That was the specific word that came to my mind. Matthew, I really think that’s it! Choice. God loves people for being unique the way he created them, and along with that goes our choosing to be the kind of people we want to be. Of course, that means he has to allow us to choose wrong things if we really must, or else we wouldn’t really be free to choose. (And do you know what I am thinking now? I think God is sitting there really hoping that we will choose him.)

So maybe God allowed you and me to choose to go riding, and for you to ride the Belgian, and with it the danger of it, and the hurt that comes from it, like other hurts that happen just from living in the world.

Oh, I don’t know! This is so much to think about. (My head hurts, and I think it’s overcrowded with new thoughts!) I’m afraid I must finish this letter and go to bed. Please write again soon and tell me what you think about these ideas!

Sabina

P. S. I still wish God had kept you from falling off the horse!

31 A Fateful Call

31

A Fateful Call

It was but two weeks later when the phone rang at the Dortmann estate. Heidi knocked on the door to the baron’s study.

“Yes, Heidi?” he said, opening the door.

“You are wanted on the telephone, sir,” she said.

The baron followed her to the stairs and they descended together. “Do you know who it is?” he asked.

“It’s Pastor Bonhoeffer. His voice is urgent, sir.”

“Thank you, Heidi,” said the baron, entering the Gute Stube, or family sitting room, where the telephone was located.

He picked up the receiver.

“Ja… tag, Dietrich,” he said then listened a moment.

“Ja, ja, ich verstehe… hmm… ja… nicht gut… daβ ist unge-heuer…” he said, continuing alternately to listen, punctuating the other’s words with brief exclamations and comments of his own.

At last there was a lengthy silence. The baron’s face was clouded with serious thought.

“You must bring them here, Dietrich,” he said at length.

Another pause. He listened.

“What does community among believers then mean?… No, it is the best way….”

A pause followed while he listened.

“I am not worried about the danger,” he said. “We will pray for protection. I know the angels are busy these days, but we are told there are hosts of them.”

He fell to listening once more.

The silence in the room was broken by the sound of the door opening. Herr von Dortmann glanced up to see his wife enter. He motioned her toward him. Marion knew instantly from his expression that the call carried an evil omen.