A Reader and a Writer

            In my last blog entry, I referred to the January 15, 1929 issue of the Slovensky Kalvin, an issue dedicated to my grandfather.  Below is some information I learned about my grandfather from that issue.

            My grandfather, Joseph Nadenicek, was born in Nosislav, Moravia in 1884.  One thing I have in common with him is that he was also a second-career pastor.  He did not wait anywhere near as long as I did to become a pastor, of course.  In fact, while writing this, it suddenly hit me that he never even reached the age, forty-seven, at which I became a pastor.  He was initially a blacksmith, which was apparently his father’s profession in Moravia.

            He had already felt called by God to become a pastor by the time he came to the United States, which was in about 1909.  He attended Western Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, graduating in 1915.  I note with some amusement that, according to his eulogy, his seminary professors were not terribly impressed with his sermons, but his congregations loved them. 

I really enjoyed reading that, because I was always frustrated my preaching classes while I was at seminary.  It was nothing personal against the professors, whom I liked.  It’s just that my preaching classes had something in common with every other speech or writing class I ever took, whether in law school or in college.  They did not teach speaking or writing; they taught outlining. 

I can write an excellent outline, but I cannot write a sermon based on that outline.  As I’m writing, I get different ideas, and I sometimes take a somewhat circular route to get to my main point.  Sometimes I don’t even really figure out what the sermon is about until I get to the end, and I have to rewrite the beginning and the middle to fit it.  I’d end up writing the sermon first, and then writing an outline based off the sermon.  It was quite frustrating, and I have to think my grandfather would have understood that frustration.

My grandfather read an incredible amount.  He was said to have “the best and most up-to-date library of all the Slovak pastors.”  He did not just read religious books, either.  He read almost everything he could get his hands on.  He was very interested in science and philosophy.  He was an avid reader of newspapers.  He read the works of Victor Hugo and Rudyard Kipling.  He wanted to read about controversial subjects, and he especially wanted to read viewpoints that were different from his own.  He would stay up late at night, after the rest of the family (he was married with five children) had gone to bed, so that he could read in peace.  His eulogy says that he would spend several hundred dollars a year on books and newspapers, which was a huge amount to spend at the time, especially for a pastor with five children to feed. 

I get up early to read, rather than staying up late, but I love to read, too.  I have to believe that if my grandfather lived now, in the age of the internet, he’d love it.  Imagine all the books and articles and essays that would be available to him!  I can imagine him carrying a Nook or a Kindle everywhere he went, and any time he had ten minutes to spare, finding something interesting to read.

There is much more about my grandfather in this newspaper.  In the weeks to come, I will continue to share it with you.  It is incredibly meaningful to me; I hope it will be interesting to you as well.