Voices: Good Company

by Kate Sprutta Elliott

In this final session of our Bible study, Martha Stortz assures us that, “In God’s kingdom, the goodness of the Lord reigns fully, completely, and every tear will be wiped away. The goodness of the Lord will rule! And part of the way that goodness rules is through us, as those whom the Beatitude blesses become a blessing to others.”

David Miller writes in “Blessed to See” that “God’s rule is the supreme blessing of life…. It is the end to which the Spirit draws us that we may know and rest in the goodness of God.” He says that awareness of God’s loving rule “transforms our vision that we witness and know blessedness where normal sight sees only suffering.”

These are hard days for those work for God’s kingdom, who long to know that blessedness. War, poverty, hunger, and suffering are on the march and we see scant evidence of God’s rule. But still, we do not lose heart because we find ourselves in the good company of those—both past and present, near and far—who are blessed to be a blessing to others.

This month, we consider two women whose faithfulness had a long-lasting effect on the church. In “Saintly Mothers,” Judy Chiarelli describes Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, and Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. Chiarelli writes, “There are many examples throughout history of mothers who worked closely with their children to do God’s work. When we look at the lives of such saintly mothers we notice that they all share the virtue of patience.”

New mother Kathryn Sime asks, “How would our world be different if we realized that all God’s children are as precious as those in our own lives?” In “All God’s Children,” she describes “how our gifts to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal provide a mothering embrace to children living in poverty around the world.”

The mission of Women of the ELCA is to “mobilize women to act boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ.” In this issue we meet Michele Zeller, a woman who left her comfortable home in Iowa to work on a hospital ship in Liberia. She writes, “I see the world differently now. God has given me the gifts of mercy, encouragement, and serving. I didn’t have these before, and I didn’t do anything to earn them. They appeared by grace along the journey.”

Finally, in this issue, we run an excerpt from a new book on aging by Joan Chittister. In “Transformation,” Sister Joan writes about “getting accustomed to being older.” She tells us that, “I begin to see the world differently, too. It is to be treasured, to be explored, to be enjoyed. . . . Other people begin to look different to me, too. They are as transformed as I am.”

The feast of Pentecost is this month (May 11). May you be reminded of the good company and loving reign of God all around you, both now and in the long green season ahead.

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today. You can write to her at LWT@elca.org.

(Posted for Kate by Terri Lackey)

Can you believe it?

Can you believe we are already planning for our October issue? The Lutheran Woman Today team met yesterday (Thursday, April 17) to talk about the articles we'd like to run in October. It's a fairly informal meeting; we often ask visitors to come in so we can get other ideas. We eat a few snacks (cheese and crackers, fruit) and munch while we think.

We always plan around the theme of the magazine and the Bible study (The Hidden Hand of God: Wisdom Stories from Ruth, Daniel, and Esther). We want articles to complement our Bible study so that those of you who do the study have additional material to turn to. And those of you who don't do the Bible study get an idea of what it's about without actually reading it.

In October, the Bible study is on "Ruth: The Plan for Security." September through November, we study the book of Ruth; December through February, we look at Daniel; and March through May, we study Esther. All of our issue themes and Bible studies are available in a brochure, which we can mail you (send us your home address in an email to lwt@elca.org) or which you can download.

The October magazine theme is: Beyond Loyalty. "Hesed is a Hebrew word that means loving loyalty-extravagant loyalty that goes beyond what we would ask or expect. How do we practice hesed in our daily lives?" We have some great articles planned for that issue.

In September, the issue theme is: Living Conversation. "By the power of the Spirit, the Bible is a living conversation in which the texts talk to each other. How do we enter into the conversation? How will we find ourselves transformed?" The Bible study theme is: "Ruth: The Journey Begins."

For those of you who are still looking forward to summer and not quite ready to think about autumn, we offer you a three session summer study on baptism. By about mid May, we will have those sessions ready to post online. You will be able to download them free. Many of you do not meet during the summer, so we also help you plan for a one-day retreat in which you can study all three issues. That will also be available here and on the Lutheran Woman Today site in mid-May.

But let's face it, though we on the Lutheran Woman Today staff look far into the future as we plan issues, most of us have not yet planted our annuals. Come back into the present and read an article about Earth Day, which is being observed April 22.

