St. Maximos' Hut

is the second book in O.E. Rolvaag's trilogy of Norwegian immigrants on the Great Plains. We read the first, Giants in the Earth, for the frontier conference I directed last week. (Warning: plot spoilers ahead).

Religion plays a major role in the books, and I was particularly struck by this passage from the second novel. At the end of the first book, the hero, Per Hansa, sets out in a storm to fetch a minister for his dying friend, Hans Olsa. He is goaded into doing it by his wife, Beret Holm. Per Hansa dies in the storm.

In this passage, Beret is being counsled by the traveling minister. Beret confesses to him her guilt over sending Per Hansa to his death, but justifies her behavior because of Hans Olsa's desperate need to confess his sins before dying. After she finishes telling her version of events to the minister, he responds

You have permitted a great sin to blind your sight; you have forgotten that is God who causes all life to flower and who has put both good and evil into the hearts of men. I don't think I have known two better men than your husband and the friend he gave his life for. It is hardly possible that God didn't find them good enough for a place of honor in His heaven, no - hardly! . . . From what your neighbor tells me it is altogether likely that your husband would have undertaken the trip even though nothing had come up between you and him, of that I think I can assure you!
Again the minister was lost in thought; it was a long time before he spoke. When he did his words sounded very strange to Beret:
"No, your worst sin does not consist in what you did to your husband that day; rather it lies in your discontent with God's special creatures, with your fellow men. For that reason you can experience no real happiness. . . . That is a grievous sin, Beret Holm!
The minister got up and paced back and forth. Beret sat looking into what he had said, trying to understand the meaning of it. . . . He can hardly believe it himself, a man so well versed in God's Word. But it is kind of him to speak so well of Hans Olsa and Per Hansa!
At length, coming over to her and standing rigght in front of her, he said quietly:
"I'm tired now, and I'd like to go to bed. But before I leave, I want to say this to you, Beret Holm: It is you who must carry on the great work which your husband has begun out here--it is yours to do with as you will. But one thing you must keep in mind--if you are to prosper and all is to go well with you, you must learn to find the good in your fellow man. Remember that God created him, Satan did not do that job!"