Dietrich Bonhoeffer to His Parents - The Mystery of Holy Night

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor, theologian and martyr who participated in a resistance movement against Nazism. He was imprisoned and executed because of his involvement.


"I don't have to tell you how greatly I long for freedom, and for all of you. But for decades you gave us such incomparably beautiful Christmases that my grateful memory of them is strong enough to outshine even this rather dark one. It is times like these that show what it really means to have a past and in inner legacy independent of the change of times and conditions. The awareness of being borne up by a spiritual tradition that lasts for decades gives one a strong sense of security in the face of all transotory distress... From the Christian point of view, spending Christmas in prison dosn't pose any special problem. Most likely, a more meaningful and authentic Christmas is celebrated here by many people that in places where only the name of the feast remains. Misery, pain, poverty, loneliness, helplessness, and guilt have an altogether different meaning in God's eyes than in the judgement of men. God turns toward the very places from which humans tend to turn away. Christ was born in a stable because there was no room for him at the inn: A prisoner can understand all this better than other people. It's truly good news for him; in believeing it, he knows he has been made a part of the Christian community that breaks down all spatial and temporal frontiers, and the walls of prison lose their meaning."

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