Voices: Joyful Hope

by Audrey Novak Riley

I love April, chilly and wet though it is here in Chicago, because it’s bursting with promises of good things just ahead. I see new sprouts coming up in my muddy garden and can almost smell the peonies. For a while we forget about bugs in the blossoms, and we live in joyful hope. Spring!

The church lives in joyful hope in this season of Easter, too, a deeper joy and a richer hope than even gardeners enjoy. The church has new sprouts too—the neophytes (that’s what the word means), those who were baptized at Easter, and we rejoice with them.

How did the earliest believers live into their new life in baptism? Luke tells us they had “glad and generous hearts,” sharing with all who had need, welcoming those whom the Lord added to their number, and sending missionaries out to spread the Good News. Their new life meant sharing food and friendship as well as sharing the Gospel. That’s the life we’re baptized into, too.

Clearly, welcoming the stranger (as well as the acquaintance and the neighbor) is at the heart of the baptized life. Sue Gamelin tells us how that works in “Tumbled Wet.” After all, “when God’s baptized people share the pews and folding chairs, who knows who will show up!”

Marie Reyner tells us about the welcome she was given when she traveled to Ethiopia with the “Woman to Woman” tour sponsored by the women’s organization. That welcome led to a friendship that still flourishes today, as she found when she returned on last summer’s “Women to Women” tour with Lutheran World Relief and Women of the ELCA. See “Sisters in Christ: 22 Years and Counting.”

The Good News that the first missionaries spread wasn’t just about Jesus’ resurrection, it was about his bringing good news to the poor and justice to the oppressed, writes Barbara Lundblad in “God’s Resurrection Justice.” Jesus tells us that believers will do the works he does (John 14:12), so we are called to work for justice.

In this issue’s Bible study session, “Making Peace and Being Peace,” Martha Stortz reminds us that baptism gathers us into a new family, God’s family—and that means we are meant to be princesses and princes of peace ourselves. How do we act on that? Jesus’ last sermon in Matthew gives us some hints.

Joy Schroeder tells us more about the family we’re adopted into in “The Surprising Women in Jesus’ Family Tree.” What are wild women like Rahab and Tamar doing in among prophets and kings in the list of Jesus’ genealogy? They were making justice, part of this family’s mission since the earliest times.

Justice includes caring for God’s good creation, as Kim Winchell reminds us in “Beyond Earth Day.” She challenges us to earthkeeping: “As ambassadors of Christ’s compassion, justice, and reconciliation, we can participate in the restoration of right relationships—for all creation.”

And that brings us back to the new sprouts peeking up through the cold April mud. By Pentecost, they’ll be tall plants bearing dozens of fluffy, fragrant puffs of red and pink, delighting everyone who sees them. Joyful hope, anyone?

Audrey Novak Riley is associate editor of Lutheran Woman Today.

Two letters from readers

Below are two letters I received recently from readers: one from Wisconsin and the other did not offer her name or address.

Dear Editors,

As a young woman of the ELCA and a member of the monthly Lutheran Women Today Bible study group at my church, in which my husband is the pastor, I have two questions for you regarding Session 7 (March) of this year’s Bible study.

WHY in the opening prayer, did we say, "Gracious God, you whom Moses saw face to face" when Moses never saw God face to face? In this study, we specifically talk about how Moses could NOT handle seeing God face to face as that would have consumed him. "You can not see my face; for no one shall see my face and live" (Exodus 33:20). Moses saw God's "back" instead (Ex. 33:23). Also, when Moses saw the burning bush in Exodus 3, he "hid his face because he was afraid to look at God." I am trying to think of other encounters that God and Moses had, and none of them involved them seeing each other face to face. Our Bible study group was confused. Did we miss something?

Also, often these prayers included in the book are not used when I lead Bible study because I believe God wants us to use our own brains when we pray. We shouldn't borrow other peoples’ words, praying should be an overflow of our OWN heart, relying on someone else isn't what I would call a true relationship with the Lord. You can't borrow somebody else's faith and, as leaders, I often feel we are called to help people see this truth, not enable them with prayers someone else made up.

However, all that being said, I used the written prayers this time, especially because I liked the closing prayer.

My question to you now is this: Why do we not end our prayers with "In Jesus' name we pray" when we are instructed to ask for things "in Jesus name" by Jesus himself? In the opening prayer for example, we asked God to purify our hearts, so that is a want, prepare our souls, also a want. We should end with "We ask this in Jesus' name." shouldn't we?

