Anni - The Perfect Wisdom Web

t h a l ec o l l e g eeducating children to reading Dostoevsky –were sharedby one of her classmates in the Kindergarten-Hort class,Emi-Margret Arnold. The two became close friends,sharing a room in the second year at college. They enjoyedtaking lengthy walks together, often going for hourswithout feeling the need to speak. When they did talk,Anni soon realized that Emi-Margret could identify withher desire for a life that was lived truly and freely. Butfor Emi-Margret, these were not just vague ideas, andin their many long discussions she told Anni about herfamily and the community she belonged to. This was agroup of families and singles who were trying to live likethe earliest Christians. In 1920 Emi-Margret’s parentsand aunt Else had started this venture by moving fromBerlin to a farmstead in rural Germany. Already therewere over fifty members at the community, which wasknown as the Sparhof. The basis for this radical lifestyle,said Emi-Margret, was belief in Jesus. While the life incommunity sounded like a Youth Movement dream cometrue, Anni found the religious basis less attractive. As shelater recounted,Emi-Margret told me some of the inner background ofthe community she came from, but I could not understandit. I sensed that Emi-Margret had a real belief inGod, a firm basis, and that is what we discussed mostly,but I was afraid of it. I wanted to be very sure that thisreally was the truth and not that I would find out after ayear or two that it was giving the appearance of being real47