Kristallnacht - 74 Years After

November 9 is an important day of remembrance in history, though I doubt if many will commemorate it.  Seventy-four years ago this night National Socialists in Germany unleashed terror on the Jews of Germany.  In a frenzy of vindictiveness they burned synagogues, arrested Jews, and destroyed Jewish businesses.  The night known as "Kristallnacht" served as prelude for one of the most venomous genocides human history has ever experienced.  Sadly, for the most part, the Body of Christ in Germany did nothing to denounce it or stop it.  More than likely, many who would have regarded themselves as Christians were indifferent to the event or even approved of it.

Adolf Hitler made use of a principle that, unfortunately, leaders have used all through the human story.   If you want to galvanize people, particularly people who are discouraged and frightened, give them something/someone to hate and blame.  Would that Hitler's demonic destruction of the Jews of Europe were the only such use of this principle before or since.   In fact, I feel an uneasiness about this even in these days of political uncertainty, financial cliffs, and climate turbulence.  People are frightened and uneasy, everywhere.  You can sense the unsettling scent of people wanting to blame someone for all their difficulty, to channel their unrest into suspicion, judgement, and vindictiveness...whether the target is black people, white people, Hispanic people, people on public assistance, wealthy people, Islamic people, Christian people, old people, young people, or whoever.  The drive to look for a target lurks in the dark side of our souls, and Kristallnacht may not be as far from any of us as we think.

Followers of Jesus must yield constantly to the Holy Spirit, confessing the darkness that shadows our own hearts and seeking God's help to rise above this.  From the DNA of our first century roots we have chosen not to find someone/something to hate, but to find someone to love; specifically the One who died and rose for us and every person for whom that One died.  That is the power that prevailed even when our mothers and fathers in the faith were themselves the target of Kristallnacht-like assault.

Maybe it begins with each of us examining our own hearts for blame-and-hate tendencies, even when we've cloaked those in "Christian" rhetoric.  I think that's where I'll start today.  How will you recognize the 74th anniversary of Kristallnacht?

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.