Thank you for taking the time!

Paula Hasty
Zion Lutheran Church
Horicon, WI

Dear Paula,

Thanks for your careful reading of the material— and of the Bible. We're all confused—and we are right to be confused, because scripture gives two accounts of this. In addition to the texts you cite, there is Exodus 33:11 "Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend." (NRSV) And it's because of this direct encounter with God that Moses' face shone like the sun. The people could not bear to look at it, so they made him cover it.

Interestingly, the Hebrew words for "shining" could be pointed differently to mean "horned," which is the way some of the medieval interpreters read the text. So Moses is often depicted in medieval art with two horns—like Satan! The artist was at great pains to make these benevolent-looking horns—not like the dangerous horns the Devil wore. But it's worth checking out images of Moses on Google/Images for this. But I digress . . .

As to the prayers, thanks for noticing them. I wanted to make the opening and closing prayers different. The opening prayer takes seriously Jesus' counsel to ask our Father in heaven for everything that we need: We needn't be afraid to name before God our every concern (Matthew 21:22; Luke 11:9). I wanted the group to begin with God's blessing. I think each of those opening prayers closes in the name of Jesus.

The closing prayer is different, because at the end of each study, we move out into the world. So I made these prayers to Jesus in the name of the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus. Here I wanted people to pray for the needs of others. We ourselves are pray-ers—and we pray for the neighbor.

This, I have to add, is a very Lutheran emphasis. Luther lived in a world where people had been used to interceding to saints and to having priests pray on their behalf. He urged them to address God directly for their own needs—and to pray for the needs of the neighbor. The Reformation is also a reformation in prayer -- and I was trying to reflect that.

So we open each session praying as Jesus directed: asking our heavenly Father/Mother/Parent for what we need. And we close each session praying for the needs of the neighbor.

Anyway, long answers to your lovely questions. I hope this addresses some of your concerns. And thanks for noticing those prayers—they're quite intentional, and I'm grateful you caught that.

Blessings,

Martha

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Dear Editors,

This is a small matter, but Bible study author, Martha Stortz, may want to use the word, "fruit," instead of "apple" when referring to what Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden. Apple was used in Session 7 (March) as well as in an earlier session. Thank you.

Dear Friends,

Thanks for catching this: nothing is a small matter. The Genesis account of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil never calls it an "apple," but simply a "fruit." That's actually helpful for people in climes that cannot produce apples—they can imagine the "fruit" of the tree as being a banana—or a pineapple!

But "apple" is how it's been represented in Western art for centuries.

I know that sometimes I have gone with "apple" to be true to the art and sometimes with "fruit" to be true to the text. But what's probably most true is the whole matter of disobedience: Adam and Eve deliberately ate something God told them not to.

It's worth reading this account in Luther's commentary on Genesis, which is in the first volume of the American edition of Luther's Works. Luther seems captivated by the whole "blame game" that this disobedience inaugurated. Adam blames Eve; Eve blames the serpent; they even blame God for putting a forbidden tree in the garden in the first place! It's a fascinating interpretation of how much we need to blame someone—anyone!—else.

Anyway, thanks for catching this—and blessings,

Martha

Voices: Seeing is Believing

by Terri Lackey

I am a concrete thinker, a literalist who doesn’t do well with metaphors. That renders poetry baffling to me. And Jesus’ parables? Well, let’s just say I’d be right there with the disciples, looking puzzled and shaking my head. I might even raise my hand and ask Jesus to show me what he was talking about. “Uh, Jesus, could you give me an example?”

For me, seeing is believing. The Beatitude in our Bible study this session is “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Really? Like the little girl in Martha Stortz’s sixth session, I need a God with skin. And guess what? I have that in Jesus.

Jesus is a show-me God. He ministered to the sick, offered mercy to the downtrodden, welcomed the stranger. That’s the kind of pure-heartedness God wants from us.

Heidi Neumark, pastor of Trinity of Manhattan Lutheran Church in New York and a speaker at the 2008 Women of the ELCA Triennial Gathering, shows mercy to the needy. Her church sees the distress of homeless youth and offers them refuge. In her article, “Buried Windows,” she writes: “We reject the way of seeing that looks upon those who are different—even different in ways we don’t like or understand—as inferior, defective, evil, unworthy of our every effort and attention.”

