UPDATE February 18, 2010: R.I.P. Loren Halverson. Loren passed away February 15, 2010 at 82. Obituary and funeral arrangements.
Moderator:  This is a first for this blog – a book, online.  163 pages, eight chapters.  Do take a stroll through the chapters, in two parts, at the following web addresses:  #mce_temp_url# and #mce_temp_url#.  The book appears here with author Loren Halvorsons permission.  It is Lorens gift to humanity.  I ask that you consider sharing this book with others who you feel may value reading it.
I’ve known and respected Loren for the past eleven years.  I met him during a powerful three and one half day workshop* which I found very meaningful and life altering, and he, a fellow participant and senior to me, was one of many participants who inspired me to grow beyond my own status quo.
Out of the blue last Sunday came an e-mail from Loren.  I asked, and he gave, permission for me to pass along the contents of the e-mail.
“[Y]our note…came at a strange, or rather special moment in my life when I am undergoing radiation treatment for prostrate cancer that has been under control for ten years but now is spreading rapidly.  Ruth and I have decided to transform whatever time we have left from dread to delight by inviting long time friends and family to “third cups of tea”.  Already it has been a magnificent experience suggesting that life lurks in death, something I had formulated academically but not understood existentially until now.
I am also using this time to deposit courses I taught at Luther Seminary for thirty-two years in places where it might take root and produce fruits beyond anything I might have imagined.  Your note reminded that you might be just such a depository!  fortunately modern tools make this possible. A friend at the seminary (one of several Roman Catholic faculty we now have) has put things on line for me.  One is a course I taught the last ten years on base communities which arose not only out of my own field of ethics and society but out of years of living in an intentional community, the ARC.  [That material is at the referenced websites above.]”
Loren references “the ARC”.  ARC (Action, Reflection, Celebration) Retreat Center is  a wonderful place north of the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul #mce_temp_url#.  The dream of Ruth and Loren, ARC opened its doors in 1978.  I was privileged to participate in a retreat there in 2005.
As I write, I remember the summer of 1998 when Loren and I were in the workshop together.  During that year, Mitch Albom’s book “Tuesday’s with Morrie” was a run-away best seller.  I purchased the book as a gift for our instructor, and she deeply appreciated the gift.
It occurs to me that at the time I met Loren, he had not yet begun his walk with cancer; now, 11 years later, he is offering to others the same gift Morrie Schwartz offered to Mitch Albom.
I also remember a particular place that captured me at Loren and Ruth’s ARC Retreat Center in May, 2005.  It was a simple bridge across a creek, and it was for me a metaphor for life itself.
I’ll think of that bridge as Loren takes what he feels is his final walk through life.  He’s given a great gift, and he wants to share it with you, and you to share it with others.
Thanks, Loren.  And Peace.