The turn from this end [despair] to a new beginning came from three things. A blooming cherry tree, the unexpected kindness of Scottish workers and their families, and the Bible.
It is only when human beings see themselves simply as human beings, no longer as gods, that they are in a position to perceive the wholly other nature of God.
. . . if we have children. When they are just born we do everything for them. We are omnipotent, they are completely dependent on us, but then when they grow up you must take back your influence on them, to give them freedom.
There were two different expectations in this land of the future. On the one hand the the optimistic belief in an unending progress with millenarianistic overtones and on the other hand the doomsday expectation of the final battle of Armageddon. Both are perspectives are uniquely American and both are inter-related.
Despair can be like an iron band constricting the heart.
The church's final word is not 'church' but the glory of the Father and the Son in the Spirit of liberty
No where else in Christianity does the terrible or heroic name of Armageddon play such role as in America. Not even in the Revelation of John.
Imprisoned professors taught imprisoned students free theology.
There are various names for this 'Spirit of Life' because there are various life experiences.
Americans as no one else in the Old World are looking ahead and are future-minded without the limitations of traditions and can look ahead without the burdens of the past.
![The turn from this end [despair] to a new beginning came from three things. A blooming cherry tree, the unexpected kindness of Scottish workers and their families, and the Bible.](http://cdn.quoteddaily.com/images/jurgen-moltmann/the-turn-from-this-end-despair-to-a-new-beginning-came-from-three-things-a-blooming-cherry-tree-the-unexpected.jpg)