Welcoming the stranger into our midst is smart Christianity. That guest just might turn out to be Jesus, as he was in the road to Emmaus story in the Gospel of Luke. In fact, that guest just might become the host who shows us how welcoming strangers unites us, Erik Strand writes in “Breaking, Blessing, Welcoming.” “As host, Jesus rewrites the guest list. At his meals, the boundaries between in and out are permeable and loose. Where Jesus is the host, all receive the same gift and the same portion.”

While not healing the sick as Jesus did, hospice care offers comfort to those who are terminally ill. Anne Basye writes about a hospice care team from one of 20 hospitals of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, East Africa. The team visits the homes of HIV/AIDS patients bringing medication, health advice, and emotional support. “We bring hope to those who are hopeless, courage to those who have no courage. We become a reason for people to become happy, even when they are struggling with social stigmas and extreme pain,” says Pastor Gabriel Kimirei, one of the members of the care team Basye describes.

All this welcoming the stranger, showing mercy to those in need, and ministering to the sick seems to require some sort of purity of heart. Is the road to purity paved with good intentions, wonders Karris Golden in “Pure in Heart.” Giving unconditionally and unselfishly—purely—allows for no ulterior motive. We can’t wonder how our good deeds reflect on us, she writes. “That’s why Jesus confounded and angered many of his contemporaries. Not only did he give everything freely . . . he scoffed at those who demanded an explanation of his motives.”

When we gather around the table to share the sacrament of God’s body and blood, our hearts are made clean, Martha Stortz writes in her Bible study. May you act on that purity of heart and serve God with the best of intentions.

Terri Lackey is managing editor of Lutheran Woman Today.

God punishes the sons and grandsons

Below is a question I recently received from a reader in northern Minnesota and my answer to her question.

Hi Marty,

I have a question about the January Lutheran Woman Today Bible study (Mercy Made Real: Disciples as Forgiven Forgivers) regarding Exodus 34:7.

The explanation in the Bible study actually satisfies me. It made sense to all of us that when we see abuse or alcoholism, we do see how this repeats. (Exodus 34:7 is the verse in question.) But now that the ladies in this WELCA Bible study know that I know the author, one lady said...

"Why don't you ask your teacher what this verse really means..."

In The Message translation: "He holds sons and grandsons responsible for a father's sins to the third and even fourth generation." The verse right above it is much easier to love:

"God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient, so much love, so deeply true, loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion and sin. Still he doesn't ignore sin..."

Any tidbits you have we are thrilled to hear. Love and prayers,

Nancy Hanson in northern Minnesota where it was 37 degrees below zero last night, but now is a rousing 1 degree below with sunshine.

Hi, Nan!

I love that your women are taking this all so seriously. These verses bring together some of the toughest and most gracious verses in Scripture. And we have to hold them together -- and do the numbers. Three to four generations versus a thousand. I'll take those odds.

God's mercy outruns God's judgment.

In general, I find it hard to think about God's judgment. I usually want God to judge other people, though. Just not me. It's important to know that there is a basic order and equity in the creation, though. It's absolutely essential to the Beatitudes: those who are last -- will be first! Those who are oppressed -- will be vindicated! Those who do evil -- will be punished!

We count on this basic equity, particularly if we're the oppressed ones, but if we should find ourselves the oppressors, it terrifies us. Now, and this is your question: what if we are the oppressor's sons and daughters out to the third and fourth generations?

Ours is the task of repentance, not just saying that we're sorry, but acting like we're sorry. Reparations, apologies, all of that. We owe others for the sins of our parents. What does this mean concretely? It means the Truth and Reconciliation of South Africa; it means Guatemala's Recovery of Historical Memory Project; it means the village in Korea erecting a memorial to honor those killed in the carnage resulting from division over the North and South; it means the Vatican apology for its complicity in the Holocaust; it means Congressional apology for the abuse of slavery in this country.

Also stated in this verse: God will judge -- so don't anyone else take on that role. That means most powerfully: the oppressed don't get to judge. As much as they'd/we'd like to, we are warned not to play God here either. We are warned -- and we are assured! -- God will take care of the judging.

Bottom line: God does judge. And God's mercy outruns God's judgment.

God in the Hebrew Bible is always a judge, and that was great comfort to a people under the thumb of Egyptian oppressors or Canaanite conquerors. But God also judged them, judged them for not letting God lead them -- so God let them have kings -- and what kings they got! God judged their unfaithfulness in that desert.

