Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Wind
Most of the soldiers were themselves poor and were usually malnourished and
pale, but they shared an amazing repertoire of spirited Salvation Army marching
songs. Eberhard felt right at home in their company. At the age of eighteen he
began on occasion to preach in the Stockgasse district. At twenty, he could be
found with the Salvation Army’s newspaper, The War Cry, in hand, addressing
strangers on sidewalks and in department stores. Without much ceremony, he
would challenge them to surrender their lives to Jesus. 23
Thanks to a Breslau Salvation Army captain, he learned an important lesson.
Eberhard had witnessed the captain in conversation with a down-and-out man.
Later Eberhard let slip the remark, “What a terrible face!” The captain retorted
sharply, “What would you look like if you had gone through all the sufferings
of this unfortunate man?” This episode reminded Eberhard that through no
merit or choice of his own he belonged to a privileged class, and that misery is
not necessarily the consequence of personal guilt. As a result, his judgments of
people became more cautious. He tried to be unprejudiced when he met poor or
burdened people and to show them more love. And sometimes he succeeded.
Once he helped break up a fist fight outside a tavern and accompanied one
of the drunks home. Horrified by the misery he saw there, he appealed to the
man’s conscience and asked if he believed that Jesus could help him. The man
snapped back that the “young gentleman” should help him first. So Eberhard rose
an hour earlier than usual every morning to walk the man to work – past the
many tempting taverns. At evening, he walked the man home again. This routine
continued until the man stood up during a Salvation Army meeting and testified
to his discipleship of Jesus. He had regained a solid foundation for his life.
During Eberhard’s last two years at high school he identified so fully with the
aims and work of the Salvation Army that he seriously considered forgoing further
education and donning the uniform himself. His parents, dubious about his
commitment, were able to prevent him from pursuing this idea. Yet they neither
kept him from attending the Salvation Army meetings nor hindered his work with
the bible study group. Naturally, however, they interfered when they read placards
on advertising kiosks announcing that “Missionary Eberhard Arnold” would be
addressing a large meeting at the request of the Salvation Army. It was neither
customary nor permitted for a student to address a public meeting. Carl Franklin
Arnold was so horrified at first that he thought he would have to resign from his
teaching post on account of his misguided son.
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