A religious pilgrimage of sorts

This trip will be part religious pilgrimage for this lifelong Lutheran. I intend to visit the Vatican and all the Roman Catholic holy sites in Italy, as well as some of the major cathedrals around Europe. But I definitely intend to pay my respects at the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany, where my guy Martin Luther is buried. Not only did Luther spark Protestantism (ever notice that you can't say Protestant without saying "Protest") but he also ultimately changed the Roman Catholic Church, for the better. Some Catholics might argue that with me, but they're simply wrong. Read up on your own church's history and you'll thank Marty Luther for no longer having to pay indulgences for shorter sidetrips to Purgatory.

Luther would be cool today. He was quick with a quip, loved music, and liked beer – perhaps the latter helped generate his many clever quotes on the human condition. Making the case for allowing priests, or pastors, to marry, he wrote: "Marriage is a better school for the character than any monastery for it's here that your corners are rubbed off." Whoa, has anyone better characterized marriage in the 500 years since? I've always wondered how priests can give advice on marriage when they can't marry themselves. Yeah, yeah, I know: Priests are married to God. Well, I would propose that living with God is easier than living with a spouse. And I say that fully realizing that no spouse is more difficult to live with than yours truly.

Despite my respect and dedication to Luther and Lutheranism, my boys attend a Catholic grade school for a number of reasons. They're getting a good education with the children of other great families. Most of all, I know the Catholic Church of today is not the one that Luther challenged, and these two branches of Christianity teach the same core beliefs about the life of Jesus Christ and the religion his disciples have carried around the world. I love the history of Christianity, and that's inexorably linked to the pageantry and theology of Catholicism. I just wish Christians spent less time worrying about our differences and more time unifying to make the world a better place. Perhaps exposing my family to the Catholic Church, while attending our ELCA Lutheran Church every Sunday (in 11 hours, in fact) is my way of trying to live that belief a bit.

America's travel buddy Rick Steves produced this excellent video for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America on the life of Luther. It provides a great description of the world where Luther grew up and eventually changed the history of Christianity forever. I'd highly recommend it for Lutherans, Catholics, and all people of faith.