I read The Hiding Place for the first time as a teenager. I have never forgotten it. What left an impression on me, more than the atrocities of WWII which I largely discovered for the first time in reading this book, was the goodness and compassion of Corrie ten Boom and her family. There are so many examples of reaching out to others in this story, which offered many people hope in a time of extreme trial. The ten Boom family kept their home open to anyone seeking refuge, mostly Jews but also others resisting the Nazis. They were steadfast Christians who believed the Jews to be the covenant people of God, and they thought it an honor to open their home to them. They harbored no superiority, stereotypes, or racism toward anyone. Religious differences didn't matter. When one of the first Jewish women came to the door asking for refuge, Corrie's father Casper responded, "In this household, God's people are always welcome." Corrie discovered the beginning of what she was willing to do when she went to her minister for food rationing cards, intending only to ask for as many as were needed for her own family. She surprised herself by asking for 100.
The faith of the ten Boom family ran deep. They ten Booms were eventually arrested. Her father and others died shortly after. Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent from one concentration camp to another, arriving finally at Ravensbruck. Before her sister Betsie died there, she said to Corrie, "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still."
Corrie had love not only for the Jews who were the target of hatred and suffering, but also for perpetrators of the war's horrific atrocities, specifically for someone who had hurt her personally. A while after Corrie was released, a social gathering brought her in the presence of one of the guards who had been especially cruel to her. He did not recognize her, but she recognized him. She immediately felt anger swell up inside her. She said a prayer to herself, in so many words, "God, I cannot shake this man's hand. I cannot forgive him. Please give me your forgiveness." She reached out to shake his hand, and as she made physical contact with him, she felt the love of God flow through her arm and into his. She was able to forgive him at that moment because of the love God allowed her to feel for him.
I love the story of the ten Boom family because it sheds light on how much capacity we have to reach out to others, and to use our energy to do good. The things we tend to fret over every day lose their importance in the face of extreme trials like the Holocaust. Weren't we all more aware of each other after 9/11? Didn't we redefine what was important after that tragic day? When I think of Corrie ten Boom, I think, "How many ration cards would I have asked for?" I think sometimes we don't know how good we are or what we are made of exactly until we're brought to the moment. Then when that moment comes, it is truly a defining moment as we realize just how much we care about the people around us, even complete strangers, and that love moves us to do great things we didn't know we could do.
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