I am reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison for one of my classes. There is something special about reading the personal letters of someone as they walk their path in life. I have found that Dietrich`s letters are not at all like what I expected them to be, yet in a few there is a glimmer of raw humanity that is refreshing to read. The following quote is from his prayers for his fellow prisoners:
Morning Prayers
O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you;
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness, but with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me.
O heavenly Father,
I praise and thank you for the peace of the night;
I praise and thank you for this new day;
I praise and thank you for all your goodness and faithfulness throughout my life.
You have granted me many blessings;
Now let me also accept what is hard from your hand.
You will lay on me no more than I can bear.
You make all things work together for good for your children.
...
O Holy Spirit,
Give me faith that will protect me from despair, from passions, and from vice;
Give me such love for God and men as will blot out all hatred and bitterness;
Give me the hope that will deliver me from fear and faint-heartedness.
...
Restore me to liberty,
and enable me so to live now
that I may answer before you and before men,
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.
Amen
These words just resonate with me for some reason. I find them encouraging. Here is a man sitting in a prison cell in Nazi occupied Germany. He thought he would only be there for a short stint but instead his trail was delayed and at this point he had been there for seven months. From his letters, he felt useless. He watched the bombing of the city from his window but was unable to help anyone. Yet, through it all, he still says: "Lord, whatever this day may bring, Your name be praised."
[Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Letters and Papers from Prison. Eberhard Bethge, Ed. Touchstone: New York, 1997. 130-41]
