NO TIME TO BOTHER WITH RELIGION by Melodie Davis

One of the most inspiring thinkers of the 20th century is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Actually, he was not just a theologian and writer--but a doer--so much of a doer that his work in the German resistance movement during World War II led him to be imprisoned and finally killed in a concentration camp. Born in Breslau, Germany in 1906, Bonhoeffer understood, even before Hitler came to power, the dangers of a political system that made an idol or god of a leader or a system.

He was a pastor and teacher, and eventually was involved with an underground plot against Hitler, even though some argued with him that it would be wiser to withdraw from the activities. Bonhoeffer responded that if persons claim to be persons of faith, there is no room for taking the easy way out.

He was arrested in 1943 and sent to prison and various concentration camps. In prison, he ministered to the sick and to his fellow prisoners, and it was reported that he was able to comfort the anxious and depressed in an amazing way. Ultimately, he was executed by special order at the concentration camp at Flossenburg on April 9,
1945, just a few days before it was liberated by the Allies. (From "Memoir," G. Leibholz, in Cost of Discipleship. )

I tend to pay attention to strong words written by someone who has given their life for what they believe. Bonehoeffer says: "None of us is so rushed that it would be impossible to allow for even ten minutes in the day in which arrangements could be made for silence, in order to place oneself in the presence of Eternity."

I also found this intriguing: "You do not have your belief once and for all. Your belief demands to be won anew tomorrow and the day after tomorrow; indeed, it demands to be won anew with every new day...

Either we receive faith anew every day or it decays... Every morning brings a new struggle to push through all the unbelief, through all the littleness of faith, through all the vagueness and confusion--to reach faith and wrest it from God." He reminds us: "If the [Bible] has become empty for me in my daily routine, if I no longer experience it, that proves I have not let it speak personally to me for a long time."

Countless persons have died for their faith throughout the ages. They paid the ultimate test. Too many of us claim we can't be bothered to even live what we believe.

Perhaps you started some good habits during Lent--including taking time for spiritual meditation. Don't let Easter be the end of it--let it be the beginning of a deeper and active commitment to your faith.