“I
remember my last Confirmation class before I left Romania. I took a group of ten to fifteen boys and
girls on a Sunday morning, not to a church, but to the zoo. Before the cage of lions I told them, “Your
forefathers in faith were thrown before such wild beasts for their faith. Know that you also will have to suffer. You will not be thrown before lions, but you
will have to do with men who would be much worse than lions. Decide here and now if you wish to pledge
allegiance to Christ.” They had tears in
their eyes when they said yes.
We
have to make the preparation now, before we are imprisoned. In prison you lose everything. You are undressed and given a prisoner’s
suit. No more nice furniture, nice
carpets, or nice curtains. You do not
have your wife any more and you do not have your children. You do not have your library and you never
see a flower. Nothing of what makes life
pleasant remains. Nobody resists who has
not renounced the pleasures of life beforehand.”
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