PORTRAITS FROM THE FOLD
Carl Strasen
Carl, new to Saint John’s vestry in 2022, is the perfect mix of farmer, chicken farmer to be precise, and philosopher. Nobody I know has a warmer handshake than tall, friendly Carl.
He and Elizabeth came to Petaluma after raising their 4 daughters in Belmont. They grew tired of the money and stress of Silicone Valley. Carl says when he grew up it wasn’t that way. Too many divorces and heart attacks among the current population convinced them to look north. At first they moved to Lagunitas and had a long flirtation with Buddhism. Carl says he found Buddhism to be lacking in human warmth, almost scientific in its insistence of impermanence and non attachment. What else is there in life but love?
6 years ago they moved to Petaluma and bought a small farm with plenty of room for chickens and a 4 barn for Carl’s wood working equipment. The very unpretentiousness of Petaluma fit them perfectly.
Once here they began church shopping. Carl says they “tried” various Catholic churches. He felt there was a good deal of “duty” on the faces of the parishioners. One day several years after arriving, Carl reports Elizabeth walked along 5th street, looked up in front of Saint John’s Episcopal and declared…”This is it”.
They began coming to church each Sunday, sitting in the back row on the right, and leaving right after the service. It took about a year until they came to coffee hour. That was pre-Covid.
But once they committed they jumped in with both feet. We all remember they began bringing their eggs to sell with the proceeds going to support charities in Haiti and Honduras. This year they attended baptism and confirmation classes and Elizabeth was baptized by Bishop Megan.
What Carl loves about the Episcopal church is that you can come to your own understanding of the doctrines, of course guided by Father Daniel. He loves the way Father Daniel invites people to the Eucharist and then says they are also welcome to come to just have a blessing “if that is what makes them most comfortable”. All are welcome at God’s table.
But you must know that Carl takes philosophy and religion seriously. He is reviewing the church’s major doctrines and says he has a few problems with the concept of Hell. How can a loving God commit a soul to Hell for eternity? And he is reconsidering original sin. At present he is reading a work of David Bentley Hart. Hart is Eastern Orthodox. He writes that he believes the mistake of Western Christianity is to overly personify religion. Carl, with a twinkle in his eye, tells of the Soviet Astronaut who testified that he had been to space and he could certify, having been up in the heavens, that there is no God otherwise he would have seen him.
As proof that Carl takes his religious philosophy seriously, he is at present writing a letter to some of his old friends in Silicone Valley. His letter is called “Letter to my Aggressively Atheistic Friends”. At this point it is 30 pages long! I’m sure Carl would love to share his ideas with you. I am not up to summarizing them here (I’m still working through the ideas on page 2) but the point of this portrait is to encourage the congregation to know each other. I know Carl would be delighted to share his thoughts, once he returns from his pre Christmas trip to Scotland. You can ask him at coffee hour or If you go visit him you can meet the chickens and see his wood shop and leave feeling really inspired. I have been, but I love chickens and I am inspired and as I said I’m only on page 2!
—Gail Reid