# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1844 10 13_S13
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Der Lutheraner.

"God's Word and Luther's teaching shall never pass away."

Published by C. F. W. Walther.

Volume 1.

St. Louis, Mo., October 19, 1844.

No. 4.

——

Terms: The Lutheraner appears once every two weeks, at a subscription price of one dollar and twenty-five cents for out-of-town subscribers, half of which they must pay in advance, and they must also bear the cost of postage. — In St. Louis, each single number is sold for 6¼ cents.

The Wanderer and the Migratory Birds

Wanderer.

Welcome, you wanderers up there,
you flocks in joyful procession,
lifted high above the earth,
borne aloft on powerful wings!
How you hasten with swift plumage
homeward from north to south,
and bring us autumn once again,
and cry out: summer is over!

Migratory Birds.
Yes, hear this, you people down below,
whoever understands our language:
swiftly fly the years and the hours,
the springtime of your life is passing!
As you see us come and vanish
already in our fleeting passage,
so your life hastens on,
as if you too were flying away!

Ps. 90:10.

Wanderer.

But tell me, my traveling companions
— it fills me with wonder —
I, the wanderer, know well on earth
when and whither I am to travel;
but who, pray, teaches you cranes
the roads along the airy way,
and when you are then to turn back again,
who tells you this every year?

Migratory Birds.
We travel at the command of him
who created us so wisely
that even without a human soul
we follow the divine call.
Yet the crane, the swallow, and the turtledove know
how the Lord God himself speaks to you,
the time when they must turn back —
but my people take no notice of it!
Jer. 8:7.

Wanderer.

This word indeed rebukes our sins
and lures the heedless flock,
as swallows find a little nest,
Lord of Hosts, at your altar; Ps. 84:4.
But alas, we fools sink down
into earthly care and pain;
"What shall we eat and drink?"
That alone is what we seek.

Migratory Birds.

Oh, hear this, you anxious souls,
hear what the Lord himself teaches you:
how little we birds trouble ourselves
over what feeds and nourishes us.
Gladly we set out on our journey,
we neither sow nor labor,
and yet we always find our food,
so that not one of us lacks its portion.

Matt. 6:26.

Wanderer.
Yes, if only you could teach us this,
to look upward with joy,
to fend off wearisome cares,
and to trust in our God:
how blessedly our days would pass
in our earthly course,
but as it is, sorrow and trouble
and daily misery do not cease.

Migratory Birds.
Therefore see us, joyful flocks,
fly up despite snares and nets!
So shall those who wait upon the Almighty
rise up like eagles. Isa. 40:31.

Ah, if only you had wings, like doves,
and could fly up to heaven!
But you do have wings — in faith;
up! fly up to the Father!

Wanderer.
Well then, we will venture it,
may God strengthen our faltering foot! —
But there is one more thing I would ask you,
something I must wonder at:
however much you are otherwise wont to hasten,
you often fly about hesitating.
What is it, then, that delays you?
What does your voice call out so urgently?

Migratory Birds.
When often weary limbs
have lagged behind in flight,
we wait until they have
found their way back together into the flock.
Then we go on in close formation —
with a calling leader besides —
in heartfelt love and faithfulness,
until we reach our homeland rest.

Wanderer.
That, to me, is a peaceful way of traveling,
where none hates another,
where one gladly serves another
and bears the weaker one's burden.

So should we pilgrims here below,
governed by one and the same Spirit,
follow, in love and peace,
the one who faithfully leads us to heaven.

Now go, then, you joyful squadrons,
down to the warmer land!
May the heavenly Father lead us
up into the better land!
There we will sing to the Lord,
when, out of the opened grave,
we are drawn up to meet him
on blessed wings in the air.
1 Thess. 4:17.

G. H. Löber.

On the Name "Lutheran."

Why do we insist on retaining this name?
(Conclusion.)

After reading the last number of our paper, someone may perhaps address us thus: "Granted that it were really as you have written — granted that all the so-called parties have indeed stamped certain deviations from the clear Word of God as articles of faith in their confessions, and must therefore be regarded as holding erroneous belief: yet you yourself have not dared to deny that people can also be saved in such communions! If you will not withdraw this admission, then you have thereby disarmed yourself; for what more is required than that a church be an institution for the salvation of its members? Why, then, do you shrink from bearing a name by which such an institution is designated? Why insist on being called a Lutheran? Why not unite yourself with those parties? Does the Lutheran Church, then, lead to something higher than salvation?" — It is necessary that we now explain ourselves more clearly on this point.

When we grant that in all Christian parties there are souls who are saved, we by no means intend to say that it is a matter of indifference to which religion one adheres and to which one confesses oneself. We are far from agreeing with those who pay homage to the principle: "Believe what you will, only be a good person, and you will be saved." That sounds