He did his army service at a former CCC camp outside Flagstaff, Arizona, which is where he connected with the Navajo people who he continued to visit over the years. Because he could not shun his grandfather for living with his girlfriend, Russ’s family disowned him. His mother “made emulating Christ seem effortlessly rewarding.” Russ left because he was drafted in 1944 with five semesters of college completed. His father was the pastor for the community. Russ leaves the Mennonite community in Lesser Hebron, Indiana where they practice simplicity “to make the Kingdom of Heaven manifest on earth.” He learned about serving others because it was a way of life. Mennonites are often farmers because other careers take them out of their spiritual comfort zone. These simple folks, similar to the Amish people, usually eschew modern machines and inventions, although Russ Hildebrandt’s family did have tractors. Franzen’s main character in Crossroads grew up in a Mennonite family, living in a Mennonite community. My large, unruly childhood family lived next door to a quaint and very tolerant Mennonite couple. Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen took me back into my childhood.
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