Friday, December 19, 2008

Bonhoeffer - a wonderful image of advent and Christmas

"A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes ... and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German pastor and philosopher (1906-1945) imprisoned and executed for his attempt to overthrow Adolf Hitler.)

How better to present the incredible moment that a sleeping hushed humanity 2000+ years ago experienced? A humanity that then failed to notice that the door to freedom had been opened from the outside and that they were prisoners no more.

How paradoxical that Bonhoeffer, a prisoner facing execution, has the door opened to true freedom, while we who are free are trapped and imprsoned by the darkness within and around,