. And it was 100% residential. So at the age of 13 I left home for Concordia.

My memories are almost all positive. I loved sports and the school was so small that I could, of course, play all varsity sports. The professors all knew and respected my father who was chair of the All Texas Lutheran Teachers Conference, my Uncle Reinhold was on the Board of Control and the Director of the school (Studtman) was often a dinner guest in my home.

We lived in dorm rooms on the second floor; had our meals, classes, and chapel on the ground floor. There were two students in each room. We each had our “Murphy beds” which folded up and rolled into the closet each day. There was a central shower and toilet. To this day my high school friends all know that “Room 210” means shower and rest room.

As was typical of the day, there was some hazing to lower classmen. Any senior could scream, “Freshman! Sophomore!” and we were expected to run to the person who screamed and follow his orders. I escaped physical attacks and really had very few assignments beyond shining the shoes of the upperclassmen.

The day was highly routinized. Breakfast at 7:00, bed inspection at 8:00, classes till 4:00. Chapel services every morning and every night at 9:00. Lights out at 10:00 with the Dean making inspection every night to be sure we were in bed.

So from 1940-1945 that was the routine and the “stuff” that made up the routine will be the subject of the next few blogs.