EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2021 I began a new venture writing a newspaper column titled "Finding Faith" for the Forum Communications Co. network of newspapers and websites. I was asked to contribute to the company's ongoing conversation about faith, lending a Lutheran and fairly ecumenical approach to the discussion. The column was published in several of the company's papers and websites, including The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. This column originally appeared as a "Finding Faith" column on April 28, 2023.
By The Rev. Devlyn Brooks
This week I presided over a celebration of life service for my friend Denis Register, an extraordinary man of faith, science and the arts, and who lived larger than life, despite suffering a number of maladies later in life because of his diabetes.
Explaining how I came into Denis’ orbit is a story in its own right. I describe it as him bending the universe so that our lives could intersect. He possessed that kind of mystical power; ask anyone who knew him.
His daughter Erika agreed, writing in his obituary: “He had an innate way of making lifetime connections with everyone he met. The first time he met you, he would quickly get to know your life story and would remember that the next time you met.”
Denis had a passion for a great number of things including his only grandchild Lili, music (especially jazz), photography, his rose bushes, advocating for others with disabilities and the New York Yankees. The latter being the source of a great many spirited discussion between him and this lover of baseball.
Admission: I never made enough time to visit with Denis. Because no matter whether it was a pastoral visit to see Denis in a medical facility, or just a phone call between friends, the conversations were always long and never boring. Not once did I come away from a conversation with Denis where I didn’t grow as a person.
Denis possessed that unique ability to find everything fascinating. No detail of my family or either of my professions (pastoring and newspapering) ever bored him. He had keen insight and knew how to drill into the heart of a topic like few people I’ve ever known.
His intellect was unsurpassed. In an age when curiosity and inquiry gets a bad rap, Denis was a modern day renaissance man, desiring to know everything about everything in God’s infinite creation, down to the most intricate details.
I often mused that if anyone was going to unlock the secrets of the universe, it would have been Denis. And now I’m certain that he is sitting on a deck somewhere, jazz playing on the radio, and cajoling the Creator of the universe to share what few things about life Denis hadn’t already uncovered here on earth.
I am grateful for my few short years with Denis. Our relationship began when he adopted me as his pastor, and grew ever more intimate every time we talked. I am one of the lucky individuals to have been in orbit around his life, and I will forever cherish our long talks.
Rest easy, good and faithful servant! Your work here on earth is done, but has left an indelible legacy for so many. God’s peace, Denis.
And maybe … just maybe … the Almighty may be able to set you straight on the Yankees.
Devlyn Brooks is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and serves Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He also works for Forum Communications Co. He can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com for comments and story ideas.
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