Friday, March 18, 2005

"...The Burden and Bitterness of Christ's Way..."

Here's an incredible quote from Annemarie Wächter Arnold that came from Bruderhof...

What I am looking for is a life lived in the spirit of the kingdom of God. And that kingdom is not a vague, faraway ideal; it must be lived and fulfilled now, today... There will never be social justice as long as we merely give up a small part of our possessions and keep the greater share for ourselves. Doesn’t every person have the right to such a life? Is there not in every one a longing for light, for God, however hidden?

Obviously it will demand a struggle against one’s selfish human nature; against the comforts of self-satisfied tranquility. Such a life requires the readiness for sacrifice, privation, and even martyrdom. Christ died on a cross, and his death did not relieve us of the necessity of going the same way. It was an example for us to follow.

I am so tired of today's sweetly gushing Christianity; of false enthusiasm and empty phrases! But I am also thankful to have found a knowledge of the burden and bitterness of Christ’s way. It is a way of conviction and faith and therefore of action, and that is what makes all the difference.



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