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Mud On The Leaves
A Time of Antici pation
By Harvey J. Neufeld Vice President , Church Relations
By John D . Aakre Executive Director of the Annual Fund
By the time you read t h is col· umn, mos of the maple leaves on ca m p u s wi l l be gone, They have long resisted the energetic clean-up of our groundskeepers, Some were blown away. Others were swept away, raked away, p icked up or su cked u p , In a word, they were attacked, p l un d e red, m u lched, b u rned or stac k ed on th e compost h ea p with fervent environmental zest H owever, s o m e l ea ves st i l l rem a i ned . I celebrate t h e victory of one leaf, caked with mud, p u m m eled by ti res and feet, pelted with ra i n . I t defies all modes of destruction and now rests safely on my desk. Even by itself, it is stra ngely bea ut i fu l w i t h i ts blotched ru sset su rfa ce not unl ike a martian l a ndscape. It is a reminder of t h e golden carpet of warm October days. It tells us about the cycles of l ife, the com ings and goi ngs of a l l t h i n gs w h i c h b e l o n g to t h e nat u ra l order. Natu re not only ca resses and i nspires us, but buffets us as wel l. The order of t h i ngs is what we rage against Days move on. N ights too. The fam i ly moves on.
Children, too. Life moves on and claims the weak and the old and the sick among us. But one leaf at least su rvives and m u d or n ot. declares t h e beauty o f l ife, the ruggedness of every part of God's creation Not ju st leaves, but h u ma n s also endu re. Some o f those spe cial persons a n d d i st i n g u ished col leagues - in the autumn of theIr years - were guests at the PLU p resident·s C h ristmas tea party. I was t h ere t h i s yea r to hel p greet persons. It is a grand occasion. Some of these fol ks shuffle a n d shake. Some wobble a n d qu ake. Some stand tall. One is i n a wheel chair. All conve rse with enthusiasm . They d ress roya lly and eat heart ily. They end u re with dlg nity. In a word t h ey a re bea utifu l a n d their dign i ty transfo rms every one whose life they touch. As I store my golden, i m per fect and muddied leaf between the pages of Malachai and Mat thew for fu t u re i n s p i ration, I al so store i n my memory t h e bea u ty o f P L U ' s friends. T h e i r im perfections make t h e m a l l the more endea ring.
The Ch ristmas season is a time of antici pation. Ch ristmas l ights go u p on the house. C h i l d ren begin to d ream a bout the pre sents t h ey h o p e to recei ve u nder the tree. Advent wreaths a re lit and the cand les cou nt down the weeks until Christmas day. When t hat day arrives we cele b rate the g reatest gift of a l l The Ch rist child i n a m a nger i n B et h le h e m . A s w e reflect o n God's gift to us, we understand the powerfu l i m agery at work d u ri n g t h i s season w h e n we share our own gifts with others. You r Q C l u b g i ft s t o Pacifi c Lutheran U n iversity t h i s Ch rist mas represent a marvelous pre· sent to our students. These gifts provide them with the opport u n ity to m a ke t h e most o f the many talents the Lord has given them. The majori· ty of those students don't know too m uch about t h e Q Club. But perhaps that's not very i m por· tanto What they do know is that someone cares. T h a n k you for being the kind of peo ple who give to others.
December is a time of a ntici pa tion for the Q Clu b too. Over a q u a rter of a l l Q C l u b gifts are received i n the month of Decem· ber That means we can't relax just because we a re a l ittle a h ead of last year's tota ls th roug h Novem ber. H ow many of you respond during the next few weeks w i l l d eter m i ne h ow many PLU Students we can help i n the year a head . So we wait. and antici pate. During the early years of the Q C l u b's existence we d id n't top the 5200,000 m a rk i n a n n u a l gifts until 1 977. This year m ore than t h a t wi l l be rece ived i n Jecem ber a l one. Total Q C l u b gifts s i n ce 1 9 7 2 w i l l e xceed 57.75 mil lion by the end of the month . Yet in order to help the many students who need finan· cial assistance today, the Q C l u b mu st ra ise 5 1 ,000,000 or more each year by 1 99 1 . So we are torn between two p o l es. We need to celeb rate o u r su ccess and antici pate what it will take to conti nue that success i n the years ahead.
