Chaplains and Resisters

a beckoning to both from the Well of Resistance

The face of a woman has been floating through my mind for days, weeks, actually.

I keep asking her how she might want to be written about, though she can only respond in my thoughts and intuition.

She is extremely well known to most Christian circles, from liberal to the most conservative.

I am quite sure many Christian Nationalists hold her up as a light and have books about her on their bookshelves. If I went into a church that promotes Christian Nationalism and mentioned her name, I would undoubtedly see many nodding heads and smiles.

Until being challenged by this: yes, she was a devout Christian. And – she was also a courageous resister during WWII. Her paradigm for living was quite the opposite of Christian Nationalism. If those in that movement truly admire her, they have to admire the whole of who she was and what her life still represents today.

Her name is Corrie ten Boom.

Titles of books about her are “Tramp for the Lord,” “The Hiding Place,” “A Prisoner and Yet…,” and the newest 2023 book, “The Watchmaker’s Daughter” by Larry Loftis.

Not too long ago I skimmed three of the four books to make sure I honor the courageous, compassionate woman she was and to be reminded so I do not forget her during these times in our country and in the world. I read all except for the newest one over the years.

Let me share a few details about Corrie found in all the books.

From “Tramp for the Lord”:

“This remarkable woman spent the first fifty years of her life living peacefully with her father and sister in their watch shop in Haarlem, Holland. When WWII broke out, this devoutly Christian family instinctively began providing ‘hiding places’ for persecuted Jews.”

Corrie, her father, and her sister risked their lives to help Jews and underground workers escape the Nazis. They joined the Dutch Resistance and built a secret room in their house to hide Jews and refugees.

“The Gestapo applied unrelenting pressure in Haarlem, continually raiding homes to snatch Jews and Resistance members.”

In time, Corrie, her father and sister were eventually apprehended and taken to concentration camps.

In the camps, Corrie, her father and her sister endured suffering and torture. Corrie was the only one who survived.

Even in the horrors of this time, Corrie was sustained and strengthened by her faith. That strength allowed her to be what I think of as a chaplain to other prisoners, providing comfort and hope.

Following the war, “she provided free housing to hundreds of survivors who had been wounded by the war, physically and emotionally.”

Three words to describe Corrie ten Boom are grace, courage, and faith.

Corrie was a devout Christian, and she was also a brave resister.

When you truly meet Corrie for who she was, she invited in the stranger, the sufferer, and the wounded – the stranger, the sufferer, the wounded – whoever they were and from whatever faith background or no faith background.

Hers was not an “only Christians welcome here” life. It was “all are welcome here” and was a courageous stand against the horrors of the Nazi regime, protecting and providing shelter for all she could.

Corrie and her family could have saved themselves by doing nothing for those who were being rounded up and disposed of.

Over six million Jews were murdered.

There is nothing that points to Corrie trying to proselytize and convert Jews with whom she shared her home, time in the concentration camps and after. She honored the diversity of their faith and likely recognized so much of what they shared in common.

As I think of Corrie, I think she represents the deepest meaning of the role of chaplain.

Circumstances might be vastly different than hers, but her returning to me in my thoughts is a beautiful reminder to be like Corrie in however small or big ways, for I have no doubt this was who she was in both.

Chaplain – often a clergy member, in terms of certification as we know them today, providing spiritual guidance and support in hospitals, prisons, military etc.

I believe we can all be chaplains to one another, regardless of whether we are of the same faith or not.

I believe, too, that we are called to be resisters now and in the months ahead. To do all we can to resist loss of democracy and the authoritarianism that is showing itself daily, eroding and attempting to erode freedoms one by one.

There has never been a perfect government and there is no perfect political party. I’d love nothing more than for us to get rid of the labels that polarize rather than bring together, but that is for another time.

Right now, in this time, in these days, I want to keep Corrie ten Boom by my side to be reminded that as millions suffer - of all faiths, backgrounds, roles, genders, professions, and more – that I can be both a chaplain and a resister. There is no conflict.

I want to be part of a country that is rich in its diversity and where we work toward dialogue and living in community in service to and for one another.

I will not in any way align with those who do not extend invitation, compassion, empathy or dialogue, but instead, choose to demean and hurt others. My alignment is not with those who want this to be a “whites only,” conservative Christian only country ruled by patriarchy.

I do not align with those who want to deny healthcare for all and financial sustenance for all.

My faith does not align in any way with Christian Nationalism or Project 2025.

I believe that the model Jesus lived and left for us to follow does not align in any way with these things either. In fact, quite the opposite. His life is the model I hope to follow, just as Corrie ten Boom and her father and sister did.

As I was in the middle of writing this piece, I read that the Reverend Dr. William Barber was arrested yesterday, April 28, 2025, for praying in the Capitol rotunda with a group of other clergy.

“He’s one of the last honest moral leaders America has left — a civil rights titan who moves mountains despite a spinal disease that turns standing into agony.

He stood quietly with a few fellow clergy and workers under the Capitol Rotunda and dared to pray for the poor, the sick, the broken — against a Republican-led budget that guts Medicaid and slashes lifelines like it was pruning dead branches instead of cutting real people loose.” (from the Substack - Closer to the Edge)

My friends, it is a conscious choice, no matter how much we want to turn away, to be wide awake to what is taking place, to be vigilant to notice those who are being arrested, deported, silenced, and threatened and those who are given free license to promote evil and cruelty, sometimes in the name of Christianity.

There will be those who see, hear and speak out against what we are witnessing in whatever ways they/we are called to. There is not a participation template; however, there is the definitely call to voice and participation.

There will also be those who do not want to see or hear or for whatever unfathomable reason continue to choose to support evil over good and hate over love.

Every individual, no matter what faith, is being called to choose how to stand up in the face of that which we are witnessing daily.

While what you are called to do may not be sheltering people in a secret room in your home, there are hundreds of ways to show up. I ask you to join me in being both a chaplain and a resistor during this time of unthinkable acts of the current administration.

For those of the Christian faith, perhaps it is time to bring back the question that was popularized decades ago, WWJD? What would Jesus, the real Jesus, not the fabricated Jesus, not the whitewashed Jesus, do?

And if in a different faith, you have those to similarly follow, please do share. There have been many over time who have stood for human rights and dignity.

If Jesus had been in the Capitol with the Reverend Dr. William Barber, I am quite sure he, too, would have been arrested. As would those of other faiths who have exemplified the same.

I believe, as many also say, not as a platitude, that a new time is coming. Perhaps what we are experiencing and learning in this moment will surprise us with exploring, designing and implementing better ways than we can imagine of how to be in this world and for one another, for humanity and for the natural world.

Peace to you - even when it seems elusive and we deeply long for places and people with whom to connect and find it. May we freely send it to one another over and over again.