Judgment gives us God's way of making amends. And it would be worth exploring that: when we know we've done something wrong, sometimes it makes us feel good that there's something we can do -- or something that can be done -- to fix things. Even if we have to pass on that amendment of life to our sons and daughters.

Beautiful story of this in the New York Times on the Korean village. It's kind of mirror image of the verses at hand: sons and daughters knew the soldiers who'd killed their parents -- often brutally. They also knew that if they voiced the names, the carnage would never end. So they never spoke what they knew. One man said: “I think I know the police officer who killed my sister. But I have never mentioned his name to anyone. He is dead now. When he was alive, he always tried to be kind to me, perhaps because of what he did to our family.” The sins of the fathers spread to the sons and daughters -- so also did the mercy needed. The man let mercy outrun judgment -- and he let God judge.

Oh well, I hope this is clear. Keep reading, keep thinking, keep praying. These are hard texts, and they bear discussion. It's nice to be invited to be a part of your discernment.

Blessings,

Marty

Voices: A Book, a Chalice, a Cup

by Kate Sprutta Elliott

We are a people of the book. We have a long, rich heritage of studying the Bible, of hearing it proclaimed in worship, of consulting it in times of struggle. We are a people of the book.

We are a people of the chalice. We value the sacraments and they inform our life together. We gather for worship and are spiritually fed by the bread and wine in the liturgy. We are a people of the chalice.

We are also people of the cup. Yes, the cups we drain in fellowship at coffee hour as we support one another in our faith communities; but also “the cup of cold water to one of these little ones” that Jesus refers to in Matthew 10:42. We care about people who are hungry and thirsty. We care about people who are in need or in crisis. We are a people of the cup.

In this issue, you will find two Bible study sessions. In session 5, we study the Beatitude that blesses those “who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” and in session 6 we reflect on the blessing of mercy. Author Martha Stortz writes that as we seek to know the heart of God, we look to Jesus. She says, “As Jesus demonstrated in his life and ministry, the love born of such fellowship happens around food.”

Food and connection equal communion. On page 20 we excerpt the book Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion by Sara Miles. Miles tells how one morning when she was 46, she received communion for the first time. This eventually led her to join the church and start a food pantry there. She explains, “The food pantry, as I envisioned it, was another way of doing church. It wasn't a social service program but a service, modeled on the liturgy of the Eucharist.”

In “Table Manners,” Violet Cucciniello Little tells us about her journey to open the Welcome Center for people living on the streets in Philadelphia. It was a daring dream, as she writes, “But when Jesus invites us to risk—to live and love in a way that opens us up to pain—there is no gamble. There is no gamble because always we are assured of God's loving presence with us.”

In February, love is in the air on Valentine’s Day. In “Message of Love,” Audrey West reminds us of the best valentine ever—the one from God: “While we send flowers or cards to express our love, God sends Jesus.”

Jesus brings God’s mercy and forgiveness to us, no matter what the season. As you prepare for Lent, you will want to read Lynn Ramshaw’s “The Power of Forgiveness.” She helps us see how forgiveness can change our lives: “We turn to God and discover the miraculous power to be forgiven and forgive. We are the ones changed; being loved, we become loving.”

The book, the chalice, and the cup. May you find God’s love for you in all three.

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today. You can e-mail her at LWT@elca.org.

Voices: Meek and Mighty

by Kate Sprutta Elliott

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought” (Matthew 5:5, The Message).

At this time of year, it’s not so easy to be content. Television ads and shopping malls plant the idea that we should want more—we should want the picture-perfect holidays that we imagine other people are having. We want to buy (and get) gifts that wow. And we want to host the meals and parties that wow. In the midst of all that wow, this Beatitude speaks a radically different idea: Blessed are the meek—not the wealthy, not the stylish, not the powerful. It’s not about being impressive.

In this session of the Bible study, writer Martha Stortz helps us understand the biblical idea of meekness by looking at two important men in the Bible—Moses and Jesus. In comparing their stories, we learn about meekness as tempered strength, power held in check.

In “When Words Collide?” on p. 22, Elyse Nelson Winger reflects on the “act boldly” theme of Women of the ELCA and writes, “Jesus did not say: Blessed are the bold. . . . So, what does Scripture really say about meekness? And what is its relationship to boldness?”

