Throughout history, there have always been men and women who emerged victorious of the testings of their times. Like Noah who dared to be different for God, there have always been people who stood against the system that contains them. They were willing to be ‘fools for God’ and were ready to combat any hurdles and persecutions for the callings of God. What is most motivating about them is how they order their private lives in tune with obedience to God; the way they have been able to incorporate God in the choices they made and the centrality of Christ in their relationship with others, even in their love life. In this article, we will learn from the life of one such personality, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
First, a little history about what much of the Christian world considers to be one of the 20th century's best-known and most universally-admired martyrs. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945) was a German Lutheran Pastor, theologian, participant in the German Resistance movement against Nazism, and a founding member of the Confessing Church. The Confessing Church was a critical response and called for wider church resistance to Hitler and to his treatment of the Jews. In 1939, Bonhoeffer joined a secret group of high-ranking military officers who wanted to overthrow the National Socialist regime by killing Hitler. Bonhoeffer was first arrested in April 1943 and again in July 20, 1944. He was moved to a series of prisons and concentration camps. In Flossenbürg, Bonhoeffer was executed by hanging at dawn on 1945 April 9, just three weeks before the liberation of Berlin and one month before the capitulation of Nazi Germany. He was stripped of clothing in his cell, tortured and ridiculed by the guards and led naked into the execution yard. In the Christian realm, Bonhoeffer had become "Knight of Faith", ready to stand for Jesus when virtually all other Germans, including most theologians of all faiths, were shouting "Hail Hitler”.
The purpose of this piece is to peep into another facet of his life, viz., his love life. During his imprisonment from 1943 to 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote many letters from the Nazi prison camp to his young fiancée, Maria von Wedemeycr. These letters demonstrates the affection and solidarity that accompanied Bonhoeffer to his prison cell, concentration camp, and eventual death. It presented a new aspect of Bonhoeffer, showing him to be surprisingly passionate, but in a way altogether consistent with his theology of costly grace. Interestingly, the letters reveal not Bonhoeffer the theologian but of Bonhoeffer as someone deeply in love.
The friendship of Maria and Bonhoeffer blossomed into romance in 1942. "The rapport," she remembers, "was immediate. He was able to transform the fumblings and erratic emotions of a young girl into the assured certainty that this was an addition and a source of strength to his own life." However, after a short while after their engagement, he was arrested.
In the prison, Bonhoeffer was allowed to receive visits by Maria, who took him books, laundry and food. She tirelessly addressed Bonhoeffcr's every conceivable want or need. She once arrived lugging a huge Christmas tree, causing considerable laughter among the guards. Bonhoeffer remarked that maybe if he moved his cot out of his cell and stood up for the Christmas season he could accommodate the tree comfortably. Bonhoeffer wrote, "In front of me, lit by your candles," he wrote to her, "stands the little Madonna you gave me. … Behind it arc the open texts with the praying hands' [you gave me] … on their right, your photos lying open in the case you made for me. Just above them hangs your Advent wreath, and behind me on the edge of the bed, I have laid out the gloves you made for me, the books you chose for me. … On my wrist is the watch [your] Father was wearing when he died, which you gave me, brought me, and strapped on my wrist yourself. You're all around me' Maria."
His letters to her, often smuggled out by a sympathetic guard, contain several impressive statements of his Christian conviction. On 1943, he wrote, “When I also think about the situation of the world, the complete darkness over our personal fate and my present imprisonment, then I believe that our union can only be a sign of God’s grace and kindness, which calls us to faith. We would be blind if we did not see it. Jeremiah says at the moment of his people great need, “still one shall buy houses and acres in this land” as a sign of trust in the future. This is where faith belongs. May God give it to us daily! In addition, I do not mean the faith that flees the world, but the one that endures the world and which loves and remain true to the world in spite of all the suffering that it contains for us. Our marriage shall be a yes to God’s earth; it shall strengthen our courage to act and accomplish something on the earth.” In another letter, he wrote, "No evil can befall us: whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives.” Although suspected of treason, Bonhoeffer retained the hope that he would eventually be freed and encouraged Maria to plan for their marriage. Marie wrote in her diary, "He enjoyed talking about details of our wedding; he had chosen the 103rd Psalm as the text."
Over time, their correspondence became more tortured and Hope faded. As the prospect of freedom dimmed, Bonhoeffer suffered moments of discouragement. "Slowly it gets to be a waiting whose outward sense I cannot comprehend," he wrote to Maria, "Your life would have been quite different, easier, clearer, simpler, had not our paths crossed." To these letters, Marie replied, "Don't get tired and depressed, my dearest Dietrich, it won't be much longer now." They tried to retain a sense of optimism through the years of hoping and waiting and comfort each other through the worst. Nevertheless, the majority of his letters reflected overwhelming courage and inflexible faith. A fellow prisoner recalled that Bonhoeffer was never tired of repeating that 'no battle is lost until it has been given up for lost.’ In his last message to Maria, written at Christmas time, 1944, he said, "What is happiness? It depends so little on the circumstances; it depends really only on that which happens inside a person."
Bonhoeffer's life and faith have something very important to say today. Maria's hand, like everything else in his short life, remained just beyond his reach. Even so, he could write to her, “Above all let us be careful not to feel sorry for ourselves; to do so would truly be a blasphemy on God, who means us well. For all our difficulties, let us say with Isaiah, 'Do not destroy it, for there is blessing in it.” Unto his death, he stood by his conviction, “I believe that nothing meaningless has happened to me and also that it is good for us when things run counter to our desires. I see a purpose in my present existence and only hope that i fulfil it.” He kept seeing God as a constant source of courage and inspiration amid trials and joy alike. His happiness was not tied by circumstances but to Christ.
It will benefit us greatly to learn from the experiences of men and women who are giants of God in terms of their faith and spirituality.
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