My Heroes... Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I'm about half way through the book Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Matexas. What an incredible, amazing man. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in 1906. He grew up in Germany. He chose to pursue a life in theology, which led him to fight against what was happening in Germany, during the rise of the Third Reich. He spent the last eighteen months in prison and was executed only weeks before the Allies marched in and Hitler committed suicide. Bonhoeffer stood for what he knew in his heart to be right. There are passages that I find absolutely breathtaking, sometimes by the rightness and sometimes by the horrible wrongness.

I've had two paths of thought as I've read. The first is what is happening on a national level. Much of the book covers what was happening in Germany, more particularly when Hitler came into power, and I am chilled by what I see happening, today. The shadows of the past are gaining substance in the here and now. Some names are different, but agenda is the same. Are we wise enough to learn from the past? Not so far. There is time, yet, but not much.

The other path was a serious reflection on my own life. Bonhoeffer was incredibly brave, living his convictions with honor and courage. Have I? So much of my life I spent trying to be invisible, unnoticed. Conflict was to be avoided at all cost, no matter how much I had to sacrifice to obtain it. So many of the Germans sacrificed their integrity and their honor to avoid conflict, until it was too late, and the conflict became hell on earth.

Over the past year and a half, I've been making a more concerted effort to stand, rather than allow bullies to rule the field. I've often lacked finesse or even a good working knowledge of what I was standing for. But that didn't change the fact that I was learning to follow my heart, a heart I thought lost. Mutilated and shredded, almost beyond recognition, but God knows my heart, and willingly accepts my poor gift, regardless of the condition. I'm not as brave as I'd like to be, but I am braver than I used to be.

In Marcus Luttrell's book Lone Survivor, I starred passages I wanted to remember or that struck a chord with me. I've been doing the same thing with the Bonhoeffer book. I've also been writing a few notes. Another person who has changed my life forever.