Keys to Bonhoeffer’s Haus

I've got a confession to make. The book I'm about to highlight is one I read way back in April (which, let's be honest, feels like a lifetime ago). It's Laura Fabrycky's Keys to Bonhoeffer's Haus: Exploring the World and Wisdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I first heard about this book and its author from my conversation partners on this books podcast. I'm so glad they told me about it. What can I say, it's one of my absolute favorite books of the year.

Fabrycky's husband is in the U.S. Foreign Service, so the family moves to completely a different country every few years. During their time in Berlin, Fabrycky stumbled into a volunteer role as a guide for English-speaking visitors to the Bonhoeffer home. The book is about so much more than giving tours, though. It's an exploration of Bonhoeffer's life and world, yielding insights that encourage and provoke us here and now – as Christians and as citizens of the countries where we live.

One more thing I'll say about Keys to Bonhoeffer's Haus. It's tempting, in conversations about politics, to make too-easy comparisons between tyrants of the past and political leaders of today (I know because I've done it). We see this happen, for example, in reference to Hitler and the Nazi regime Bonhoeffer was ultimately killed resisting. Fabrycky reminds us that while we can and should learn from figures like Bonhoeffer, we should be careful not to co-opt him for our cause.

Each generation, in each place, needs to work out anew what it looks like to live lives marked by courage and love sufficient to the challenges that face us, right here, right now. Bonhoeffer's life – and this book – offer us some clues. Now, in the words of the monastics – words that would have made perfect sense to Bonhoeffer – ora et labora. Let's pray and get to work.