Denton County Living Well Magazine January/February 2019 | Page 20

LIGHT THAT DISPELS
THE DARKNESS
T
here is a frightening truth
in life that evil masquer-
ades as light. Especially
as it’s drawing people into
its web. Although these
days, many times, evil flaunts in full
view and dares you to call it out.
It mocks and laughs at those who
stand for truth and has a way of
spinning things to make anyone with
an opposing view look foolish.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “The great
masquerade of evil has played havoc
with all our ethical concepts. For evil
to appear disguised as light, charity,
historical necessity or social justice is
quite bewildering to anyone brought
up on our traditional ethical concepts,
while for the Christian who bases his
life on the Bible, it merely confirms
the fundamental wickedness of evil.”
Bonhoeffer understood this better than
most. He was a pastor and theolo-
gian. He was known for his fierce
resistance to Nazi dictatorship and
vocal opposition to Hitler’s euthanasia
program and genocidal persecution
of the Jews. He tirelessly worked to
bring truth to the masses, especially
the church. Sadly, most remained
asleep until it was too late. You see,
the German people were so defeated
after the war and subsequent eco-
nomic depression that they believed
Hitler was their salvation. But he was
a wolf in sheep’s clothing and the
people would pay a heavy price.
Eventually, Bonhoeffer was brought
to an extermination camp at Flossen-
bürg. On April 9, 1945, one month
before Germany surrendered, he
was hanged with six other resisters.
In 1937, Bonhoeffer wrote the
answer to dispelling and defeat-
ing the darkness. He shared what
it means to be guided by truth,
from a place fully alive and fully
awake. The book was The Cost of
Discipleship; a call to more faithful
and radical obedience to Christ
and a severe rebuke of comfort-
able Christianity. He practiced
what he preached by signing up
with the German secret service (to
serve as a double agent—while
traveling to church conferences
over Europe, he was supposed to
be collecting information about
the places he visited, but he was,
instead, helping Jews escape Nazi
oppression). Bonhoeffer also be-
came a part of a plot to overthrow,
and later to assassinate, Hitler.
Something in this story makes me
want to fight the good fight. There’s
so much escapism through media, but
who needs a good movie, when you
can be a part of the great adventure!
Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is
never more than one generation