in Luther's footsteps

Statue of Katie Luther in the Luther Haus courtyard.

We spent the morning in Martin Luther's old house.  When the Lutheran Reformation put the local monks out of business, they gave the former monastery to Martin and Katie.  They ran it as a boarding house, with Katie as its hard-working caretaker.   Here were creaking floorboards and ancient heavy doors, and we passed through these rooms that once echoed with their laughter but have now been filled with displays, portraits, manuscripts, and countless items from historic treasures to mere memorabilia.

Example of an indulgence,
from the Luther museum at Luther Haus.

There was an example of an indulgence like the ones Luther protested, and a coffer like the one in which the questionable church fundraisers collected coins.  So many of these paintings I've seen in history books, so many of these pamphlets I've read in English - it was all  so familiar, but now there is a human context to it.  Luther's robe stood all unfurled in its display case, and I know people were smaller back then  but could he have really been that short?  This man who stood in the way of popes, kings, emperors, just one man, but a man who turned out to be the wind of a storm front - was just one small man like you or me.

Luther's robe in display case -- kind of small...

Never think that God has no use for one small, simple person.  The words encircling the tower of the castle church are familiar: Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, "A Mighty Fortress is our God." 

We were allowed into the church today, despite all the renovations going on, for a concert benefitting local flood recovery efforts.  The sounds of Renaissance music and familiar hymn tunes filled the air of this ancient sanctuary where Martin Luther and his sidekick Philip Melanchthon were buried. Their tombs remind us that even with a museum full of evidence of his superstar status putting even Elvis' Graceland to shame, Luther was and is in the hands of God, loved and forgiven, and offered grace, yes, just like us.