Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Windsolved. Only the crucified one gives strength for a new life. Eberhard never left thisstandpoint, and he made no exception for “religious-socialism.”Speaking of his own spiritual development, Eberhard once coined the deftphrase “from Luther to Kutter.” This could easily be misconstrued to mean thatKutter had replaced Luther in Eberhard’s thinking, but the truth is that Eberhardhad placed the two side by side. In the following years Eberhard studied MartinLuther and the Reformation more thoroughly than ever before. At the sametime, from 1910 on, contemporary social concerns occupied more and more ofEberhard’s and Emmy’s thoughts and discussions.hardy56On August 18, 1912, Emmy’s second child was born. This time the birth presentedno complications. Eberhard Heinrich, unlike his sister Emy-Margret, was adelicate child. Known to the family as Hardy, he spent much of his childhood sickand developed into a quiet, thoughtful boy.The Arnolds’ first Christmas as a family of four passed harmoniously. The onlyone not quite able to celebrate freely and happily was Eberhard himself, who hadfelt unwell for several months. He complained of a sore throat, which had affectedhis otherwise impressive, clear, and far-reaching voice, but he did not take thesesymptoms very seriously at first.Eberhard arranged a series of lectures in Halle for February 1913, on thetheme “Discipleship of Jesus in Our Day.” Halfway through the series, Dr. Beleite’sdiagnosis of Eberhard’s condition crashed like a bombshell: tuberculosis of thelarynx, caused by advanced tuberculosis of the lungs. For Eberhard, this amountedto debarment from his profession. The doctor ordered him to stop lecturingimmediately. Eberhard, however, felt he had an obligation to the hundreds ofpeople who regularly attended the meetings, and he insisted on finishing thelecture series. Just as he had done before the shattering diagnosis, Eberhard stoodbefore each audience, urging discipleship of Jesus, and he actually helped a numberof people to change their lives. Immediately after he completed the lecture serieshe underwent two operations on his larynx.EnforCEd rEStEberhard’s doctors prescribed a lengthy stay in a sanatorium for lung patients,suggesting that the whole family move to a health resort, preferably in the Alps.