***Note: Hair On The Square in Murfreesboro is partnering with me on the World Race. On Wednesday, November 3, ALL of the days proceeds will go to support my trip! Please call Kim Copeland at (615) 542-3654 to schedule a hair appointment Wednesday. They are located on the square, and more specifically on 212 West Main Street. Thank you so much to everyone that has supported me in prayer or financially, and I still have a long way to go!
Also, from October 16th
to the 24th, I attended the World Race training camp. I was physically, emotionally, and
spiritually challenged. I saw miracles, swam
across lakes, competed in dance offs, and lost approximately 83 lbs. on the
World Race Diet. But, if you weren’t
there, sorry. That’s all you get for now.***
The Preface
A few of my new friends/new family
stopped in Murfreesboro for the night on their way home1. I had planned on showing them
The-Astoundenment2-That-Is-Nashville, but we were all too tired. So instead, we decided to watch the movie Once (Yeah, I know. If you’ve been following me from the
beginning, you’re probably already tired of my constant movie referencing. Hey, if you don’t want to read about Great
American Classics like Angels in the Outfield and Back to the Future, there’s
not much I can do for you).
So anyway, Once is
one of my favorite movies. Here’s the
trailer if you haven’t seen it, but trust me, it’s good. Just go rent it so I don’t have to waste 500
words explaining the plot to you.
Thanks.
After the movie was over, I started thinking about my
favoritecharacter, the unnamed Czech immigrant (listed in the credits as
‘Girl’). She’s sweet, warm, friendly and
caring. Her voice is pure and beautiful. She lives with her mom and raises a little
boy on her own. Because she’s selfless she’s
lonely, yet her genuine smile still brings joy.
She’s a symbol of the goodness of people. Other characters in films, like Atticus
Finch and Victor Laszlo, represent the same thing. And we can’t forget Garth Algar.
So I was thinking about ‘Girl’ and I began to think about
John 14:6 – “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Me.”
Soon the questions started coming. Of course they did. The same type of questions that doubters,
questioners,and unbelievers have always asked.
“How is that fair?
She’s so sweet. She’s such a good
person. Kind. Gentle. Why can’t that be enough? Why can’t being a good person be enough? Hell? Is that just? Really?”
The following is about how it’s fair. About how ‘just’ is so easily confused. For a while, it was about me and you. And always, it’s a reminder of our nature
without grace.
The Introduction
Adolf Eichmann was born to
a Lutheran family in Germany in 1906.
His mother died when he was young, and his father was an industrialist. Eichmann didn’t finish high school in order to
begin training as a mechanic, but at 17 started working in his father’s mining
company. He then worked as a sales
clerk, and in 1933 began working as a district agent for the Vacuum Oil Company. Eichmann moved back to Germany and married when he was 29-years-old, and had his first of four sons. A few jobs, a wife, some kids – For 30 years, Eichmann lived a pretty normal life.
On the suggestion of a family friend, Eichmann joined the
Austrian army and became a member of the SS.
At the same time, the Nazis quickly rose to power, and after a series of
rapid promotions, Eichmann, now 33, was selected to form the Central Office for
Jewish Emigration. This office was assigned
with forcibly deporting Jews out of Austria.
At 38, Eichmann was
instructed that all Jews living in German-controlled Europe were to be
eliminated. He was in attendance when
Germany’s leaders made genocide an official policy. Eichmann, now the Transportation Administrator
to the ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Question’, coordinated routes of all trains
carrying Jews to death camps in Poland.
He then moved on to Hungary.
There, he deported 430,000 Hungarians to gas chambers. In 1945, Heinrich Himmler instructed the
extermination of the Jews to cease.
Angry with Himmler’s new policy, Eichmann continued killing against
official orders. By the time Soviets
entered Hungary, and Eichmann had escaped to Austria, Italy, and eventually
Argentina.
In 1960, he was finally captured by the Israeli government, tried in court, and remains the only civil execution ever carried out in Israel. Today,
he is referred to by many as ‘The Architect of the Holocaust’.
Yehiel De-Nur was
36-years-old when he was deported to Auschwitz3, where it’s
estimated that 3 million people died. He
called Auschwitz home for two years, and after surviving the death-camp, De-Nur
moved to Israel and became a historical writer.
He wrote several books attempting to chronicle his time at Auschwitz, signing
his books ‘Ka-Tzetnik 135633‘ –
the name the Nazi guards had given him.
But in June of 1961, De-Nur gave
his real name, as he swore to tell nothing but the truth as a witness in the
trial of Adolf Eichmann.
The Story
(Coming tomorrow in Part 2)
1 For my Murfreesboro readers: If you had friends visiting Murfreesboro from out of town and they wanted to get a feel for the city, but there was only enough time to take them to one place, where would you go? If any thought crossed your mind besides the word Toot’s, you’re incorrect. Toot’s is the only acceptable answer. Needless to say, I took my friends (from Portland, St. Louis, Little Rock, and Los Angeles) there for dinner. I had them from ‘Free fried dill pickle chips.’
2 Astoundenment
[uh-stown-de-ment] -adj. 1. unthinkable
greatness, usually reserved for describing Nashville, Tenn. or certain aspects
of the surrounding areas.
Example: “I thought
the astoundenment of Toot’s was only surpassed by the astoundenment of
Nashville as a whole.”
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