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Download - The Perfect Wisdom Web

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Be Not Afraid EpilogueAnd if it seems like it does, perhaps that is becausewe spend too much time focusing on our fear of it.Like animals frozen in the headlights of an oncomingvehicle, we are so mesmerized by death that we forgetthe promise of eternal life that follows it. Bonhoefferrightly admonishes:We pay more attention to dying than to death. We’re moreconcerned to get over the act of dying than to overcomedeath. Socrates mastered the art of dying; Christ overcamedeath as the last enemy. <strong>The</strong>re is a real differencebetweenthetwothings;theoneiswithinthescopeofhumanpossibilities, the other means resurrection. It’s not byvirtue of ars moriendi – the art of dying – that a new andpurifying wind can blow through our present world. Onlythe resurrection of Christ can bring that about. Here is theanswer to Archimedes’ challenge: “Give me somewhereto stand, and I will move the earth.” If only a few peoplereally believed that and acted on it in their daily lives, agreat deal would be changed…That is what living in thelight of resurrection means.Bonhoeffer, a modern martyr who refused to bend hisconscience to fit the demands of Hitler’s Third Reich,went to the gallows fearlessly, and to me, these words0

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