Title: For Such a Time As This: An Emergency Devotional by Hanna Reichel
Summary:
In an era of political polarization, eroding democratic norms, and rising authoritarianism, many Christians find themselves disoriented, wondering how their faith should inform myriad daily decisions. Drawing upon both scholarship and pastoral wisdom, theologian Hanna Reichel offers a timely resource for believers seeking spiritual grounding amid societal upheaval.
For Such a Time as This provides a thoughtful framework for discernment rooted in scripture, historical wisdom, and the core commitments of Christian faith. Through meditations on scripture, reflections on historical precedents including the Confessing Church’s resistance to Nazi Germany, and portraits of inspiring figures who maintained their integrity in the face of oppression, Reichel guides readers toward their own Christian response to the present moment. (Publisher)
Notes: I am the librarian for my church's small library. I have a miniscule budget, $100, to spend on it each year. We've limped along with an aging library for so many years hardly anyone uses it. This year I decided to make a change and weed out all the old dusty books and get members to donate new books to add some life to the place. I created an Amazon wishlist, asked several people in the congregation to join me in adding books to that wishlist that they'd like to see in the library and then publicize how people can purchase a book off the list. So far I've gotten twenty new books and still counting. (See list here: Library Amazon Wishlist.) For Such a Time As This is one of those new books which the pastor or the social justice committee recommended for the list. When it arrived I knew I wanted to read it, but I also wanted to get it into the hands of other people in congregation. Many of the people in my church are very concerned about Christian Nationalism and how the message of the gospel is being warped by their rhetoric. I quickly scanned the book and found it instantly helpful. As I read, I wanted to remember highlights from several of the chapters so I could refer back to them when I get a second chance at the book in the future.
These highlights, below, are those truncated notes to myself to remind me what chapters spoke about what topics. I doubt they will be very meaningful to anyone else. But sprinkled throughout are a few quotes, which I have highlighted in yellow and will use as my quotes for Friday56 today, though doubtless the quotes actually came from page 56.
Hanna Reichel is a theology scholar. Her first book was about Karl Barth, a Swiss Theologian whose writings influenced Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others and helped develop the Confessing Church during the Third Reich in Germany, to stand up against the other churches that went along with Hitler and his hijacking of the faith. In this book Reichel offers insights from Barth and philosophies which came out of the Confessing Church as part of her devotionals. I especially liked how she highlighted some of their declarations, like the Barmen Declaration, or parts of various creeds, confessions, and catechisms, which have guided the churches through the ages. In a way, it comforted me to know that we can lean back into church history and find strength and help from old documents, many I knew nothing about before speed-reading through this little book.
Here are some highlights and thoughts for several of the chapters:
1. "He then rebuked the wind" or find calm:
- It is not easy to stay calm in a storm, but necessary that we do so. Physical flooding will sweep you away. Emotional flooding will immobilize you. Don't let the storm control your emotions or your response
- Karl Barth, and the Confessing Church before and during the Nazi reign.
2. "Jesus wept" or feel your feelings:
- "The only thing I ask God is that I may never become indifferent to injustice -- to pain, to suffering, to war, to betrayal, to the future." -Léon Gieco
- Empathy is a muscle. Strengthen it.
3. "Derive them of their pathos" or test your feelings:
- "Feelings of anxiety and worry can easily be channeled into resentment and envy, scapegoating immigrants, political dissidents, or supposed enemies of the state. Fear narrows love and moral responsibility."
7. "Two are better than one" or build with what is there:
- Looking at the Barmen Declarations and the Heidelberg Catechisms, the Confessing Churches used what had been worked out in the past to inform the present. This didn't allow for the church to be led by the special leader (the Fuhrer) but by Christ and Christ only.
9. "Stand where God stands" or protect the weak:
- Part of the Belhar confession says "the church as possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged."
10. "Stand firm" or do not give up space:
- The Episcopal priest, Mariann Budde, addressed the President from the pulpit "Mr. President please have mercy..." What was special about this sermon was that Budde ceded neither physical or spiritual space to the power that controlled the room.
14. "Do something brave" or make a start:
- Silence does not protect you. Not from harm nor moral complicity. Not speaking out does not make you neutral, it makes you a bystander.
- Think for yourself. Be as brave as you can. Expect to feel uncomfortable. If you find yourself unsure who to behave at least speak out loudly saying, "This seems wrong."
15. "Rejoice always" or lean into joy: (Can I quote the whole chapter and somehow make it seem like a summary?)
- The beautiful story of how Etty Hilversum's life was so filled with joy even in the face of the horrors of the Holocaust, she said of the state of of her soul, "Somewhere inside me the jasmine still blossoms..." This turning inward was her way of quelling hatred and destruction. Our main responsibility, we found, was to "guard little pieces of God inside of self" and the moral duty is to reclaim large areas of peace inside ourselves and reflect it toward others.
- Make space for that joy. Let it grow. Let it roar through your life and expand to others.
I doubt this post is very helpful to anyone. I wish I had the book with me still and I could round out this post with a better review. If you struggle with the state of politics and religion today and find yourself at odds with the Christian Nationalistic rhetoric, I recommend you look around for this book and see if you also find it helpful, like I did.
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