iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Michaelmas is a great time to highlight the glorious Coat of Arms of Mora, Sweden, which depicts St. Michael defeating the dragon. Very cool!! 🕯️🇸🇪

The Coat of Arms of Mora, Dalarna, Sweden. The shield has a red background with a golden image of an angel standing on top of a dragon, forcing a spear down its throat.

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

can’t believe he’s still here terrorizing the city

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

the ELCA’s LGBT bishops! I love this church 🏵️🌈🕯️

ten bishops, both men and women, arranged in two rows. most of them wear outfits with clergy collars.

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Reposted by Erik 🕊️

Hare 🍉 @haredurer.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Make Falcon Heights Saint Paul

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

actually it should be the City and County of Saint Paul to get rid of nasty nasty Mr Ramsey lol

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Lauderdale is in Ramsey County so it gets swept up in our Saint Paul-Ramsey County Unified Government

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

spent my night standing on the side of the road as people leave the fair telling them to look up at the lunar eclipse lol I love Minnesota!!!!!!

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Reposted by Erik 🕊️

Joshua Eaton @joshuaeaton.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

God became human to break down the gates of hell and bind sin and death in chains. He’s going to reconcile every last atom of this broken world to himself in the fullness of eternity. Wipe every tear. Raise every fallen sparrow. Untie every knot. We get to be part of that! We get a preview!

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

It will probably give Angie a gotcha moment at the MPR debate this morning

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

this means that How Great Thou Art is basically the 1800s version of Midnight Sun 🌞

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Learning today for the first time that How Great Thou Art was originally written by a Swede basically just thanking and praising God for how beautiful summer in Sweden is … he was sooo real for that! Summer in Sweden is pure wonder ✨

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Reposted by Erik 🕊️

Chris Steller @chrissteller.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Today versus last November, looking toward Minneapolis from Saint Paul

Extremely smoggy from wildfire smoke. Can’t see Minneapolis

Minneapolis skyline is clear and crisp on the far horizon.

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Reposted by Erik 🕊️

Minnesota House DFL @mnhousedfl.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Rep. Aisha Gomez: “To look at people standing up against ICE and see ‘paid protesters’ says nothing about us and everything about you.” “That you cannot conceive of us loving our neighbors so much that we would actually do something for them.”

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Saint Paul Ramsey County Unified Government now!!!!!

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

I want to love white sands but it’s just so full of broken glass and rusty nails it’s really tough

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

If Kamala Harris was president, Taylor and Travis would be getting married on the National Mall as part of America 250

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

I love southern Minnesota’s little chain of counties and county seats Mankato is the seat of Blue Earth County, Blue Earth is the seat of Faribault County, and Faribault is the seat of Rice County

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

What a terrible final day of Pride Month! None of them terribly surprising but still heartbreaking. The Queen of TERF Island meeting the Queen of TERFs is sad but predictable. Matthew Vines’ betrayal is personally devastating on several levels.

NPR headline that says “Supreme Court upholds bans on transgender athletes participating in women and girls’ sports.”

Queen Camilla meeting with JK Rowling, famous transphobe

Matthew Vines op-ed in the New York Times titled “I’m Gay, Not Queer. It Matters.”

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Went through my pics and found these pictures of her from last year and the year before. All three were chopped down shortly after I got this picture two years ago so I’m glad this one came back, even though the other two did not :(

Summer 2025, the bright pink hollyhock standing tall in the middle of the weeds

Three hollyhocks in the summer of 2024. On the left, dark maroon flowers. In the middle, vibrant bright pink. On the right, delicate light pink

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

One of my favorite things about my house is the hollyhock that lives right outside our library 🌺 She’s really showing off this year!

A hollyhock plant growing along a gray stucco wall. The hollyhock has 6 or 7 tall stalks, each adorned with large, bright pink flowers. Each stalk is 6 or 7 feet tall

A bright pink hollyhock flower. a large, delicate flower with a prominent pollen stalk in the middle.

A bunch of bright pink hollyhock flowers!

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

the bear vicar from the cover of the Berenstain Bears church book is basically me 🐻💒🕯️

The cover of the children’s book Here’s the Church, Here’s the Steeple by Jan and Mike Berenstain. The bear family walks up a path toward a church where a bear vicar waves at them.

A close-up on the bear vicar from the Berenstain Bears church book. The bear vicar wears a black suit over his black clergy shirt with a white full collar around his neck. The bear vicar waves as two other bear people walk into the church.

