Sunday, November 9, 2014

En bønn etter krystallnatt-markering

Ikveld var jeg med å gå i tog for å markere Krystallnatten, natten for 76 år siden da nazistene slo ihjel flere hundre jøder, brente synagoger og vandalisterte jødiske forretninger. Underveis og etterpå hadde jeg en bønn jeg tenkte og ba, som jeg ville dele. Det er den samme bønnen vi gjerne ber på skolen min under fellessamlinger. Jeg kjenner den best på engelsk, og det er slik den kommer her.

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may wish for justice, freedom and peace.
  
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world; so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen


Peace,
Fredrik

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Mission Year Legacy - part 1

(This is the first step in putting some words into what Post- Mission Year life looks like. To be
continued...)

Coming back home to Oslo and Norway, I've been thinking, talking and praying a lot about how life will look like in the future. A couple of days ago my mind and heart spent some time in the bigger picture. And I've read, listened to and remembered some words I want to share.

Tilbake i Oslo og Norge har jeg tenkt, snakket om og bedt over hvordan livet vil kunne se ut i fremtiden. For noen dager siden dvelte tankene og hjertet mitt en del over det større bildet. Og jeg har lest, lyttet til og blitt minnet på noen ord jeg vil dele.


Great God, I ask thee for not meaner pelf(…)
That my weak hand may equal my firm faith,
And my life practice more than my tongue saith;
That my low conduct may not show,
Nor my relenting lines,
That I thy purpose did not know,
Or overrated thy designs
(Henry Thoreau - My prayer)

Some of us choose to live gracefully
Some can get caught in the maze
And lose their way home
Memories will fade
Time races on
What will they say
After you're gone
This is the life we belong to
Our gift divine
(Dream Theater - This is the Life)

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.
I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.
I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question.
I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry.
And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.
I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.
I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

(Martin Luther King Jr. - The Drum Major)

A wall in Asheville, NC where people wrote what they wanted to do before they died.

How do you want to be remembered? Hvordan vil du bli husket?

Peace,
Fredrik

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Himmel (Sigvart Dagsland) by the J.E. Gresham Male Chorus, July 2014

Hei bloggen!



Er for tiden på post-Mission Year reise i USA med mor og far. Det er uvirkelig at MY er over, og at jeg har sagt farvel til så mange nydelige mennesker. Men jeg har hvertfall fått tid til å legge opp dette opptaket av når jeg sang Himmel i First Iconium med mannskoret. Det var en mektig opplevelse!



Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Finish strong / takkevideo Fredrik





Vår siste kampanje i Mission Year kalles Finish Strong, og i den anledning har vi alle laget hver vår video for å takke alle som har støttet oss på ulikt vis. Dette er min video. Tusen takk for all støtte, i bønn, tanker, tilbakemeldinger og økonomisk!



Hvis du vil lære mer om Mission Year, sjekk ut www.missionyear.org.

Hvis du ønsker å støtte Mission Year, sjekk ut www.missionyear.thankyou4caring.org/finishstrong.



Guds Fred

Fredrik

Monday, April 28, 2014

A moment of gratefulness / Et øyeblikk av takknemlighet

Hello blog-readers / Hei bloggen!

Sometimes you get the opportunity to stop up and realize what you are a part of, and how thankful you are. No matter how your day or week has been, no matter the circumstances, it still does something to you when you take the time to do that. I got the opportunity to do that when we where writing thank-you cards to the board of Mission Year for the April Month Match, where they double the donations we receive. I tried to write a poem, but it proved to be harder than I thought, so I just wrote what I wanted to put in the poem. And I wanted to share that with you.

Noen ganger får du muligheten til å stoppe opp og innse hva du er en del av, og hvor takknemlig du er. Uansett hvordan dagen eller uka di har vært, uansett omstendighetene, så gjør det fortsatt noe med deg når du tar deg tid til å gjøre det. Jeg fikk muligheten til å gjøre dette når vi skulle skrive takkekort til styret i Mission Year for the April Month Match, der styret dobler donasjonene vi mottar. Jeg prøvde å skrive et kort, men fikk det liksom ikke helt til, så jeg skrev heller om det jeg hadde lyst til å putte i diktet. Og jeg ønsket å dele dette med dere.

:::

I wanted to write a poem to show
How much this year has meant to me.
A 26-year old guy from overseas
That have seen theory unfuld into praxis
That have learned more about God from neighbours, homeless youth and church friends
Than he can ever teach them
Where God’s interruptive grace have just shown up in himself and in lives around him.

But I didn’t get the syllables and rhymes right.
So I just wanted to say thank you for helping making this possible for me, my team and my city.
I’m really, really grateful.



Guds fred,
- Fredrik

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Today I saw Jesus

On Thursday I had an experience where I helped a young guy that was almost passed out when I saw him, and went with him to the emergency room at the hospital. It was a powerful experience in many ways. When I met with the rest of the Mission Year teams after he was safely on his way, we contemplated on Lent and our images of Jesus. This is what I wrote:

Today I saw Jesus.
I saw him in a boy that was completely wasted
A boy that barely could walk, that vomited,
that cried and cursed in despair.

I saw him, and I stayed with him.
It didn’t make me feel like a saint,
it didn’t make me proud of myself.
I stayed with him not because of bad conscience.

I stayed with him because it was right.
I helped him because he is my brother.
I stayed with him because he was, and is, Jesus.

Today I saw you, Jesus.
And I was never afraid.
Because I knew you were there,
and that you would protect us.

Today I met Jesus,

and I will never be the same again.


Peace,
Fredrik

Friday, March 7, 2014

An airport experience (a story about patience, generosity and friendship)

 A couple of weeks ago I was heading home for Norway and my best friends wedding. Yeah, my two best friends were getting married, and I went on a weekend trip to do my duty as the best man, to play in the wedding party band, and to celebrate love. That’s a story on it’s own, but the story I want to share is what happened on my way to Norway from Atlanta. My trip was scheduled in the middle of the first of two “snowcapolypses” in Atlanta, now known as “the days Atlanta stood still because of two inches of snow”. As a Norwegian used to a lot worse weather and a local government that have more experience with handling it, I found the whole thing quite fascinating. But when I came to the airport, and had to wait in check-in-lines and security lines for hours and hours and saw that 80 % of all flights from ATL were cancelled because of lack of personnel, I saw some of the impact the weather had.  (Not to mention all the people that was stuck on the interstates, at schools or at work, and all the people experiencing homelessness that had an even worse week than usual). But in all this tragic and frustrating context, I experienced love and joy. I got delayed by a day, but I’m so glad that I got to experience that extra day (and night) at the airport.