Me, on my dad’s lap, my dad, and my brother, Bill.
My dad is the greatest man I have ever known. Understanding, loving, patient, a man of great faith, and the wisdom figure of my family. I remember when my dad died, as mom was out of the hospital room making arrangements with the funeral home, I sat by my dad’s side. I felt humbled and alarmed when I realized that I was now suppose to be the wisdom figure of the family. I thought, “Boy, everyone is going to be SOL (shit out of luck). What I have realized since then, is that though dad’s body may have died in 2004, he is still very much alive and present to me. Whenever I feel in need of his wisdom, all I do is call on him and he never fails to continue to inspire me.
Below is the first song I composed for my dad when I was a freshman in college majoring in music. It is heavily influenced by the Chopin Preludes I was practicing at the time.
Psalm Offering 1, Opus 1 (for my Dad) (c) 1970 by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.
My dad and my sister, Mary Ruth.
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Deacon Bob
I am a composer, performer, poet, educator, spiritual director, and permanent deacon of the Catholic Church. I just recently retired after 42 years of full-time ministry in the Catholic Church. I continue to serve in the Church part-time. I have been blessed to be united in marriage to my bride, Ruth, since 1974. I am father to four wonderful adult children, and grandfather to five equally wonderful grandchildren. In my lifetime, I have received a B.A. in Music (UST), M.A. in Pastoral Studies (St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, UST), Certified Spiritual Director. Ordained to the Permanent Diaconate for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, in 1991. Composer, musician, author, poet, educator. The Gospels drive my political choices, hence, leading me toward a more liberal, other-centered politics rather than conservative politics. The great commandment of Jesus to love one another as he has loved us, as well as the criteria he gives in Matthew 25 by which we are to be judged at the end of time directs my actions and thoughts.
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