Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Eve of All Saints; Eve of Samhain


The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love,
of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller
the love, the greater is the fear. (14)

- The Fourteenth of the 95 Theses of Martin Luther,
published on this day and nailed to the door of
Wittenburg parish church, 1517


I read through all the 95 Theses today. First time I’ve done that. Principally of course, Luther inveighs against the selling of pardons (indulgences) by the Pope or the Church. Not very interesting - except that Luther rightly and boldly attacks the absurd idea that pardon can be bought from an “earthly” source. No wonder Erasmus (quoted in an earlier Reflection) sighed at how money/gain in his time could be squeezed out of anything either secular or religious.

It is good to be reminded that it is Love that conquers fear, including the fear of death. Isn’t it nice to think that the more energy we spend in loving, the more surprised we will be when the moment of death arrives?! It will sneak up on us, and all we will be able to say is “Oh” before we slide over. The idea is, of course, firmly anchored in Scripture. 1 John 4: “love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.”

And there’s another point. I suppose that many people fear death because they are afraid that they are going to be punished. To which I only have to say (and here I resonate with Luther, who might have felt at least a little twitch at contradicting the Pope) - God does not punish anyone. That is not in the nature of the God who is Love. If there is any “punishment” after death (and I’m not at all sure there is), it is self-imposed.

So let’s Love, and a pox on Death and all it’s minions!!

Brian+