Narrative Summary
Interview with Susie Danielsson by Chris Berry
Susie Daneilsson is a 61 year-old homemaker who is a retired surgical technician. Susie
grew up in the Ozarks. She moved for a while because of a career move that eventually changed
her life. There she met her future husband Dr. E. Danielsson, a native of Iceland who was
completing his residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Susie had been married once
before, just out of high school, and had two children. After their marriage, the couple had one
child and adopted another.
Susie has deep roots in Missouri and in the Ozarks. Although she was born in New
Jersey, her mother was from Missouri. Her father, from Idaho, chose Missouri as the place to
raise his family. He was a portrait photographer who operated Sothern Studio in Springfield,
Missouri. The family was Episcopalian and went to church regularly. Susie describes her early
experiences while growing up in that religious tradition.
The Episcopal Church might be described as the American branch of the Church of
England, sometimes known as the Anglican Church. During the reign of Henry VIII of England,
the Anglican Church officially separated from Catholicism and joined the Protestants, although
they kept much of the hierarchy from Catholicism intact. Rather than looking to the Pope as the
head of the church, Henry VIII reserved that right for himself with respect to the Church of
England. This background is necessary to understand what Susie means when she talks about
some specific religious practices surrounding the Christmas tradition. In the Episcopal Church,
the season of Christmas is preceded by the season of Advent, a preparatory season for Christmas
that ends on the day prior to Christmas Eve. During the season of Advent, the church and the
home are greened with traditional evergreen branches and wreathes. Any ribbons used to adorn
them must be purple during Advent; on Christmas Eve, with the change of liturgical seasons, the
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colors of the ribbons are changed to the celebratory color of red. So, in many Episcopal homes
the Christmas tree cannot be trimmed until Christmas Eve. The tree then remains in place for the
traditional 12 days of Christmastide and is taken down on the evening of January sixth during
Epiphany, also known as the Feast of Lights.
Susie spoke to me about her religious faith and her own spiritual journey. She has served
as a youth minister, and at one point she was called to the ordained ministry of the diaconate.
Coinciding with diaconate training, Susie was also involved with a group of people who founded
a religious community and were planning an expansion of the community and creation of a
motherhouse. The house is known as the Rivendell community and is located in Polk County.
Susie and her husband played pivotal roles in that expansion process, becoming two of its chief
investors. The proceeds of the sale of their home, along with her husband’s retirement fund, went
into the purchase and remodeling of the former Amish farm that was purchased for the
community. It is now the Motherhouse of the Rivendell community where Susie and her husband
make their home.
Susie speaks of her roles in the community, as well as what this service means to her. She
discusses the community’s beginnings, its important members, and its plan or guiding vision.
She candidly discusses the Rule, which is the set of guidelines under which community members
live their daily lives. She discusses her understanding of what it is to be religious, as well as how
that understanding translates into personal action for her and her husband. She speaks eloquently
of the fact that many would believe their lives to be radical and perhaps even kooky. Susie
stresses that the first characterization is actual fact, but the second is not. She relates the
normality of her life in such a way as to show that the religious aspects are integral to it and not
imposed from outside of it.
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Susie believes that the community exists for several reasons. First, they are an example of
true Christian values and service. In the performance of that service, they are called upon to
make personal sacrifices for a greater good. At the time of the interview, the community had
recently taken in a homeless family consisting of three people. They will be allowed to stay in
the community until alternate housing may be found and they can live independently again.
Susie points out that the community model is not the normal way in which most Christian people
live. She highlights the intentional aspect of community life where everything is done for
specific reasons, including such things as recycling as much as possible and buying only fair
trade coffee. Susie reports that the prayer life of the community is just as intentional because
they pray for the needs of others. She emphasizes that the Episcopal Church does not see itself as
being in a vacuum and recognizes that every denomination of Christianity makes up the
church—this is the idea incorporated in the phrase “the universal church of Christ.” The
community continues to practice that understanding when they pray for the state of the universal
church and the world at large.
Susie wants women to understand that they are not solely defined by what roles they
choose to take on. She asserts that even cooking and cleaning can be to the glory of God and that
there is no inherent subservience to men in choosing to do any of these things. She believes that
each of us is created equal with our own portion of God-given gifts, which are unique to us.
Susie says that the secret to the best possible life is simply to embrace who we are and what God
is calling each of us to do in our own lives. Susie shows that there should be no such thing as
cookie-cutter faith; true faith comes from within and its practice must be unique to each of us.
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