Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Final witness

On 9 April 1945 Dietrich Bonhoeffer suffered death by hanging in the concentration camp at Flossenbürg. Like millions of other victims of the Nazi regime, his body was cremated. It's fitting that a plaque at the site is inscribed with a cross and 2 Tim. 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."



Please don't ever get anxious or worried about me, but don't forget to pray for me - I'm sure you don't! I am so sure of God's guiding hand that I hope I shall always be kept in that certainty. You must never doubt that I'm travelling with gratitude and cheerfulness along the road where I'm being led. My past life is brim-full of God's goodness, and my sins are covered by the forgiving love of Christ crucified. I'm most thankful for the people I have met, and I only hope that they never have to grieve about me, but that they, too, will always be certain of, and thankful for, God's mercy and forgiveness.

Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison

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