A false virtue
Dietrich Bonhoeffer knew within a month that he had made a mistake. Arriving in New York in 1939 to accept a position at Union Seminary, he wrote to a friend: “I shall have no right to take part in the restoration of Christian life in Germany after the war unless I share the trials of this time with my people.” Bonhoeffer returned to Germany to help the Jews flee Nazi persecution, crediting his resolve to an ancient virtue. With rear view mirrors, we can see it… and appreciate why optimism is a false virtue.
