Easter means that life and love will win over madness, unjustice and war.
Just a few years ago, a copy of a letter he wrote to Mahatma Gandhi was discovered.
4th April. Today marks the 120th anniversary of DIETRICH BONHOEFFER’s birth —his message for us:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born on April 4, 1906—120 years ago today. Bonhoeffer had planned to visit Gandhi. Unfortunately, this never came to pass because Dietrich Bonhoeffer took over the training of pastors for the Confessing Church in Finkenwalde. But the thoughts in the letter seem like a prophecy for us today:
“It makes no sense to predict the future, which lies in God’s hands; but if all signs are not deceiving us, everything is heading toward a war in the near future; and the next war will certainly result in the spiritual death of Europe. That is why we need a truly spiritually grounded and vibrant Christian peace movement in our countries. Western Christianity must be reborn from the Sermon on the Mount; that is the decisive reason why I am writing to you. From all that I know of you and your work, having studied your books and your movement over the course of several years, I conclude that we Western Christians should learn from you what it means for faith to become a reality and what a life dedicated to political peace and peace between ethnic groups can achieve. If there is a visible example anywhere of achieving such goals, I see it in your movement. I am, of course, aware that you are not a baptized Christian; yet the people whose faith Jesus praised mostly did not belong to the official church of their time either. We have great theologians in Germany—the greatest of them, in my conviction, is Karl Barth, whose student and friend I am fortunate to be—who teach us anew the great theological ideas of the Reformation; but none show us the way to a new Christian life in uncompromising accordance with the Sermon on the Mount. In this regard, I seek your help.
The great admiration I feel for your country, its philosophy, and its leaders; for your personal work among the poorest of your fellow human beings; for your educational ideals; for your advocacy for peace and nonviolence; and for the truth and its power has led me to the point where I absolutely want to come to India next winter… I have traveled and lived throughout Europe. I went to the U.S. to find what I was looking for; yet I did not find it. I do not want to have to reproach myself for having missed a great opportunity in my life to understand the meaning of Christian life, of true communal life, of truth and love in reality. The question I would like to put before you is whether I might be granted permission to spend some time with you in your ashram to study your movement.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote to Ghandi, searching for support in his struggle.
