God does not work by only one method, paint in only one color, play in only in one key, nor does He make only one star shine onto the earth. God’s mystery is the rich spectrum of color that is gathered together in the purity of the sun’s white light. The symphonic harmony of all the stars is built up on precisely their manifold variety. But all this is gathered together and will be gathered together at the end of time in the unity of the kingdom of God.
- Eberhard Arnold
- Eberhard Arnold, January 1920 From an EssayJustice and love demand that everyone take part in simple practical work with a spade, hatchet, or rake. Everyone should be ready to devote a few hours every day to this practical work; those who have done purely mental work till now will feel its humanizing effect especially. In this way it will be possible for each person’s unique gifts to be kindled. The light that flickers within each heart will then exhibit its once-hidden glow in scholarly research or in music, in expressive words, or in the craftsman’s art in wood, stone, or paint…such work will reveal the joy in life that is in each person. Only death knows idleness and tedium. Where there is life, the mind’s creative will remains alert and comes to expression in the service of the whole.
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In trembling reverence, man stands in wonder before the life-filled tree, by the living bubbling spring, under the life-giving radiant stars of day and night, in the midst of the fruitfulness of earth and its life. How great and mighty must God be, who brings forth and sustains all things! Into a powerfully shaken and moved heart comes the demand: the great Creator God must become undisputed ruler over all this powerful life.
- Eberhard Arnold
Each one of us, of course, must preserve his inner freedom, so that each one follows the holy Shall and the holy Must that lives within him, without making himself in any way dependent.
- Eberhard Arnold