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

During the 2024 campaign, she wrote an article about Tim Walz’s Lutheran faith and how it inspires his politics but she only interviewed clergy from the conservative Lutheran denominations, not Tim Walz’s ELCA, so I’ve always been distrustful of her reporting from my little corner of the world

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Also so many of my classmates in seminary have been SAMs (synodically authorized ministers) who are already serving as ministers in their community as they’re getting their education and formation, helped along the way with online classes and synod resources

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

This feels like something the ELCA should be familiar with. There are legendary stories about seminarians a century ago riding the train from Saint Paul to western North Dakota on Saturdays, preaching on Sundays, and getting back to the seminary just in time for class

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Reposted by Erik 🕊️

Maplehood United @maplehoodunited.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Minnesotans are what Texans think they are

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

those 3% of GOP / disapprove voters are the demographic Amy Klobuchar is desperately trying to get

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Saint John’s Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minnesota, has one of my favorite images of Mary Magdalene in a stained glass window. Obsessed with her glorious head scarf and the hoop earrings!! 🕊️🕯️✨

a stained glass image of Mary Magdalene with a look of surprise on her face. She has a head scarf made of bright blue and peachy pink glass and gold hoop earrings. She wears a light pink dress with a red sash.

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I have absolutely zero patience for people from the coasts who insist on saying that the Midwest has no beaches I have a sunburn and sand in my hair, this is enough of a beach

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I’m still not over Irvine, CA, beating Mpls and St. Paul in the park ranking. Irvine was created in the 1960s as a planned suburb. It’s not really a city in any meaningful way. It’s like San Jose, CA, being technically the 13th largest city in the US. That’s a suburb!!! www.tpl.org/parkscore

tpl.org

ParkScore - Trust for Public Land

TPL uses ParkScore to evaluate city parks and walkability. Explore our collected data, see city park rankings and find out what cities have the best parks.

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Reposted by Erik 🕊️

Jordan Haynie Ware @godwelcomesall.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Good news: 2,000 years ago we killed God and this happened.

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

it’s unfortunate that Minneapolis and Saint Paul both have kinda ugly flags nobody uses them because they’re kinda ugly both cities deserve better

Flag of Saint Paul. Three horizontal stripes of yellow, blue, and yellow, with a red shield in the middle. On the shield, a log cabin, the Capitol dome, and a wheel with wings. A red banner says “SAINT PAUL” across the bottom.

Flag of Minneapolis. A blue triangle stretched horizontally across a white field. In the triangle is a white circle, divided into quadrants. The quadrants have a building with columns, a cog, a microscope, and a ship steering wheel.

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

I remain at Mount Olive until my vicariate is done on August 2! This summer I’ll receive my synod assignment, and then I’ll be able to start interviewing with congregations. I’m hoping to stay in the Cities, but we’ll see. Once I have a call, then I get ordained and the fun really begins

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

my cross came from irmaKmosaics on Etsy! lots of beautiful designs over there!

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

my friends and I did a cross exchange to celebrate our graduation, and I love the one I got! sooooo beautiful :) it was cool to see how all the crosses matched their recipients so well! 🕯️🕊️💒

a cross necklace. the cross is approximately 2 inches wide and 3 inches tall. the cross has a metal back with a mosaic of light blue glass and red glass

Erik, a white man with dark blond hair and clear glasses, wears the blue and red glass mosaic cross over his black clergy shirt. He's taking a mirror selfie.

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

okay maybe not kill, I’m not a killer in any circumstances, but I would die for her

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

I would kill and die for Julie Blaha indeed

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Blessed Feast of Saint Erik, King of Sweden! Last year I got to visit Uppsala Cathedral, the site of his martyrdom and the place where they keep his bones in this golden reliquary. I don’t endorse everything he did (booooo crusades) but it is cool to share a name with the patron saint of Sweden 🇸🇪🕯️🕊️

A stone statue of Saint Erik, King of Sweden

Erik (me) at Uppsala Cathedral with the golden reliquary box that holds the bones of Saint Erik.

Erik (me) with the stone statue of Saint Erik at the entrance of Uppsala Cathedral

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

it doesn’t really matter practically but would suck aesthetically if Peggy beats Angie in the primary but then Angie still gets to be the senior senator

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Who would have seniority? The winner of the 2026 election or the appointee to Klob’s seat? How quick would Klob’s replacement take the seat?

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

People in the ELCA often call our primary hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW), the Cranberry Hymnal for its color so I kinda think the ELCA-specific version of “Prayer Book Catholic” should be Cranberry Catholic My congregation is sooooo Cranberry Catholic 🕯️🏵️

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Reposted by Erik 🕊️

Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Minneapolis celebrates spring with a parade of giant handmade socialist puppets and a festival where people row the sun across the lake. This year's Mayday festival was today, and I'm going to try to share some photos and videos (many taken by others) to try to explain it for my non-local friends.

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

also yes I sat in the snow and counted the rings (lost count around 60ish) when they chopped it a couple months ago because I felt like the tree deserved to be honored in some way

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

over the winter, the seminary chopped down a 60-70 year old maple in my yard and now the roots are trying to send sap to the tree the tree is trying so hard to live and it’s using up all that it has left in the process why am I crying over this sad wet and sticky stump 😭😭😭

a wide stump of a maple tree with wet edges where the sap

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Erik 🕊️ @varbergensis.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

hello to my city council member @mollycoleman.bsky.social, please get your colleagues on this asap

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