Night - Addendum

Several years ago my husband and I visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum  in Washington, D.C., of which Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, is the Founding Museum Chairman.

Further, Mr. Wiesel is the first recipient of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Award presented earlier this month.  The award will be forever named after him.

Anyway, visiting the museum was truly a moving experience...To step into a replica of the cattle cars that carried thousands of people to their deaths; to read walls listing the names of people who acted to save those targeted by the Nazis; to hear stories and experiences of survivors and of those speaking up from the grave.

It is a must visit museum.

There was a quote on our museum guide that I have kept posted on my bulletin board ever since and it seems appropriate to duplicate here,

First they came for the socialists,

And I did not speak out –

Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

And I did not speak out –

Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,

And I did not speak out –

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me –

And there was no one left to speak for me.

-          Attributed to Martin Niemöller (1892-1984),

anti-Nazi German pastor

While Martin Niemöller seems to be a somewhat controversial figure in his attitude towards those of Jewish descent during World War II, I do think this quote speaks for itself.

Night

By Elie Wiesel

Translated by Marion Wiesel

I had never heard of the book called “Night” by Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Elie Wiesel. It was part of my sister’s library and part of Oprah’s Club.

In case you haven’t heard of it either... Night is a short book that describes the author’s personal experiences during the Holocaust. Mr. Wiesel survived the ghetto, Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, Gleiwitz, Buchenwald; deprivation, starvation, thirst; deportation, cattle cars, marches, labour; death; loneliness; guilt.

And how did Mr. Wiesel survive? Really, in my estimation it seems like luck and lots of it: Being in the right place at the right time, pretending to be the right age at the right time, having the right skill at the right time, listening to the right advice at the right time, the list goes on. But, for Mr. Wiesel, everything that happened seemed to happen at the right time.

Of course, I really don’t believe in luck. I do, however, believe in a sovereign God who works out even the horrible things in life according to His perfect plan.

Quite a relief to me, even in my comfortable Canadian life.

After reading Night I find that I cherish my husband and children a little bit more. I relish in my ability to live and eat and sleep and walk as I please.

I am thankful for my freedom from a life of fear.

Reading on...

Judging a Book by its Cover

Confession time again... I’m drawn to books by their covers. Artwork, title, font, number of pages are all things that attract me. But, exactly how much do these surface features really say about the heart of a book? The author’s voice?  

The message inside?

Certainly a cover and its trimmings can provide a glimpse into what a book may or may not be about, but would I even pick up the book to flip through if I wasn’t first drawn to its cover?

Maybe.

Likely not.

In my musings, I have come to the conclusion that book covers are very much like the skin we live in as humans. The packaging, if you will.

The first things we notice about each other are all exterior features. Face, hair, clothes, body, teeth. Our packaging.

Our cover.

It is these surface characteristics that first serve to either attract us or repel us from each other.

If we like what we see, we make the effort to study the person closer, dig a little deeper, get to know them better. At the other end, if we don’t like what we see, we tend to move on with scarcely a backward glance.

Sad, but true.

It makes me wonder how many fascinating stories I’ve missed because I didn’t like a cover.

It makes me wonder how many conversations, or even friendships, I’ve missed because I didn’t like a cover.

I was reminded of a book I read several years ago by the now deceased memoirist, Lucy Grealy, detailing the impact of jaw cancer on her childhood and adolescence.

In Autobiography of a Face, Lucy wrote about how facial disfigurement impacted every single aspect of her life. Inside and out. I copied the following quote into my book journal...

“But for me, dressing as if I didn’t care was an attempt not to care, to show the world I wasn’t concerned with what it thought of my face. In my carefully orchestrated shabbiness, I was hoping to beat the world to the finish line by showing that I already knew I was ugly. Still, all the while, I was secretly hoping that in the process some potential lover might accidentally notice I was wearing my private but beautiful heart on my stained and fraying sleeve.”

What Lucy said impacts me today just as it did years ago. I hurt for her and feel her pain.

I can never know what is going on in someone else’s life if I don’t chose to look beneath the surface and get beyond their cover.

One final thought that brings a smile to my face and a surge of thankfulness to my heart. In the Biblical account of the prophet Samuel anointing David, king of Israel, it says,

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

It comes down to this...If God, the maker of all, looks beyond the cover – shouldn’t we?

Reading on...

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea.

By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

2006 Penguin Books

In case you haven’t read this book... 

In 1993, Greg Mortenson made an unsuccessful bid to climb the world’s second tallest mountain, K2, in the Karakoram Range of Pakistan. On the descent, he got lost. After days of walking, Mr. Mortenson was rescued and brought back to a village where the people cared for him and gave him many cups of tea.  Out a debt of gratitude, Mr. Mortenson formed the Central Asia Institute http://www.ikat.org/ to fund the building of schools and hospitals in Pakistan.

I am aware of the recent controversy surrounding Three Cups of Tea. Check out: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/business/media/18mortenson.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto.

However, in my mind, whether or not Greg Mortenson dipped his toe into the world of fiction, the message of the book does not change. It remains...

Reach out. Step out. Help.

A great message to be sure, but how realistic is it for the person who doesn’t climb mountains in exotic locales? Who, instead, leads a fairly regular and everyday sort of life?

Like Me?

Which makes me ask, “how about me”?

How can I help?

How can I reach beyond myself and into the lives of others?

Certainly, starting a humanitarian organization is beyond my current life stage. So what fits?

“Love your neighbour as yourself.” Treat other people as I wish to be treated. 

Basic? Yes.

Easy? No.

So, how exactly does this translate? A few ideas:

Be polite to the cashier at the grocery store, because I want to be treated politely.

Be respectful to the elderly driver out for a Sunday drive on Friday, because I want to be treated with respect.

Be kind to the very tardy pizza delivery guy, because I want to be treated kindly.

Offer my help to the mother balancing babies and grocery bags, because there are times when I need help.

Be gracious towards the nanny when she washes red shirts with the whites, because there are many occasions when I need grace myself.

Be hospitable to the new family at church, because I enjoy receiving hospitality.

Send a relative or friend a note of encouragement, because I like to be encouraged.

It comes down to this: Look beyond my own world and notice the others around me.

I am so quick to get wrapped up in the business of my life that I forget the people around me. However, I have noticed that if I take the time to give to someone else, in the end, it is me who is blessed.

And, on a note of practicality, it’s not necessarily the big things that make a difference, it’s the little and seemingly insignificant things that go the farthest.

Reading on...