The Faithful Four continues today as Dietrich Bonhoeffer takes on Emma of Hawaii for the right to face Mary Magdalene (who dominated Margaret of Scotland yesterday) for the 2012 Golden Halo. This match-up features one of the favorites to make it to the Faithful Four (Bonhoeffer) along with the true Cinderella of Lent Madness (Emma).
If anyone who completed a bracket before the start of Lent Madness had Emma of Hawaii making it this far, we commend you for your prophetic voice. Though we secretly believe you're lying. Seriously, did anyone out there pick Emma to make it to the Faithful Four?
To get to this point, Dietrich Bonhoeffer defeated James the Apostle, Brigid of Kildare, and Jerome while Emma of Hawaii got past Catherine of Siena, Paul of Tarsus, and Thomas Cranmer. And now, in the final battle before the Championship Round, we turn it over to celebrity bloggers Neil Alan Willard (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) and Heidi Shott (Emma of Hawaii).
Just as a reminder, the polls for the Golden Halo will open at 8:00 am on Spy Wednesday and close at 8:00 am on Maundy Thursday. Here's the updated bracket.
Easter Monday will mark the sixty-seventh anniversary of the execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Nazi Germany and of his last words: “This is the end – for me the beginning of life.” Those words, it seems to me, testify to the Easter faith that will be proclaimed this weekend throughout the world. In proximity to human suffering on a scale that is unimaginable to most of us, Bonhoeffer was able to declare that the ultimate word, a word of life, belongs to God.
The St. Stephen’s Martyrs – a group of men at my church – gather weekly for an hour or so of theology and a pint or so of beer. About a year ago we talked about the Holocaust. While having that discussion, there were related artifacts, Nazi and otherwise, in the middle of the table. It’s one thing to see th
ose objects in old black and white news reels and quite another to see them in living color as we wrestled with suffering, revenge, justice, doubt, and – yes – faith, too. I can’t imagine how much harder it must have been for Bonhoeffer and others as they together wrestled not with relics but with realities. These were imperfect people, including Bonhoeffer, making imperfect decisions that they would have to live with for the rest of their lives.
Would we have returned home to Germany rather than stay in the United States? Would we have supported an underground seminary for the Confessing Church? Would we have chosen to jam the wheel of injustice by helping the conspiracy to assassinate the Nazi Führer Adolf Hitler?
Bonhoeffer made a decision, as a result of his faith in Christ, to stand with his own people and with the innocent in the midst of their experience of Good Friday. That, I think, was his most important and courageous decision.
Here’s a final endorsement from a higher authority in the Anglican Communion. Soon after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, announced that he would be resigning his position at the end of this year, he was interviewed about his various roles and secularism and faith by a parish priest in the Church of England. Archbishop Williams was asked, as the final question, with whom he would like to have dinner if he could sit down with anyone who has lived over the last hundred years. He answered, “Dietrich Bonhoeffer.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury has cast his vote. Now it’s your turn.
After such hefty and regular doses of saintliness these past 40 days, the notion of what constitutes a saint is somewhat clearer in my mind. Several characteristics stand out: faithfulness to God despite hardship, fierce loyalty to one’s people, extravagant charity outside the bounds of cultural and social expectations. Queen Emma of Hawaii displayed all of these in boundless measure. Ultimately saintliness - our own included - is determined by the choices we human beings make over the course of our lives. Emma’s remarkable witness and legacy is defined by her choices.
Despite the tragedy of losing her beloved young son and her cherished husband as a woman still in her twenties, she chose to overcome her grief and become a staunch advocate for the Anglican mission in Hawaii and for her people. Despite her high station in life, she chose to work tirelessly to improve the health, the education, and the spiritual well-being of native Hawaiians of all ranks as well as haolies and foreigners.
Upon her death in 1885, Emma, whose baptism had been the first recorded in the parish register of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, was eulogized in Hawaiian by a congregational minister, the Rev. H.H. Parker. He posed the question to the grieving, “How did the late queen hold so supreme a place in the hearts of her people?”
He answered: “She loved the people. Love begets love. The common people believed that Queen Emma really did care for
them.”
I am deeply inspired by the choices that Queen Emma made. She could have hunkered down in a cocoon of grief and privilege given her losses, her wealth, and her royal status. She could have abandoned the work of building the cathedral and the schools, but instead she sailed across two oceans to drum up funding for the cause. Indeed Bishop Wilberforce of Oxford, her guide in England, said, “...her energetic efforts and activities taxed his physical endurance.” By the time she left England - where she drew standing-room only crowds at numerous cathedrals - she had raised 6,000 pounds (about $640,000 in today's currency) for the work in Hawaii.
An obituary read, in part:
“The Queen is dead. We will not think of her as dead. Her good deeds will live after her, in them she will live, in that noble Hospital, in her Christian example she will live and those who knew her, loved her, cherished her can say with resignation:
There is no death!
What seems so is transition;
This life is of mortal breath
Is but a suburb of the life Elysian,
Whose portal we call death.”
