"Are we still of any use?"
"We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds. . . . We have been drenched by many storms. . . . We have learned the art of equivocation and pretense. . . . Experience has made us suspicious of others, and kept us from being truthful and open . . . . Are we still of any use?"
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer
In a world where mass media has made every atrocity accessible as superficial "knowledge," how can a knowledgable individual act concretely and morally? Are we passively drawing lines between true neighbors and expendable statistics every day when we turn on CNN? Do we have a moral responsibility not only to speak truth to power in a moral crisis, but to "live truth" to power? What is Holden Village's place in the moral landscape of a networked world?
Recomended Viewing:
"Bonhoeffer" a film by Martin Doblmeier
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer
In a world where mass media has made every atrocity accessible as superficial "knowledge," how can a knowledgable individual act concretely and morally? Are we passively drawing lines between true neighbors and expendable statistics every day when we turn on CNN? Do we have a moral responsibility not only to speak truth to power in a moral crisis, but to "live truth" to power? What is Holden Village's place in the moral landscape of a networked world?
Recomended Viewing:
"Bonhoeffer" a film by Martin Doblmeier
posted by Living the Leap at 3:32 PM
2 Comments:
Oh man, I can testify to each line in this quote from bonhoeffer. I will be the first to confess that I have been silent in the presence of evil, that I have been drenched, wounded, avoided. I still have scars that I am working through, with Christ, to healing. Who cannot say yes to that?
To the question, "Am I still of any use?"... in my own eyes I know I am not. And it isn't far from the truth if I dwell on it.
Don't get me wrong...'we make it worse when we don't bleed', when we deny where we are weak and hurt. I can't be anything until I know I am nothing. But the 'anything' comes when I remember Christ... the God-man you described in your "who am I?" post. That life is in me, somehow, to live through me. If I forget that I will continue to justify and turn corners and sit in teh corner to lick wounds in pity. But to remember that...is hope. Not wishful hope but hope assured. And to realize it... like you said, to realize the implications of that truth and take it... is where momentum begins again.
Do I make sense? I know I tend to ramble.
I hope you get more comments on here... it seems I am the only one.
Thank you so much for writing. I hear you, am glad for the real life testament you bring to this conversation, and hope to join in soon.
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