Tuesday, December 28th, 2010
Our second day we toured a Bonn History museum and had a lecture by Dr. Wasser. The Museum was amazing. It was pretty emotional for me which is rare and so I was grateful. I felt the tour guide captured beautifully the sweeping rollercoaster Germany has been through in the past 100 years; so much joy and so much pain. I will attempt to capture what I wrote down right after, forgive how everything is described in how it made me feel. I was touched.
‘It blew my mind the capacity for hatred and brokenness within the human condition. I find it so difficult to wrap my mind around and feel the reality of what took place during WWII. To be invited to see and feel with Germany was a rare and wonderful experience. I was appreciative of our tour guide to tie in current events that touch on this same capacity for inhumanity (such as child soldiers in Africa). I was grateful for this opportunity to get a glimpse of the pains and joys of Germany.
Things were brought home for me starting when I saw the children of the holocaust. My heart stayed captivated all the way through to the first soccer game won by West Germany post WWII. The devastation I felt when I heard of the children and mothers that had to survive, or die, post war was indescribable. Most of the men had died in the war or were injured. Looking at some of the products these industrious women made from the remaining war uniforms inspired me with hope and joy. The rise to beauty from ashes brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me of the restoration Christ has brought to my own life through personal tragedies of a lesser degree. Sorry if I keep describing things from how they made me feel, it has been the most emotionally engaging tour I’ve experienced. I went from mourning to elation as I saw the national pride and sincere humble shouts of victory as the West German men rejoiced over their first soccer win.
Another point that captured my heart and astounded my mind was the miraculous economic growth of West Germany. The multitude of products, and their quality, was phenomenal. I was so encouraged by the favor that had befallen the people of West Germany in such a short amount of time. I did find it interesting that the soviet east Germany seemed snared in their economic growth, and tons of people wanted to escape but were trapped like a prison (with emphasis on Berlin). But West Germany, seemed to symbolize freedom where people were able to grow and climb. It reminded me of what America has stood for in the past and the blessings that we now enjoy because of freedom.
In conclusion to this experience my own faith was reinforced. I felt how desperate our world is for a savior. We as a people have the capacity for so much joy, so much pain, so much good and so much evil. I also felt how helpless we are to change ourselves or the political climate we find ourselves in. We may be able, as a whole, to make choices to in hopes pull us in a positive direction but we have yet to eradicate such evils and can never ensure such tragedy won’t happen again. It is also key to note how these were people like you and me. Everyone was responsible, not just Hitler, and if it happened to them, it could have been us. I believe what happened in WWII gives a good snapshot of the universal human condition. It seems only God healing our propensity to sin and restoring our brokenness will ultimately save humanity.’
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