Many saints are honored and venerated, but few are so beloved - generation beyond generation - as Queen Emma of Hawaii.
“Love begets love” is right, and a standard for all the saints of God.
-- Heidi Shott
Vote once!
NOTE: At 12:14 a.m. EDT, the Supreme Executive Committee removed 70 votes from Emma of Hawaii. We noticed that there were 20 votes in close succession from a residence in Hawaii and 50 from a residence in Arizona. While we commend your enthusiasm, we do not commend repeat voting. We're watching this one carefully, so don't vote more than once, please.
[poll id="33"]
108 comments on “Dietrich Bonhoeffer vs. Emma of Hawaii”
Scroll up and read Laurie Awater's haiku. And vote Bonhoeffer.
Bonhoeffer is sexy!
Just logged on at 10:22 PM ET...looks like Hawaii woke up...or somethin'
It is 11:21 pm eastern time & I just got home from Baylor wiping out Notre Dame in the women's final four. I'm surprised to see that Emma has not done her come from behind thing yet. I did have a few extra minutes before meeting friends and went into a smaller Christian book store-- the only two saints represented in the biography section were Bonhoeffer and Paul, which I thought was interesting. I was disappointed there was no saints section, but then again I've yet to be in one of these stores that has a Book of Common Prayer.
Bear in mind that 10 or so hours ago Bonhoeffer was ahead about 67-33 or something
My vote today is for Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Much has been made of his part in the war, but my thoughts go the positive things he brought to my faith and ideas of Christ in this world. The idea that "...the idea of God embodied in Jesus, available to anyone at any time." "This body of Jesus Christ is not bound by space, but is present in all places at the same time..." His written thoughts brought new life to bible passages and in my times of need. He is still helping our world today!
What time does the voting end?
When does voting end.
Voting ends at about 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, Wednesday morning.
As LM progresses to its conclusion, I think we've all felt more involved with the each of the remaining saints. We've read, prayed, struggled to find "the best" saint. Though we know each one of them was the best saint for his or her time & place, it is a terrible burden to choose just one and exclude the other.
It's been an interesting Lenten study. Thank you Fr. Tim & Fr. Scott & Celebrity Bloggers for all your organization and writing and some serious humor!
I vote for Bonhoeffer today.
This has been an incredibe learning experience, and I thoroughly enjoy all the info & banter by Lent Madness writers. Being from Hawai'i, I know how important Queen Emma is to Hawai'i, and her legacy continues in everything that she established-- to save lives (the Hawaiian population was on the verge of extinction with a population that went from 350K to 70K from diseases brought by foreigners - that is why she raised money for a hospital, now Queen's Medical Center - I was born there!), educate (schools) and of course, bringing the Anglican Church to Hawai'i. She literally went on foot from door to door (yes, Queen that she was she still hit the pavement) to raise funds and awareness for these things...all with grace and passion despite tragedy. We have a volunteer bookstore at our church, and we carry books on Bonhoeffer AND Queen Emma for they are both courageous and remarkable people. No matter who captures the most votes, we all win... and a lot more people know about our beloved Queen. Thank you Lent Madness! Amen!
Indeed, SN. This has been a wonderful learning experience! I'm truly impressed that Emma's supporters pushed her over the top against my pick. After all I've learned about her, Emma will certainly have my vote in the final round against Mary Magdalene.
It is very sad to learn of the manipulation of the voting process by proponents of Queen Emma. It places the result in doubt and is a dishonor to Queen Emma, and in Holy Week no less. A lesson to all of us about our need for a Saviour. Nevertheless, Lent Madness is a wonderful gift.
There was actually equal opportunity voter fraud in this round (by just a few folks). We deleted the multiple votes and are confident that the results are clean. Sad but ultimately not affecting the outcome.
You guys have had to do just enough referee-ing that your black-and-white might have been vertical rather than horizontal...
So sad. But then I guess I take these things too seriously. Just can't see how Emma can top Deitrich in any category except in a popularity contest. I have tried to vote for those who I thought was more spiritually deserving of a halo. But I hope the rest of you are enjoying the game!
I hear what you're saying, but Emma's work saved lives too. That's important. The witness of her life and the love and loyalty she inspired in her people is quite something. It does depend on what criteria you use to decide your vote.
I agree that DB's life witness and theological legacy is amazing (I voted for him wholeheartedly throughout). But theological prowess mustn't ever be the sole criterion for a halo, IMHO. I've known theologians -- astonishingly gifted preachers -- who couldn't love their way out of a paper bag. What would Jesus have to say about that?
I love that there's a wide freedom to choose here.
I am certain that Jesus has said "Well done, good and faithful servant" to all these people. What do they care what the rest of us think? ; )
What beautiful and moving tributes to both Bonhoeffer and Emma. Thank you both! Rereading them will ease my sadness over the end of Lent Madness.
[...] can read a short biography of Bonhoeffer, a few quotes from him, and a reflection about him on the Lent Madness website. I’m linking to their website so that you can read the [...]
Supreme executive committee? Haha sounds like some wardens on steroids!