Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

StrugglE for unity
Against the Wind
The tension that the young brotherhood members (the average age was about
thirty) lived in after 1933 can hardly be imagined: the hard work, the outside
pressures, the struggle for daily bread, and on top of all that, the many newcomers
who arrived full of idealism and goodwill but very little pracical experience.
Strong-willed, original characers. Totally different personalities. Artistic types,
thinkers, hardworking women, laborers with rolled-up sleeves, introverts, and
cheerful natures – all rubbing shoulders in the minimum of space. Though the
brotherhood had hardly had the time to draw together as one body, it was now
split into two groups, one at the Alm, the other remaining at the Rhön. Eberhard 194
had to fight as energetically for the inner unity of the community as for its outer
existence.
The first crucial test of the strength of that unity came in the summer of 1934
on the Alm Bruderhof. Not long before, Eberhard had put together a fundraising
brochure for the Alm Bruderhof in which he wrote that life in community
demands a struggle from every individual against anything that could destroy the
community. All must aim at “consensus in small and very small concerns, and
unity in great and very great matters.” 7 This goal could be attained only when
all members preserved the deepest reverence for the characer and reality of the
communal life. That is how it was written down for anyone to read. In daily
pracice, however, it proved very difficult. Hans Boller had been the responsible
servant of the Word for the Alm Bruderhof during Eberhard’s absence in the
summer of 1934, but at the direction of the brotherhood he laid down his service
after only three months. Eberhard engaged in an ongoing struggle against legalism
at the Alm – too much concern about petty matters, and loveless behavior among
members. He waged this battle both long-distance from the Rhön and on the
scene. The summer crisis was not completely overcome until September of 1934,
when a new pledge of commitment was celebrated. At the year’s end Eberhard
drew up a sobering balance sheet: “We have become spiritually dull. We are on the
point of losing the movement of the Spirit…As long as we have community with
God, we must be inwardly moved. As long as we are moved, it is impossible for us
to go to sleep.” 8
Over and over again Eberhard had to admonish, rouse, and encourage the
brotherhood. On some occasions, when even his eloquence had no results, outside
events helped to expel any sleepiness and apathy that might have settled upon
the brotherhood. One such event was the reintroduction of compulsory military