You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. Abraham Lincoln
Meditation: Just as in German history eighty years ago, the US experiences the perversion of general values as for example “decency”, “order” or “assumed values of right and wrong”. As we are watching the manipulation of facts and the perversion of ethical values we ask ourselves: What is my responsibility as a Christian at this time in history? What ethical values are immune from perversion?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer talks about responsibility in his book “Ethics”. At a time where most assumed values were perverted by Hitler’s regime, he writes: “Reason,” “fanaticism,” “conscience,” “duty,” “freedom,” and “private virtuousness” all fail as tools for locating a true ethic…Christian ethics are not formed by a set of abstract principles but by the concrete test of each situation—“Are my actions helping others to be truly human before God?” “Is Christ being formed in them in the world?” How can Bonhoeffer guide us as history repeats itself?
Prayer: God of history, as we experience the perversion of all ethical values we feel lost and threatened. Basic human values and the facts are being changed, manipulated and abused. Many public values that were true three months ago, no longer seem to hold. We want and need to ground ourselves deeper in You than ever before. Fill us with your Spirit. Help us learn from history. Help us Christians to be the prophetic voices that shout in the wilderness! Come Spirit of truth! Amen
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. John 16:13
Watchwords 