To the editor:
To be away from one’s home gives one a better view of it. After so long from their home in Shawano, a person misses more than a doughnut from Bult’s, swimming at “the Rock,” dinner at the Spinning Wheel or getting to pick from any Lutheran church imaginable.
For the past year, I have been living and working in the middle of Norway. I miss my home, Shawano, its people and the small-town values we live out: self-reliance, responsibility and generosity.
This is not to suggest that Norwegians are by any means cruel or selfish, but they have been brought up in a culture that sees bureaucracy as the solution to all of their problems. With millions of dollars (or kroners in Norway) of annual surplus from taxing oil drilling operations in the North Sea, the Norwegian government can provide more comprehensive services to its citizens than most other countries.
What I miss is the sense of self-reliance and personal responsibility. For example, when a neighbor needs help, we do not think about what the government should or could do, but how we can help them. I admit that today it might seem like these values are no longer taught, seen or practiced, but after living in another country and culture I see that they are.
Our community is not perfect. We have many examples of people not living out these values. Every generation must teach the next what values to have and how to live them out.
Many in Norway ask me about how it’s possible to survive in a country where so much is expected from an individual. My answer is always the same: we can survive as a nation of individuals only because we help each other.
Martin Luther explained that Christ’s love has two aspects: the love Christ gives us and the love we show our neighbors.
In Shawano, we have the ability to help our neighbors and community, so let’s never lose the values that make that possible.
Vennlig Hilsen (friendly regards).
Sol E. Grosskopf,
Volda, Norway
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