Table Of ContentSEIZE
THE DAY
WITH
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
SEIZE
THE DAY
WITH
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
CHARLES R. RINGMA, PH.D.
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ISBN 1-57683-216-3
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Ringma, Charles.
Seize the day with Dietrich Bonhoeffer / Charles R. Ringma.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-57683-216-3
1. Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, 1906-1945—Meditations. 2. Devotional
calendars. I. Title.
BX4827.B57 R56 2000
242’.2—dc21 00-033616
Printed in the United States of America
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Contents
Preface
A Brief Introduction to Bonhoeffer
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Appendix
Bibliography
About the Author
—DEDICATION—
These meditations are selected in the hope that a
new generation of Christians will be inspired to
live the Christian life with a profound spirituality,
a radical obedience, and a relevance that
takes seriously the challenge of their era.
In this, they cannot but be inspired
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Preface
THESE MEDITATIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF DIETRICH Bonhoeffer are disturbing
rather than helpful and “worldly” rather than pious. Bonhoeffer combined
biblical spirituality with political relevance, faith with obedience, peace with
resistance, community with rugged individualism, and prayer with activism.
While Bonhoeffer’s writings are scholarly, he is more a pastoral theologian
than a systematic writer. His writings, therefore, are pregnant with relevance for
all who grapple with life’s meaning and purpose.
These meditations, in the form of one reading for each day of the year, capture
many of the important insights scattered throughout Bonhoeffer’s writings. One
excerpt is quoted at the beginning of each daily devotional. It is accompanied by
my reflections, an appropriate Bible reading, and a prayer, meditation, or
thought. I hope they encourage you to read more of Bonhoeffer and to live a life
that combines spirituality with a concern for the world and the welfare of your
neighbor.
Bonhoeffer uses sexist language. He constantly speaks of “man” when he is
clearly referring to all persons. For example, the statement “Christ … is the truth
spoken in the concrete moment, the address which puts a man [sic] in the truth
before God” obviously includes Christ’s address and challenge to women. We
have decided not to rewrite Bonhoeffer’s use of language, and we ask the reader
to make the necessary adjustments. In this and in other ways Bonhoeffer was a
person of his time, but this should not detract from the value that he holds for
our generation.
My affectionate thanks to my wife, Rita, who has encouraged me to express
my long-standing interest in Bonhoeffer by writing this devotional. I owe a great
debt, too, to Evert Ringma and Antje Ringma-DeJong, and to Wouter Dijk and
Harmina Dijk-Pesman. Also a big thank you to Desley Jeanneret and Annette
Ganter who have skillfully and patiently completed the typing from handwritten
notes.
And finally, my appreciation to Professor Dr. Klaas Runia who, during a
course on Christian ethics, first placed Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship in
my hands.
—CHARLES RINGMA
A Brief Introduction to Bonhoeffer
BONHOEFFER IS A CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE. HE CUTS a paradoxical pose and is
difficult to put into a particular religious “box.” Though he is not always easy to
understand, he was, without doubt, a person of firm commitment and practical
resolve. That he sought to order his life on the words of Jesus of Nazareth is
unquestionable. That his commitment led to his own death is a fact.
Bonhoeffer was the product of an upper middle-class family with the usual
emphasis on comfort and security, yet he was to plunge himself into the radical
insecurity of a discipleship that took the words of Jesus seriously. This was to
lead him from the hallowed halls of the University of Berlin, where he taught
theology, to active opposition to the Nazi regime. This opposition led him to
teach at an illegal seminary of the Confessing Church in Germany. It also
eventually led to his becoming involved in counterespionage activities. For this
he was hanged on April 9, 1945.
Bonhoeffer had strong convictions. He could not be contained by others’
expectations, for he had heard the voice of his Master. Thus he departed from the
family tradition to study theology. Trained in Berlin’s liberal scholarly tradition,
he embraced the new theology of Karl Barth without becoming his follower. At
a time of powerful German national resurgence, with its narrow ideas of Volk
and racial superiority, Bonhoeffer actively promoted the opposite—a strong
ecumenical perspective.
When the Lutheran Church began to yield to the power of the Hitler rhetoric,
Bonhoeffer, in 1933, attacked Hitler by rejecting the leadership principle. When
the church emphasized structure, Bonhoeffer was living out the reality of
community. While the church dreamed about separation, Bonhoeffer was
involved in active engagement of the world.
Bonhoeffer can best be understood by locating him in three distinct yet
interrelated phases of his life. (For some more specific details of Bonhoeffer’s
life, see the appendix: A Brief Chronology of Bonhoeffer’s Life.)
The first phase was that of the Berlin theological scholar. This was the more
