Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Winda diSappointing ConfirmationEberhard and his sister Clara had high hopes when they first joined churchconfirmation classes, so their disappointment was all the greater when theinstruction proved to be just as boring and laboriously pious as the religion classesin high school. The confirmation itself brought no kind of revelation either. CarlFranklin Arnold had arranged a relatively simple celebration for the occasion. 12A godmother from Berlin came to visit them, and as a special treat they rode theshort way home from the church in a carriage. In the afternoon a few friends ofClara and Eberhard joined them. There were harmless games in the drawing roomand folk songs sung in harmony.When it was all over, Eberhard must have sought out his father again. Hehad a question to ask: could confirmation – the affirmation of faith – becomea personal experience, and if so, how? But Carl Franklin Arnold was unable toprovide a satisfactory answer. As a child in the Gildemeister household in Bremen,Eberhard’s father had undoubtedly encountered a heartfelt, cheerful piety. Hisfoster parents and their relatives had followed the traditions of the bible scholarSamuel Collenbusch 13 and the Bremen minister Gottfried Menken. 14 CarlFranklin Arnold had adopted his foster parents’ respect for these role models – hesubjected his wife and children to endless readings from old sermons by Menken.But the Gildemeister’s natural and carefree faith remained foreign to Eberhard’sfather. He always had a deep reverence for God and his commandments, and feltobliged to strive in all earnestness for personal holiness and moral improvement.Carl Franklin Arnold could spend hours meditating over a text from the Psalmsor wrestling with God in prayer over the most profound concerns of humanity. Atsuch times he would shut himself into his study. When he left it hours later, thechildren often saw that their father was crushed and depressed. Carl FranklinArnold obviously found neither strength nor joy in prayer. He could tell his sonnothing different: he won certainty of forgiveness, even of eternal salvation, onlyin this hard and painful manner – through continuous wrestling in prayer.Through his confirmation Eberhard became more keenly aware than ever beforeof the social abyss between the educated, prosperous elite and the simple workingclasspeople. The manner in which his family dressed sparked this awareness. Onlythe upper crust could attend church as they did – for confirmation, Eberhardwore a new black suit and Clara a white dress. Poorer children did not havespecial clothes for special occasions. Eberhard found this unjust and decided that5