Religion & Spirituality
Acts 11:27-12:5; Romans 8:28-39; Mark 10:35-48 In Scripture and our hymnody, human life is often portrayed as being a pilgrimage. “I’m But a Stranger Here” includes this classic line: “Short is my pilgrimage, Heav’n is my home” (Lutheran Service Book, 748 v. 2). The earthly pilgrimage of hymnwriter Thomas Taylor lasted only twenty-eight years—a brief life lived to God’s glory. The lives of many followers of Jesus have been brief, yet powerful. On this day, the Church remembers St. James the Elder, the brother of John, whose earthy life was ended at the murderous order of King Herod. As we sing of the “noble army of martyrs” in the Te Deum, we remember this singular disciple of Jesus Christ as part of that noble army.