Quote #14

[Bonhoeffer] was read even by President George W. Bush, who's intellectually incurious as we've all read. NO PRESSURE.

- Eric Metaxas to President Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 2, 2012

Bonhoeffer Part II and Meeting Eric Metaxas in Seattle

(No one can borrow this book now.) (The obligatory bad iPhone picture – Dick Staub & Eric Metaxas)

As I may have gushed before, the book “Bonhoeffer” impressed me on many levels. When I saw on the Facebook of Eric Metaxas (I did that so I wouldn't have to make his name possessive) that he was coming to Seattle I thought maybe I should go hear him. I say “maybe” because I’m three and a half hours away from there. But hey, he was coming from New York. And he’s alive. I have two friends in particular who understand these things. We can talk for hours and hours about dead authors, so this decision took about two seconds. It was too great a chance to miss – an author of this caliber, alive and breathing. We had to go.

There were only a couple of complications. The main one for me being that December 5th was the Monday of finals week. And not just any finals week, but my second term of graduate school – an experience like a writing boot camp or an intellectual gang initiation. I was drowning in theories and real responsibilities and facing an eight page final paper in Spanish, plus a German final. Crazy? Absolutely, but it was so worth it!

As we arrived, about a block away from the church a woman crossed the street in front of my car. It was getting dark, but I could see she was carrying a copy of Bonhoeffer. When she got to the sidewalk she broke into a run towards the church. She must have been a kindred spirit!

Hearing Eric Metaxas speak was worth every mile we drove. I love souvenirs, but it wasn’t about the autograph. When you read his bio, Eric Metaxas sounds larger than life. I don’t know if that’s what affected my thinking, but it a bit of a shock to see that he was not ten feet tall. Although he is hilariously adept at sarcasm, he was friendly and so kind when we introduced ourselves. The audio of the night is archived at the Kindlings Muse site. I had assumed that popping out books like Bonhoeffer and Amazing Grace was an easy thing for him, but listening to his story changed my perspective. He spent a lot of time drifting and floundering. Sometimes he felt mediocre, which sounds weird, but he was serious. He had dark times. Once he wrote a commercial for Ex-lax. Whether the variety in his career is due to a lack of focus or to excessively versatile talents, I can’t help but envy him a little. Furthermore, instead of just admiring his work, I am inspired to imitate him and to write beyond just homework. I wrote my favorite quote of the night in my mini moleskine, "God doesn't see you as mediocre."

I'm back to school now, and probably won't be reading anything but homework and the Bible for a couple of months, so I probably won't be blogging either. Except that Peretti has a new book coming... I may lose sleep over that. I survived last term, and my grades weren't bad!

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy, by Eric Metaxas

This book is now known to some people as the book Kristi couldn't shut up about. This was the best book I’ve read in years, and I read a lot. Eric Metaxas is a brilliant writer and researcher, and owing to his own faith and heritage, he presents a mountain of information without losing sight of an important story that needed to be told. This book blends World War II History, Bonhoeffer family history, and various writings (including many personal letters) by and about Dietrich Bonhoeffer into a seamless narrative. It’s better than fiction in terms of romance, intrigue and suspense. I knew the ending was coming, but I became so involved in the story that I kept hoping Bonhoeffer would think of himself and change course.

Bonhoeffer was a complex and fascinating person. From my notes: He was multilingual (Spanish, German, English and more), a hiker, athlete, theologian, smoker, PhD, twin, world traveller, pianist, singer, flutist, teacher, preacher, believer, children’s minister, outlaw, expatriate, genius, writer, romantic, conscientious objector, undercover agent, fiancé. He had a temper at times, owned a St. Bernard once, and liked to argue. “You could not be a friend of Dietrich’s if you did not argue with him.”

I saw Metaxas joke in an interview that he wrote the title for rhythm. Pastor, prophet, martyr, spy. How could one man be all these things? Bonhoeffer was a pastor from a young age, and a spiritual leader even on his dying day. As “prophet” he recognized advancing evil and took a strong stand against it. He died a martyr because his Christian conscience led him into illegal activity. He was a spy in the sense that he carried on a deceptive identity in order to plot against the Nazis. (He once saluted Hitler in public as part of his false identity.) In reading how these random facts are linked in one person you get a feel for who he really was.

