This week two thoughts were foremost in my mind. One thought was quite normal for a preacher as well as a basic necessity. What shall I emphasize Sunday morning when I am using for my text the words of Jesus which he spoke on his last night upon earth to his disciples? "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you ..."

The other thought was quite different. I remembered that 31 years ago last Wednesday I was ordained into the ministry at the fiftieth anniversary of Trinity Church. After my father gave the sermon, I stood before him; Dr. Hugh Bannen, Trinity’s first pastor; my father-in-law, Dr. Abdel Ross Wentz, then president of Gettysburg Seminary; and Dr. Armin Weng, then president of the Illinois Synod (ULCA). At a certain point in the ordination service I knelt as those men placed …