Martin Luther died 468 years ago today. He enjoyed a long and fruitful life, but like all mortals he faced the reality of death. He died in Eisleben, probably of congestive heart failure, while trying to patch up a conflict among German Lutheran noblemen (imagine a squabble among German Lutherans!). The conflict was resolved but Luther did not survive.

Luther was untroubled by death. He was often sick and expected to die. In the 1530's he suffered from kidney stones and he expected to die from them, or even perhaps wished that he had. So death was a regular topic for conversation at the Luther family table. For Luther death should come as no shock. Everyone dies. Even the pagan Roman lawyer, Cicero, was comforted by the commonality of death. But we Christians are not merely stoic about death as Cicero was. We look forward to what it brings us to.

According to Luther earthly life was the anomaly. Life is a short span, a way station in the human return to God. Luther likened it to a trip to Leipzig from Wittenberg. Many of the students returned to their homes from the University of Wittenberg by walking to Leipzig. However, it could not be reached on the first day; it was a two day journey. So they stopped at D�ben for the night and went on from there in the morning. But various students arrived at D�ben at various times. So death comes at various times, but it comes for all of us. No matter how long or how short our lives death stalks all of us. Death is the universal experience, no matter how long we live.