This Sunday, April 13, is Palm Sunday. It marks the beginning of Holy Week, when we will liturgically walk with Jesus to his death and celebrate his resurrection which brings us all into new life. In an intriguing synchronicity, yesterday, April 10, was the commemoration of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
As you may remember, Bonhoeffer was a major figure in the Protestant resistance to Hitler and the Nazis. He was arrested in 1943 for contributing to a failed attempt on Hitler’s life. He was executed on April 9, 1945, less than a week before the Allies liberated the prison camp he was in. As he was led away to his death, Bonhoeffer said to a fellow prisoner, “This is the end – but for me it is the beginning of Life!”
Shortly before his death, he wrote the following hymn, (695 in our hymnal), and the words feel particularly apt for us as we enter Holy Week:
By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,
and confidently waiting come what may,
we know that God is with us night and morning,
and never fails to greet us each new day.
Yet is this heart by its old foe tormented,
still evil days bring burdens hard to bear;
Oh, give our frightened souls the sure salvation
for which, O Lord, You taught us to prepare.
And when this cup You give is filled to brimming
with bitter suffering, hard to understand,
we take it thankfully and without trembling,
out of so good and so beloved a hand.
Yet when again in this same world You give us
the joy we had, the brightness of Your Sun,
we shall remember all the days we lived through,
and our whole life shall then be Yours alone.
May we hold these words close – this week and all the weeks to come.
