Betsie and Corrie Ten Boom
I've often been told by people that I respect that they "don't believe in coincidence." There reaches a point where the confluence of 'coincidence' is just too great to accept; a person must then realize that these occurrences have real meaning and that a lesson is to be learned. I had this realization recently, as I considered the reporting on the
tragic and sickening events in Charlottesville, VA . Back in early June I had the opportunity to spend a week in Charlottesville on business. I had looked forward to the trip for over a year, as I was would be able to check off a life-long dream of hiking Shenandoah National Park and also avoid traveling to D.C. (which despite its many fine qualities, is not for me). My Charlottesville experience was quite positive, though I spent more time hoofing it down the Appalachian Trail and looking for exciting fungi then I did soaking up the city itself. No doubt though, it had the veneer of southern culture that I relished: excellent food, friendly people, and a charming spirit of university town-meets mountains. Did I mention Bojangles? I still crave Bojangles!
With Charlottesville fresh in my memory and having just finished two books on prison camps (Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden and The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom) I was particularly enraptured by the coverage of the Neo-Nazi march and tragic death that occurred in C-Ville. Perhaps though, even if I had not had these experiences I would have been overwhelmed by the media frenzy surrounding the national tragedy. With the rise of the so-called Alt-Right there seems to have a tremendous body of social media and traditional media hubbub on the topic. This culminated in a 21 January 2017 New York Times piece by Liam Stack that asked the seemingly rhetorical question,
Is it O.K. to Punch a Nazi?. A great nazi-punching volunteer brigade materialized out of nowhere overnight. Google Trends quantifies this emergence:
Now the spectre of Neo-Nazis is not relegated to the classic Blues Brothers (1980)
bridge scene (caution *language*), it is a present reality in the heartland of America. In fact, in the two last cities in which I have lived I have seen posters for both the white supremacist group Identity Evropa and the oppositional movement, Antifa. Nazi-punching is now both an aspirational pastime for some and an internet trope for others. What then, should I do if confronted by a Nazi spectacle? The smart aleck in me, of course, would remark that the best solution would be to purchase “...the greatest battle implement ever devised,” an
M1 Garand, if Nazis were making a comeback. Yet, that perspective changed dramatically after I concluded my reading of The Hiding Place.
The Hiding Place details the journey of a Dutch watch-making family prior to, and during, World War II. The opening scenes made me desperately want to travel to Holland, meet the people, and amble the quaint streets and markets. Yet, before the first few chapters were done I knew that this picturesque setting was bound to change. The Ten Boom family gradually becomes members of a rebellious underground that hides, serves, and loves all classes of undesireables. The book culminates in the discovery of this work and the subsequent time served at the Ravensbruk concentration camp. At Ravensbruk, two Dutch spinster sisters (Corrie and Betsie) go about not only sharing the Gospel with the inmates, but also with a series of administrators and German military officers. In particular, Betsie displays an amazing gift of forgiveness for the people that enslaved, tortured, and abused her. Her sister Corrie struggles with this act initially, despite knowing that it was in accordance to God’s direction. Nonetheless, after finally being released and making an arduous journey back to her home in Haarlem she opens her own house to the Dutch traitors who sided with the Germans and informed on the like of her family.
How can anyone but marvel at the dedication and faith of such an act? The Hiding Place was for me one of the rare books that deeply moves and fundamentally reshapes perspectives. While I have no doubt that my failings are so great as would cause me to balk in a similar circumstance, the lesson of the book is not in the power of people to do good, but in the power of God to do good through people.
As flawed people, we could not hope to muster such incredible grace on our own. God must be the progenitor of this virtue.
He equips us to do this work through his Holy Spirit. What then, should we do to Nazis? We should do the same unto them as we should do to Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin; we should pray for them.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
