Happily Ever After

I am a Lutheran pastor, because I am captivated by the truth that we are saved by grace through faith and that it is not our own doing, but a gift from God. When I was in seminary, I would read Luther quoting Paul and oftentimes could not distinguish if what I was reading was Paul or Luther.

Paul has many of the same gifts as I do, so I relate to him. What I love most about Acts is that the apostles and disciples are always praying and talking about the Holy Spirit like she's in the room (because she is...she's in the world too). I always refer to the Holy Spirit as "she," because their is no masculine form for Spirit in the Hebrew language. Ruah is wind or breath and she is feminine. Many women have provided wind for my sails over the years, but Paul also speaks to me.

Starting tomorrow, we'll hear a lot about Lady Wisdom. I'm excited for the ensuing discussion.

Adi has been captivated from a very early age with princesses and princes. Every fairy tale ends, "And they lived happily ever after." She hates it, but I always end the stories, "And they worked their butts off loving each other and lived happily ever after."

My dad called today. A close family friend from Minneapolis, Katie Vertin-Nevala (who I spend every summer with...her mom was my dad's neighbor out on the farm), went to work yesterday and came back to find her 38 year old husband, Jimmy, dead in the shower from a heart attack. They have two little kids. Nine hours ago, she posted this on Facebook, "If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you. When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me...Jimmy, I miss you and love you from here to there." They are not going to live happily ever after (at least not in this life), but God will comfort her during this time of deep grief through her family and friends. God's work, our arms of embrace.

Paul doesn't exactly live happily ever after either. But he makes the most of a bad situation. Being wrongfully accused and imprisoned, he still praises and serves God for the rest of his life. May we do the same.

Please pray for Katie.