The faith practice in this month’s Bible study is focused on “Holy Conversation.” Peter Marty reminds us that in this world where nasty speech so often gets the upper hand, “Kindness makes for holy conversation. If we want to get anywhere in life, we are often told to be tough and cold in our dealings. . . . Being tough is relatively simple; showing kindness takes far more courage.”

We learn that kindness, that meekness, by sharing the yoke of Jesus. Catherine Malotky asks in her article on p. 14, “Do we not carry, deep in our bones, the idea that security and happiness are the goal and that we can buy these things for ourselves and those we love?” She reminds us that “We can choose another kind of strength, tempered and sure, yoked to the One whose wisdom and welcome is unfailing.”

In Advent we hear the words of the prophets, speaking of the coming messiah. Lita Brusick Johnson gives us insight about what it means to be prophetic in “Light, Glass, and Fire.” She writes that it helps to think about “prophets as fragile pieces of glass that reflect, refract, collect, and focus God’s light. Their importance is not in themselves, but in what the Light does with and through them.”

Finally on p. 36, Kathleen Kastilahn reassures those of us who are over-burdened and stressed this holiday season: “I bring good news: You can’t make this the 'best Christmas ever.' You can’t—no matter how much you bake, wrap, decorate, party, give, visit, sing, worship, or even do acts of love. You can’t, because God already did, 2,000 years ago and every year since. And God will do it again this year."

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today. You may write to her at LWT@elca.org.

Read about mourning in Cafe

In November, the Lutheran Woman Today Bible study explores the Beatitude about mourning: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Café, our on-line publication for young women, also looks at mourning in an article by Debra Farrington, LWT's monthly columnist on prayer.

"The loss of a job, the death of a parent or loved one, the end of an important relationship, or other losses throw us into periods of confusion, sadness, or even desolation," Farrington writes in the Café article. "The internal compass of life doesn’t seem to be working during these times, and like the Israelites’ desert journey, the walk through these times can seem directionless and without focus."

Read more of Farrington's Café essay on mourning here.

Voices: Holy Comfort

by Kate Sprutta Elliott

Like most people who have spent time in the country of mourning (as our Bible study writer calls it), I have stories to tell about my travels there. You’ve heard these kinds of stories before: how we kept watch for hours at a hospital bedside, how we cried ourselves to sleep, the strange dreams and coincidences, the longing to hear someone’s voice one more time, the weariness and heartbreak—and then, the cards and phone calls and many kindnesses that make the stress and grief more bearable.

Most of us have traveled that road once or twice and felt the holy comfort of God’s presence expressed in the presence of the people who supported us. When we return, we find ourselves needing to understand what we saw in that country and how the journey changed us. A wise friend once told me that if you find yourself “haunted” during your grief, you need to record memories of the person you lost and the experiences you shared. Otherwise your subconscious will ambush you with intense thoughts and emotions, afraid that you will forget the details.

This month the Bible study explores the Beatitude “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Writer Martha Stortz tells us, “In this session, we enter the country of mourning with two biblical women as our guides: Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. There we encounter Jesus both as one who mourns and as one who comforts those who mourn through the blessing of his Spirit, the Comforter.”

Terri Speirs in “The Shadow of the Valley” tells how her family was comforted through a dark time of stress and grief when her husband was going through a serious illness. She writes, “When you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, your eyes are opened to all the people around you who have also been there. . . who also have traded the small stuff for the big things like kindness, compassion, and courage.”

Those people around you are often the saints who make a difference in our lives. In “Stories of Fearlessness, Faithfulness, and Falsies,” Tana Kjos tells us, “We find these saints in Scripture, but we also meet them in our everyday lives. They bring us comfort and healing, reminding us of God’s promises even through the most difficult times.”

This month we celebrate All Saints’ Day. Joy Schroeder gives us the background story in “All Saints’ Day in 1517,” the day after Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Castle Church door. We learn what the fuss was about—and how it changed history.

Also this month most of us will gather with family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday. In “Divine Geometry” Pastor Maggie Rourk reminds us, “Being thankful is not something we do; being thankful is who we are. We are God’s thanksgiving people! It is our Lord Jesus himself who invites us to his Thanksgiving Table.”

If you are in the country of mourning this Thanksgiving, or if you’re not, may you be blessed with comfort and hope.

Kate Sprutta Elliott is editor of Lutheran Woman Today.