Luther was away from home in Coburg when his oldest son Hans turned four. As a birthday card, he sent this story to his son.
I know a beautiful lovely garden. There are many children in it with golden garments, picking up beautiful apples under the trees, and pears, cherries, prunes, and plums; they sing, hope about, and are happy; they also have pretty little horses with golden bridles and silver saddles. I asked a man whose garden it was whose children they were. He answered: they are the children that like to pray and learn and are pious. Then I spoke: Dear man, I, too have a son. He name is Hansichen Luther. Wouldn’t he like to come into the garden, too, so he can eat such lovely apples and pears, and ride such lovely little horses and play with these children? Then the man replied, “If he, too, likes to pray and learn and is pious, he should come into the garden too.”
Source: Heiko Oberman’s, Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, page 311-312.
Children love stories. And, as I shared last Saturday, we all like to be written into the story (see here).
