Imprisoned in the Gestapo cellar of Prinz Albrecht Strasse during WWII, Bonhoeffer penned his Gethsemane prayer, a poem titled Von guten Machten (By Kindly Power Surrounded). It’s a short but wonderful poem. It’s a prayer of both thanksgiving and petition. The petition anticipated his execution at the hand of the Nazis. Sadly it was a bitter cup that he drank from just before the war’s end.

What really captures me is Bonhoeffer’s assured sense of the presence of God, the ‘kindly powers’ that surround.

Allow me to take a side track for a second. I must note that my fascination and admiration for Bonhoeffer is less academic and more that of a type of son if that makes sense… at the risk of sounding creepy. For me it’s more about being a disciple sitting at the feet of a Rabbi and following him – wanting to be covered in the dust of the person I’m walking behind. Ultimately I turn to Jesus for that, but we also all glean from other teachers who help us in our walk with Christ – for me the chief among them is Bonhoeffer, but not as an exercise in theological critique and analysis. For that reason I’ve never really picked apart and critiqued his theology. and so I couldn’t sum it up for you. Rather, I’m happy just listening and gleaning however I can. It’s for this reason that my favourite amongst all of his work are his collected letters and papers from prison – because in them I feel like I hear from the man rather than just the amazing Christian thinker. Hopefully that makes sense.

As Bonhoeffer has been one of the guiding lights for my faith for some time I often wish I could read German, his native tongue, especially when I read his letters and papers from prison, which include the poems he wrote. I rely on the English translations of other people though.

In this instance it’s the translation done by Edwin Robertson that I turn to. In the case of this particular prayer, the whole piece is worth reading but it’s the second to last verse that has grabbed my attention today. I won’t explain why, mostly because I’m not quite sure, so I’ll just let it sit as it is without my commentary:

When we are wrapped in silence most profound,
may we hear that song most fully raised
from all the unseen world that lies around
and thou art by all thy children praised.