[August 2004 journal entry]
In a recent conversation with Renate Bethge (Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s niece and his special friend Eberhard Bethge’s wife), we discussed an article that covered this year’s annual July 20 gathering in Berlin to honor the resistors involved with the 20 July 1944 attempt to bring Hitler and the Nazis down. The article quoted Prime Minister Schroeder’s comment that the resistors’ actions were “Christian and humanistic, in the spirit of the Enlightenment, and also Prussian”.
Renate and I discussed at length Schroeder’s reference to ‘Christian’. After reviewing Christianity’s (1) long history of anti-Semitism (with roots back into Christian scripture) and (2) submission to political authorities as divinely established/sanctioned (also with roots back into Christian scripture), we agreed that Schroeder’s use of ‘Christian’ could be misleading without careful and detailed nuancing. When I questioned whether any official creed or confession of faith explicitly/centrally/pivotally values matters of character and ethical responsibility (i.e., a Sermon on the Mount type creed or confession of faith) that would support action such as the Abwehr conspirators took, Renate could not think of an example (as I said I could not). She said several times, “You need to write one”. She recalled as having such form and tone the ‘I Have Time’ verse I wrote for my twin daughters when they were two years old –
I will have time . . .
To live life well –
In a recent conversation with Renate Bethge (Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s niece and his special friend Eberhard Bethge’s wife), we discussed an article that covered this year’s annual July 20 gathering in Berlin to honor the resistors involved with the 20 July 1944 attempt to bring Hitler and the Nazis down. The article quoted Prime Minister Schroeder’s comment that the resistors’ actions were “Christian and humanistic, in the spirit of the Enlightenment, and also Prussian”.
Renate and I discussed at length Schroeder’s reference to ‘Christian’. After reviewing Christianity’s (1) long history of anti-Semitism (with roots back into Christian scripture) and (2) submission to political authorities as divinely established/sanctioned (also with roots back into Christian scripture), we agreed that Schroeder’s use of ‘Christian’ could be misleading without careful and detailed nuancing. When I questioned whether any official creed or confession of faith explicitly/centrally/pivotally values matters of character and ethical responsibility (i.e., a Sermon on the Mount type creed or confession of faith) that would support action such as the Abwehr conspirators took, Renate could not think of an example (as I said I could not). She said several times, “You need to write one”. She recalled as having such form and tone the ‘I Have Time’ verse I wrote for my twin daughters when they were two years old –
I will have time . . .
To promote truth in all areas of inquiry.And she recalled as having such form and tone the ‘To Live Life Well’ verse I wrote for my youngest daughter when she turned thirteen years of age --
To respect every human being’s dignity and worth.
To follow a lifestyle that eclipses neither God nor neighbor.
To measure myself and others by the content of character.
To care for the weak and powerless.
To encourage artistic imagination and expression.
To keep alive the vision of freedom, peace, and justice.
To maintain my integrity in all the seasons of life.
To wait patiently for the new heaven and the new earth.
To live life well –
Your cup, drink completelyWe noted fragments of a ‘non-religious’ creed or confession of faith in Dietrich’s prison correspondence. With his ‘man for others’ language about ‘Jesus’ as a case in point, we discussed the incomplete (and heretical) nature of this language when measured by the historic creeds and confessions of faith.
Your faith, test existentially
Your love, release freely
Your joy, reveal tastefully
Your vision, pursue boldly
Your lifestyle, simplify radically
Your family, shelter vigilantly
Your friend, stand with unconditionally
Your neighbor, meet respectfully
Your vocation, embrace cheerfully
Your darkness, enter courageously
Your fears, confront vigorously
Your disappointments, weather patiently
Your wounds, tend silently
Your failures, see honestly
Your integrity, grip firmly
Your gifts, develop humbly
Your victories, celebrate gratefully
Your insights, remember clearly
Your path, mark carefully