海角大神

American author Laura M. Fabrycky has an unusual perspective on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian and 海角大神 anti-Nazi dissident who many consider a martyr.聽

After her family moved to Germany in 2017 during her husband鈥檚 diplomatic mission, she served as a tour guide at Bonhoeffer-Haus in Berlin. This was where Bonhoeffer wrote parts of his book 鈥淓thics鈥� and where his manuscript about the resistance movement was found after the war.聽

Fabrycky鈥檚 鈥淜eys to Bonhoeffer鈥檚 Haus: Exploring the World and Wisdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer鈥� is not a typical biography. The author interweaves her story as an American living abroad with the story of a man who crossed oceans to study theology.

Those unfamiliar with Bonhoeffer will be left wanting to know more details about the man whom the Nazis executed in April 1945. The book provides more of Fabrycky鈥檚 internal process of discovery as she gave tours of his house rather than a straight chronological telling of his story.聽

As a 海角大神 in Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer faced the challenge of trying to live as a moral man in an immoral society. This struggle to live according to his conscience placed him in difficult circumstances. He wrestled with whether or not to participate in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.聽

He gave his consent. The plot failed.聽聽

To those readers who disliked the memorization of names and dates in history class, Fabrycky鈥檚 narrative provides an alternative. She provides 鈥渒eys鈥� to understanding Bonhoeffer at the beginning of each of the seven chapters.

One such key: 鈥淲hen we hold on to the truth, we find the truth holds onto us, even when we are tempted to despair.鈥�

In that chapter, titled 鈥淭he Watchwords,鈥� Fabrycky integrates an anecdote of a relationship she had with a German neighbor over a garden wall into a chapter primarily about Bonhoeffer鈥檚 daily scriptural study and his decision to leave Nazi Germany in 1939, only to return a few weeks later.聽

While such juxtapositions between her story and Bonhoeffer鈥檚 may seem trite, the 鈥渒eys鈥� she provides are anything but, and the author delivers them with humility.

In attending to the minutiae of Bonhoffer鈥檚 environment, retracing his path, and studying, Fabrycky has an appreciation for what the man endured. This process makes her own story a vital contribution to the book rather than an interlude.聽

鈥淏onhoeffer is a hero, without question,鈥� she writes. 鈥淏ut when his story is told in ways that make it thrilling and dramatic 鈥� which in parts it was, no doubt 鈥� that narrative easily neglects the many smaller deaths and lesser sufferings he experienced.鈥�

In discovering Bonhoeffer鈥檚 house, Fabrycky鈥檚 own sense of place becomes clearer, as does her purpose in writing 鈥� to spur others to action.聽

鈥淟ooking at my own place of belonging, the American experiment is predicated on ideas and ideals that have yet to be fully realized in the lives of its citizens,鈥� she writes. Later, she adds, 鈥淥ur civic house begs for attention, and those of us who belong to the small centers of a house can make a difference.鈥�

With her book, Fabrycky makes a contribution 鈥� a contribution vitally needed as the work of creating a better 鈥渃ivic house鈥� for the world continues, 75 years after Bonhoeffer.聽