Come Fly With Me

While I am not (I don't think) assisting a bunch of ghouls to fly into space, I am flying to Germany today at 7:25 PM. Needless to say I am very excited, which is evidenced by the fact that I haven't packed a single thing yet. I have unfortunately contracted a slight cold, which should make traveling interesting. I am nonetheless quite excited to journey to Berlin. To begin the day, I am listening to Sabaton's Last Stand album on *shiver* Spotify, currently the namesake of the album, occasionally called "Deus Vult", which I should totally get tattooed somewhere. The song talks about the sack of Rome which took place in 1527. A contingent of local militia, together with 189 members of the Swiss Guard (originally mercenaries hired by the popes to fight in their armies, famed for their martial abilities, later kept on for the sake of tradition even to this day) defended Rome against the "barbarian hordes" (a connection of which many in that time were well aware and actually mentioned) of the Holy Roman Empire. It is a fitting song to begin the trip with because it highlights the political tension if not utter chaos that served as the backdrop to the reformation. While Luther personally did not at all support the decision to besiege Rome, some claiming to be his supporters believed that it was not only justified but profitable, both because of Rome's religious significance as well as its ready stash of money.Even in the midst of something ultimately good like the reformation, evil will undoubtedly appear. I am here reminded of Jesus' parable of the wheat in Matthew 13: 

Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'" 

At times, I was greatly challenged learning about these events, wondering how God could work even in the midst of such great evil and what seems like almost no good. If there is one lesson to be learned from the past, though, it is that even in the midst of tremendous evil, Christ wins. With that, I leave you all now to pack (maybe). 

*edit* Sorry for the white lines around the last bit, Blogger is being stupid again.