Re: Lectures and Journeys

Bruderhof News wrote:

> From the fall of 1910 until the spring of 1913 Eberhard’s life
> essentially consisted of two major yet very different elements:
> increasing responsibility for his growing family on the one hand, and
> constant spiritual responsibility for a number of people throughout
> Germany on the other. Often he traveled for a week or more at a time -
> one trip fast on the heels of another - giving lecture series in
> cities like Hamburg, Leipzig, Dessau, Magdeburg, Erfurt and, time and
> time again, in Halle itself. Everywhere he went he was received with
> enormous interest, and his lectures were well attended, often by many
> hundreds of people at a time. In November of 1910 he spoke to an
> audience of more than a thousand at Halle’s Wintergarten.
> 
> Of course, in Eberhard’s day public lectures and gatherings were 
> considerably more important than they are in today’s era of electronic
> mass media and glossy magazines. Without such public meetings, a
> person might remain totally ignorant of the trends in society at
> large. 
> 

The themes that Eberhard employed to draw the public to his lectures 
included "Jesus and the Riddle of the Future," "Poverty and the
Enslavement 
of the Masses," "The Greatest Deed in History," "Jesus as He Really Was," 
and "Doubting God." The man who spreads a stirring message must be firm
and 
assured in his own heart. In this respect Emmy’s influence on Eberhard 
cannot be overestimated. From the very first months of their engagement,
he 
had found strength in her "discerning quietness." Emmy had sharpened his 
appreciation of art and had "rescued him from the danger of despising 
people in general." During the first months of their marriage they had 
developed a characteristic habit: after strenuous endeavors they would sit

down together, relax for a while, and talk lovingly with each other. 
Difficult matters and problems were excluded from such moments. These were

opportunities to catch their breath during the diverse rigors of their 
workdays - days which would soon be further enriched by a baby’s cries and

laughter.