Decade to Overcome Violence is half over

Steve & Lisa Smith – Germany
On Friday the 4th of February this year (2006) the 100th birthday of Dietrich Bonhoeffer was celebrated. In case you don’t know who he was, he was a German theologian who participated in the plot to assassinate Hitler during WWII, was imprisoned and then executed right before the end of the war. His writings and teachings of the confessing church helped form the German Protestant Church of the post war.

On Friday the 4th of February this year (2006) the 100th birthday of Dietrich Bonhoeffer was celebrated. In case you don’t know who he was, he was a German theologian who participated in the plot to assassinate Hitler during WWII, was imprisoned and then executed right before the end of the war. His writings and teachings of the confessing church helped form the German Protestant Church of the post war.

Five years ago, starting on his 95th birthday the WCC’s “Decade to Overcome Violence” (DOV) was kicked off here in Berlin. A bit of quick math and one sees that the “Decade” is half over. We are at the halfway mark.

It is impossible to tell what progress may have been made in these years, if any. We have certainly been challenged and had our share of being overwhelmed at the violence in the world since 2001 when the whole thing started. All I can do is share with you my hopes as a result of the DOV.

I find it tremendously courageous that this Decade was called into life at all! To face the conventional wisdom that violence-based power is acceptable is a major step. To say that violence against humanity is wrong regardless of the cultural setting is an active step towards bringing God’s value of life to the world. It is a missionary act of bringing the presence and love of God to all the world by speaking out against Violence.

The major goal of the DOV is to get people talking and looking at the violence that we experience every day. From the trash thrown on the ground performing a disrespectful act of violence on God’s creation, to the slap the child gets to keep him in line – to bombs, we are called to look at what is going on with a discerning eye, and to try to deal with it in a constructive and creative way. We are called over and over to never give up.

We Christians have got a special relationship with violence. The man we are called to emulate was active in speaking against and preventing violence. His suffering and pain is the central focus of practically every altar. And yet, we as humans still have a tendency to overlook the violence around us. How often do we look at the altar and go “ouch!”? The image of Christ can be rather routine for us. We have Lent each year to keep us sensitized to the pain Christ experienced – and therefore hopefully sensitive to the pain our fellow travelers experience.

Jesus could go through the pain because he was dealing on another level – a level where he was listening to the words of God and trusting in God’s will. Just as when Joshua and the Israelites were suffering from the loss of their great leader, Moses, and wondering if they would complete their journey as promised, God said “I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.”(Joshua 1, 5b)

By the way, rather recently I went to jail.

When the UCC and the Evangelical Church of the Union (EKU) gathered together last November in Berlin to celebrate 25 years of full communion I took a group of the guests to a high security jail here in Berlin. A few of the inmates joined us as we toured the facilities. I realized I’d never been fully aware of being with a criminal before. One of the young men, Pascal, who had already been there 10 years, had such a sweet smile and his eyes twinkled as he spoke. We all sat together in the church that looms over the center of the Jail compound. We sung a song based on a poem Bonhoeffer had written while locked away in this jail. The title of the song is, “Von guten Mächten Wunderbar Geborgen” (From Good Powers wonderfully sheltered). I found myself being totally shocked to find out that Pascal was in jail for remeditative murder.

The power of that moment of grace – in a church in the middle of a high security jail – singing of God’s presence with a dear man who happened to have committed murder – is about the strongest image of the Overcoming of Violence that gives me hope for the next 5 years of this decade – and hopefully beyond! I trust in God’s words that God will be not fail us or forsake us as we journey through the rest of this Decade to Overcome Violence. We will come to some promised land – some visible signs of progress towards peace.

Lisa Smith
Steve and Lisa Smith serve with the Evangelical Church of the Union (EKU), in the Berlin-Brandenburg region, Germany. Steve serves on the Ecumenical Council of Churches on behalf of the region. Lisa serves as assistant to the commissioner for migrant issues. They also provide lay training in the church region.