A Meditation on Going Home

Delbert Wiens was born during the depression to an ethnic, German-speaking, Mennonite family. As an adult, he became the righteous older sibling who wanted, oddly, to identify with his elders. Returning home to Corn, Oklahoma, with a severe case of culture shock after living in Vietnam, he wrote New Wineskins for Old Wine to tell Mennonites they were succumbing to "evangelical" forms of "modernism." Unfortunately, the relentlessness of his analysis convinced many that he had a "dangerous mind." This book tells the story of his recovery of the wisdom of his elders. In response Wiens develops metaphors like concrete and abstract to clarify how civilizations evolve. He centers his attempt to tell stories that, like biblical narratives and parables, evoke traditional attitudes and lifestyles. Phrases like mutual aid and ethnic cliches like Gottesfurcht (honoring God) and Gelassenheit (letting go and letting God) are used to describe their qualities and virtues. The final chapters use a more abstract style to trace some of the positive and negative consequences of "progress." This book circles around its center (chapters 4-9) that describes the faithfulness and character of his elders. May these meditations better evoke the desire to imitate them.

"In this memoir, Delbert Wiens examines his life journey from the village to the cities. The village life revolves around family, church, school, farms, and local businesses. The city offers a plurality of layered religious, economic, scientific discoveries, and social systems. Whereas life in the village honors the wisdom of the elders, life in the city values skills and knowledge. These differences are held in tension because both contexts have enriched his faith, professional pursuits, and personal journey."
--Lauren Friesen, professor emeritus of theatre, University of Michigan

Delbert L. Wiens is emeritus professor of philosophy and history of culture at Fresno Pacific University. He graduated from Yale Divinity School and received a doctorate from the University of Chicago. In his courses he developed metaphors to clarify the history of culture and integrate insights from a variety of disciplines. He is author of Steven's Sermon and the Structure of Luke-Acts. His colleagues recognized his churchly contributions in a book ironically titled A Dangerous Mind.



Alvin C. Dueck is emeritus professor of cultural psychologies at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology. He is co-author with Gladys Mwiti of Christian Counseling: An African Indigenous Perspective (2006) and with Kevin Reimer of A Peaceable Psychology (2009). He edited Indigenous Psychologies of Spirituality: In My Beginning is My End (2021). Dueck is a graduate of Stanford University (psychology). He is a recipient of the Virginia Sexton Mentoring Award by the American Psychological Association.

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