Dear one,
Yesterday I read an excerpt from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison. You might recall that this posthumous volume contains his correspondence with the outside world; his reflections upon the Church and the call of Christ; and upon his own interior life—all written during his imprisonment, 5 April 1943 to 8 October 1943. He was hung by the Gestapo on 9 April 1945; Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945.
While in cell 93 he wrote:
“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer. The only profitable relationship to others … is one of love, and that means the will to be in community with them.”[1]
Upon my first reading of these words, I found myself immediately rereading: “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” With a third reading, I paused: Is that how I view others? knowing full well that I tend to view and thereby judge others by what they do or do not do. Equally I wondered: Had Bonhoeffer begun to view his guards and fellow inmates in terms of their suffering?
Given these questions, I then recognized that he was not propounding an absolute dictum; rather, the operative words are “less” and “more,” coupled with “learn.” It’s not as though what others do or do not do becomes unimportant, or even as a means to justify their failings; instead, it’s a matter of framing their actions, inactions, or reactions in the light of their sufferings. Moreover, according to Bonhoeffer, this view of others can be learned. For instance, we can learn, just as we might help a child to learn, not to expect one with an amputated leg to run a four-minute mile. The amputee’s suffering does not fully define her, but it does reveal her present capabilities, and therefore what it will mean for me to relate meaningfully and realistically to her.
In this regard the early church’s definition of love is helpful: “Love is patient and love is kind” (1Corinthians 13:4), wherein “patience” suggests “longsuffering” and “kind” suggests “usefulness.” To love another in view of his/ her suffering is to share in that suffering; likewise, it means to seek practical aides to assist one who suffers.
With different eyes,
Stan
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1953), p.9.