It was on this day in 1945, as the allies were closing in and just two weeks before the collapse of the Nazi regime, one day after a trial before an SS judge, at dawn the Reverend Dietrich Bonhoeffer was stripped naked, marched to the place of execution, and hung. It is unclear whether he had been tortured before, but historians are increasingly of the opinion that he was, possibly for as long as six hours.
A leader of the Confessing Church, Bonhoeffer had been convicted of joining in a conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
He is remembered as an inspiration for future leaders of faith standing up in opposition to various tyrannies. And I find myself thinking of him and his choices and the consequences that followed…
While it is a very dangerous walk between Scylla and Charybdis, non-resistance to evil or pure pacifism feels a failure to me. Knowing as well, particularly thinking of the example of so many Japanese Zen priests who wholeheartedly threw their support behind the imperial designs of the Japanese government believing their faith was leading them true.
Pick your poison.
But pick we must.
To breathe is to act.
So, recalling the ill that will follow any action, I feel called to listen, to fall into that place of not knowing, to hesitate…
And then, to do my best.
Blessings on Dietrich, and all those who have chosen to act.
Both the Lutheran and Anglican churches commemorate this day in their liturgical calendars. Seems right to me…
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