We wou l d l i ke to welcome the fol l owing i nd i viduals, businesses and chu rches who have joined the Q C l u b si nce the last issue of SCENE: Increase from Junior to Regular Member Johnson. James M.
New Junior Members <$120/year age 26 and under)
The Joy Of G ivi ng By Ed Larson Director of Planned Giving
Giving a gift of charity was always the farth est t h i ng from Joe's m i nd (J oe is not h is real nameD. J oe was one of t h ose persons about whom everyone who knew h i m sa id, "He sti l l has the fi rst dollar he ever had!" Joe even adm its to t h i s day that at one time he hated the idea of giving anything away. One day a few years ago a rep resentative from PLU met with Joe. The pu rpose of the meeting was to tell J oe about PLU about the U n iversity's m ission and goals. And - to ask Joe if he would consider a g ift to PLU . At first J oe questioned the idea of making any kind of gift to the University, but for some reason, to make a long story short, Joe
relented and made that first gift (a smal l giftD. L i t t l e by l i t t l e Joe's g i fts i ncreased in a m o u n t and fre qu ency. To t h i s day, he rea l ly isn't su re j u st why t h i s is t h e case. But o n e t h i ng is su re, a n d Joe is qu ick to t e l l t h i s to any one, somewhere along the way Joe began to feel somet h i ng special. There was a "joy of giv ing." Each of us has the potential to experience this "joy of giving!" It begins with one's first g ift and g rows with every su bsequent gift . The fee l i ng is u ndeniable. F i n d someone who knows h ow to make a gift and you will fi nd someone who knows the "joy of giving."
Amoth . Kevin and Merry Beck. Laura Blue. Thomas Bradley. Craig and Shelley Brazil, James and Michelle Chun. Susan Edlund. Julia Elston. Scott and Michelle Foss. Sara Gard. Jerald ,Graves. Kari Grover, Stephen Hajek. Angela Hinman. Dana Hussey. Lisa Jacobson. Brian Jenks, Mr. and Mrs. Terry Krause. Sandra LeWarne. Charles Marks. Terry McNally, Dennis and Marv Milburn, catherine Motter. RiChard Ottoson. Mark Pabst. Shawn Pfeil. Kristina Pinkham. Gay Ann Raedeke. Scott Runnels. Brae Sorenson. Karis Stewart. Todd Taylor. Caren linn Taylor. Paul Tilly. Bart Visser. Kath rvn Wagner. Gina Wilson. Jeff and Pat
For more information on this u n ique ret i rement plan, write or cal l (collectl:
Edgar Larson Director of Planned Giving Pacific Lutheran U niversity Office of Development Tacoma, WA 98447 (206) 5 35-7420
New Fellows <$1 000·2399/year) Fairbanks Lutheran Church Robinson. Tom and Gladys
Increase to Fenow
Adix,
John and Marv Harold LeMay Enterprises Hartman, Paul Nornes. Sherman and Gloria
New Associate fellOws <$480-999iYear) Brown. Roger and Jane DeWitt, Bill and Katherine Dicks. Norm Peterson. Edwin A.
Increase to ASSOciate FeUow Bennett. carl and Myra Byerly. Howard Hegtvedt, Cha rles and Orie Russell, Pam and Alan
New Members <$240-479/year) Benson. Enfrid and Merle Billings. Mitch and Paula Blythe. William Braafladt. Walter and Jeanette CarmiChael. David and Bonnie Fatland. Dennis and Janet Fi nseth. Terrv and Michele Fregeau. Wilfred Gislesen. Hal Helgeson. Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Herlevi. Michael J. Hoffman, Charles Johnson, Dennis and Joan Jones. Susan Kalnins, MariS Kovanen. Archie Kramer. Paul J. Liljeblad. Chervl Umaye. Prakash Nelson. Kenneth and Anita Nelson. Richard and Margie Parmenter. Mr. & Mrs. Tom Porter, Mr. & Mrs. Marcus Randolph. Ernest and Charlotte Red Wing Shoes Rudge. Mr. & Mrs. Robert Stenerson. Stan and Sharon Storaasli, Ken and catherine Storaasli. Les and Carol Voris. Mr. & Mrs. William Williamson. Mr. & Mrs. Martin