Last night in our Kitchen Table we shared memories of persons who have exemplified faith. It reminded me of this old poem by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He wrote this one month before he was executed. Clearly there are differences in our self understanding and the face that the world sees. Who knows what was really going on within the heart of people we know as “deeply faithful”? As we move into our next worship series we will ask the question each week: How Deep? How Deep do we want to go in order to live lives that are rooted in Grace, growing in faith and reaching in love? It takes a great amount of work to be a follower of Jesus.
I wonder if there will be a time that someone recalls your life to a circle of friends as an example of “faithfulness”.
How Deep do you need to go in order to make this a reality?
Who Am I?
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a Squire from his country house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As thought it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectations of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
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