Saturday, March 7, 2009
Bonhoeffer on fear
"Fear God" and you will have nothing else to fear. Don't fear what the next day may bring. Don't fear other people. Don't fear violence and power, even when it comes to you personally and can rob you of your life. Don't fear the high and mighty in the world. Don't fear yourself. Don't fear your sins. All these fears will die. From all these fears you will be set free. For you they are no longer there. But fear God and Him alone. For He has the power over all the powers of this world." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christmas Sermons; translated/edited by Edwin H. Robertson
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4 comments:
Challenging and yet encouraging at the same time. Wow. I need to look up this Bonhoeffer person. Any recommendations on where to start?
Oh, and if I don't see you online tomorrow, happy birthday! =)
Thank you. ;)
About Bonhoeffer books--I think the one I mentioned in this post is a pretty good place to start. I'm not sure right now about a good shorter biography (I've just read a more youth-oriented one and the huge over-1000-page one). His Letters and Papers from Prison, the Greatly Expanded edition, is also good, but it's longer (quite a bit longer) than the Christmas Sermons. If you read any, I'd enjoy hearing what you think!
Dear Rachel~
These encouragements are more poignant coming from him, who so personally knew their truth! Thanks for sharing his strength and courage with us.
I want you to know that I've been celebrating your birthday all week, from the very beginning of Sunday when I had a dream that we were together in London (which incidentally looked a lot like KS...). I was trying to buy you some tea, but the cups of tea were tied to the branches of a tree, dangling from long strings. The young server had to stretch out from a ledge to reach the tea cups, and I don't know if we ever got to sip it together... :)
Following tradition, I'll celebrate your birthday more formally sometime in the next eight months. So far, it's looking like it will be sooner than usual though...
Love you & miss you! God bless you with courage and heart solitude. ~Lisa
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