Yesterday was January 17. On that day in 1943, while Europe was darkened by war and the German people implicated by nationhood in a regime and ideology of immense evil and ultimate despair, Dietrich Bonhoeffer became engaged to Maria van Wedemeyer. Three months later Bonhoeffer was arrested and imprisoned.
The importance of Bonhoeffer and Maria's engagement lies in what it signifies. The love of two people who make public their decision to be joined in marriage makes engagement a symbolic statement of intent. But in its timing, and the fact that it was never broken while Bonhoeffer was alive, it signified something else to the wider world. Like Jeremiah buying a field prior to his land being invaded, Bonhoeffer and Maria's engagement is a sign of hope and hopefulness, of trust and affirmation of the beauty, value and purpose of human life and love. Against the nightmare darkness of their time, engagement was a confession of faith. Bonhoeffer says all this much better himself.
What remarkable human beings Bonhoeffer and Maria were; and that humanity is what gives credibility to their witness, making Bonhoeffer an even more remarkable Christian. And the words in italics – they could be incorporated into a contemporary version of Christian marriage promises!
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