I loved reading from the German point of view. Most of what I knew about WWII was from a non-German perspective. It seems there is no end to the damage done by unfathomable evil, the tragic stories, or the sadness in the broken lives of survivors. (This hit home last year when I had the opportunity to hear a Polish holocaust survivor speak in person.) For me, Bonhoeffer’s story hammered a great wedge between the horrible holocaust stories and the greatness of Germany as a country and a people. As Hitler rose to power, some opposed him from the beginning, others were truly blinded. Some who had mistakenly supported him in the beginning had a slow revelation and a change of heart. Bonhoeffer played only a small part among countless German heroes, but his aristocracy and previous fame propelled his story into greater public interest.

The most challenging aspects of this book are the moral questions. Is it ever right to lie, disobey the law or kill? When you delve into the reality of being a Christian in a country where evil has taken over, the truth of right and wrong doesn’t change, but what has to be done for the sake of right and wrong can change. Sometimes you have to break the law. This area gets confusing to me, and even after some long conversations with friends, I am not so worried about what Bonhoeffer did, because no matter how we want to judge him in retrospect, he believed it to be right. I can easily leave that between him and God. But so many hypothetical situations come to mind... Would I have courage? Would I know what is right? Those were the battles Bonhoeffer faced in his mind. He made decisions that he believed were right, and they cost him his life. He had the courage to consider his eternal soul before his physical life. Some of us will never have to make the decision in terms of life versus death, but we do have to decide between an ordinary life and a dedicated life. In a slow way, we have to make the same decision. This book is praised by a broad audience, but I imagine the Christians who read it will be challenged in a much deeper way to live their faith with actions, and to evaluate their own convictions. Metaxas promotes this quote elsewhere, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

The ending. As I said before, I knew it was coming. Bonhoeffer is known as a martyr, and that status can tend to sound saintly and elevated. It can’t be overlooked that he was an extraordinary person who lived in extraordinary times. Yet Metaxas resisted glorifying Bonhoeffer’s death with pompous words. Yes it was heroic, but what comfort is that? It was one tragic loss among millions, an idea-churning mind halted, a writer stopped mid-book, a fiancé prevented from marrying, and a family's loved one gone without a grave to visit. Even though he died unjustly (as did so many others) the focus of the book is on his life, on his legacy, and on the empty space his death left in his world. I'm glad I read the ending alone, because I really don't like to be seen crying.

Quote #13

Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

P. J. O'Rourke

And now, a Demotivational Moment

From the good people at www.Despair.com :-)

Life Without Limits, Nick Vujicic

If you are busy, skip my blog and go read Nick’s book. It will inspire you.

If you aren’t busy, watch this video, then sure, read my blog.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CBNonline?ob=0#p/search/4/i-OkIuQTBdo

Nick Vujicic is a man of many contrasts. He has no limbs, but he travels the world extensively. (I envy.) He struggles physically, but he is always smiling like he has won something. His future may look bleak to some, but he is ridiculously excited about his life – all because he chose hope instead of despair. His emotional suffering and physical limitations have pushed him to discover some truths in life that most people never experience.

Nick speaks to all kinds of audiences, Christian and non-, and this book is marketed to a broad audience. It isn’t preachy or overly religious, but it’s obvious that his trust in God is the strength of his life. He uses the word happiness a lot, but he possesses a deeper joy, and a hilarious sense of humor. This book is very future-oriented and discusses many angles of trusting, hoping, planning, with many examples from Nick’s life and many others.

Maybe I gravitate to Nick’s story because I know about disability. My dad is severely disabled with MS, and he also has a great attitude. People who just met him five minutes ago will comment on his amazing attitude. He doesn’t complain. His sense of humor is intact. He isn’t angry. He loves God, and he loves sharing the Gospel. I hear people carelessly say that if they were in a similar situation they would rather be shot. I’ve come to realize that my dad’s story, like Nick’s, is not at all as hopeless as you might think. What defines “hopeless?” Nick says, “If you say you are without hope, that means you think there is a zero chance of anything good happening in your life ever again. Zero? That’s pretty extreme, don’t you think?” Nick can say it like no one else - God can be all the missing pieces we need.

Some thoughts I want to remember (in no particular order):

Give!

Don’t be limited by fear.

Listen to good counsel, and be willing to take risks.

It doesn’t have to make sense now, just trust.

Whatever it is, it’s not the end of the world.

Choose a positive outlook.

Your pain can become someone else’s miracle.

Your pain can glorify God.

Attitude is altitude!

Master your strengths.

Hugs help.

The only thing I missed in this book was Nick’s Aussie accent. The rest was wonderful – a great way to kick off the year!

Quote #12

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves. -Gilbert Highet, writer (1906-1978)