Pastor Michael O. touched many lives throughout his career. I know this because mine was one of them. Pastor Michael knew how to reach people of all walks of life and communicate with them on their level. I was fortunate enough to have been one of his confirmation students. Confirmation actually saved my life but I never had the chance to tell Pastor Micael just how that happened.
During one class he challenged me with a paradox about sin, forgiveness and grace. While the exercise was meant to make me think about the lesson of the day, it had a much more profound impact on my life. You see, I suffered from chronic depression that started in my adolescent years and continued throught the rest of my life. It went undiagnosed and untreated for decades because I was able to mask it quite well. From the outside, I appeared to be a cheerful, happy go lucky kid. On the inside, however, I was always haunted by my own personal demons of depression. Some time after I had finished confirmation, I found myself at the end of my rope and was on the verge of suicide. I was seconds away from squeezing the trigger when one of my last thoughts that bounced into my mind was that of the confirmation conversation about the paradox of sin and forgiveness. The question of whether God can forgive a person for a sin that they have not yet committed resonated in my mind and got me to take a few seconds to ponder that. I thought that my life here on earth was hell, and I could only imagine that eternal damnation would be exponentially worse… I paused for reflection and that allowed me to work through the darkest moments of my life. Pastor Michael saved my life and he wasn’t even there to do it but he had formed an indelible impression in my mind and helped build my spiritual foundation.
I never got the opportunity to tell him about my experience or the profound impact he had on my life. Throughout his life he sowed many spiritual seeds and he may not have known how they would take root, grow and blossom. It didn’t matter to him that he would see that, it was never about himself but always to God be the glory.
I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know him and to have his guidance in my spiritual formation.

God bless you Pastor Michael O. and God bless your entire family!

I miss him more every day.

Michael was the best spiritual mentor I have ever had. For me,there will never be another like him. I learned a tremendous amount from him at Bible study, and all the other times we shared together. He was a close friend, we had much in common in experiences and interests. I often run across books and articles and think, “Michael would have loved this book” or “I would love to ask him a question or two about this article”. The way Michael lived his faith continues to be an inspiration to me and always will. I appreciated his wit and humor, his intellect, and his gentle mannerisms. Michael was a great man, I feel very fortunate to have known him well, and I miss him greatly. Thank you to Karen for allowing me to have one of Michael’s Bibles, which I treasure. Matt, Beck, Alyssa and Karen, may God give you the strength to carry on.
Bruce Beisel

I miss you, Papa.