LETTERS
Seeking stories of Brother Joel Nelson When I was a freshman at Saint Mary’s in 1971, I met Brother Joel Nelson, who was giving a lecture at Saint Yon’s as part of the Human Development program. I remember the day that I met him because he talked about a near-death experience that changed his life and his ministry. On the day he spoke, I was the last student to leave the lecture hall, and noticed that he was carrying a large stack of books. I wanted to talk with him so I offered to carry his books and we walked the whole distance from Saint Yon’s to La Salle Hall, where he lived in community as a Christian Brother. When we arrived at his office I noticed that three of the four walls were bookshelves from floor to ceiling. After he had his near-death experience, he began writing to psychics and spiritual people to learn about what he had experienced, and he had accumulated a large library. In 1971, he was looking for interested students to teach his first class in the Religious Studies Department called “Christian Mind Unlimited.” I was in that first class in the second semester of my freshman year, which was 1972. He continued to teach this class until his death from cancer. Since his death, I have carried his writings and some of his library. At this time the Fitzgerald Library on campus has agreed to archive some of his library. I am in the process of writing a biography of his life and his time at Saint Mary’s College to include with his collection. I would like to include stories
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of students, faculty, friends, or family members who may have known him. I have my own story of how this teacher and mentor impacted my life’s direction. If you would like to talk or write about your knowledge of Brother Joel Nelson, please contact me at 5202 Balmoral Lane, Bloomington, MN 55437, phone 952-8816865, email auntlinda11@netzero.net, or contact the Alumni Relations Office. I am humbled and grateful to make good on a promise that I made to my teacher 40 years ago. I have carried his books and now they will have a permanent home at Saint Mary’s in the Fitzgerald Library. And as Brother Joel would say at the end of every class, “Picture what you want, because faith is the lack of resistance to that which you hope to receive.” — Linda Miller ’77, M’81
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