Birthed
through Reconciliation
IN
EUROPE MAY THE EIGHTH IS STILL IN ITS DYING MOMENTS AS DAWN BREAKS IN
NEW ZEALAND; THE FLAG OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, BLUE WITH A CIRCLE OF
YELLOW STARS, IS HOISTED OVER THE AUCKLAND HARBOUR BRIDGE–TO MARK
EUROPE DAY, MAY THE NINTH.
On our last week of a Pacific furlough, we are intrigued by this
acknowledgement down-under of the events leading to the forming of the
European Union, beginning 56 years ago. Too few know the wonderful
story of forgiveness and reconciliation behind Europe Day. It’s a story
I have often told before, but it’s worth telling annually.
After the Second World War, some ninety-five Swiss Christian families
pooled their life-savings to purchase a derelict hotel high in the
mountains in Caux, above Montreux overlooking Lake Geneva. Their vision
was to open a refuge of hope, a Centre for the Reconciliation of the
Nations.
Behind this vision was an evangelist named Frank Buchman. An American
with a German background, Buchman was acutely aware that if Germany was
not embraced by Christian forgiveness and reconciliation, godless
forces of anarchy or communism could fill the post-war vacuum.
Buchman invited a French woman, Irène Laure, a socialist member
of the
Resistance, to attend one of the first conferences in this centre. Her
husband and sons had been killed by the Germans. So when she discovered
Germans at this conference, she stormed off to pack her bags.
But Buchman persuaded her first to lunch with the widow of Adam von
Trott, co-conspirator with Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the abortive plot to
kill Hitler. Mme Laure reluctantly listened to the German woman’s
story: of how her husband had been hanged by the Nazis, and her
children had been taken away from her, given new names and put in
children's homes. As the two women shared their mutual sufferings, they
were tearfully reconciled.
The next day, Mme Laure confessed to the whole conference, "I hated
Germany so much I wanted to see it erased from the map of Europe! But I
have seen here that my hatred was wrong. I want to ask all the Germans
present to forgive me."
Among those Germans present was Dr Konrad Adenauer, the future West
German chancellor. The message of forgiveness and reconciliation taught
by Buchman and demonstrated by Mme Laure affected him and his
countrymen deeply. He invited Mme Laure to share her story all across
West Germany. Buchman’s movement, Moral Re-Armament, sent many teams to
bring the message of forgiveness to Germany through travelling musical
shows. In the heavy industry area of the Ruhr, Marxist trade union
leaders were converted. The resulting moral transformation was seen as
a significant factor in the recovery of post-war Germany.
Later, the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, also met Buchman
and visited the centre in Caux. He confided to the evangelist that he
was discouraged and was considering retirement. Yet, something told him
his life task still lay ahead, that of reconciling France and Germany.
"But which Germans can I trust?" he asked his new friend. Buchman
encouraged both Schuman and Adenauer (who had once called the Frenchman
a 'lying Alsatian') to trust each other.
This trust culminated in a bold plan, proposed by Schuman, to integrate
the coal and steel industries of France and Germany, and of any other
European country wishing to join. Since these industries would be the
motor of any potential military machine, future war between the nations
would be rendered permanently impossible.
The Schuman Plan, presented on May 9, 1950, gave birth to the European
Coal and Steel Community, ECSC, the first major step toward today's
European Union. The anniversary of this event is now known as Europe
Day, celebrated annually throughout the European Union.
And, surprisingly, even on the other side of the world!
Till next week,
Jeff Fountain
YWAM Europe
©YWAM Europe - Weekly Words are the personal
reflections of Jeff
Fountain and do not necessarily express the official position of YWAM.
They may be reproduced with due acknowledgment
