Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Wind
teenage boasting of his peers. Eberhard bid a formal farewell to the curvaceous
sculptures of Venus in the town museum that had on occasion inflamed the
student’s imagination. With greater difficulty he denied himself all the little tricks
and schemes he had previously employed to wriggle through his school days. In
the last weeks of fall he visited each of his teachers, one after the other, to tell them
of his inner change of direction and to ask forgiveness for his past arrogance and
sometimes disresectful behavior. Most listened skeptically (one thought he was
showing off and sent him home). But in the following months, their appreciation
grew as this once mediocre student improved his performance with unexpected
diligence. As for Eberhard’s classmates, some were indifferent to his testimony,
while some were annoyed at losing the instigator of so many jokes and adventures.
Even the top students were not very welcoming when for a short time he joined
their ranks. He did not share their interest in excelling merely for the sake of
excelling. Eberhard cared little for recognition.
a widEning rift
Eberhard began avoiding the usual parties and social events. He refused invitations
from professors’ families in the Arnolds’ circle of friends – all at once these affairs
seemed empty and pointless. This led to serious differences with his parents,
esecially with his father, who labeled his son’s behavior the “impudence of an
immature boy.”
In his intense enthusiasm, the sixteen-year-old set stipulations: he agreed to
attend the gatherings on the condition that he could seak openly to the guests
and point out the errors of their ways.
Even on New Year’s Eve, when the family and a few students sat together over
a bowl of punch to welcome in the year 1900, Eberhard related his encounter
with Jesus and challenged the relatives and guests to seize the hour and seek
such experiences. His father attempted to play down the guests’ embarrassment
by reading Psalm 103, as he did every year, and then starting their traditional
chorale, “Now let us enter with singing and prayer before the Lord who has given
us strength to live until this time.”
The rift between father and son increased when Eberhard questioned the
large reception his parents held twice a year. He criticized the tremendous
expense – “two hundred marks for food and drink”–and pointed out that all the
invited guests were wealthy and well-fed. He reminded his father of the workingclass
families in the eastern section of Breslau and of Jesus’ words: “When you give
9