Peace Amidst Violence
We make a lot of choices, some important, some not so serious. Still other choices will shape our stories in profound, irrevocable ways. There is a famous story of an early Anabaptist reformer named Dirk Willems. During the time of the Reformation, many Anabaptists were persecuted for their theological convictions that differed from the state churches around them. Dirk, arrested and imprisoned in the Netherlands, managed to escape. While fleeing across the ice with his captors in pursuit, Dirk realized that one of his captors had fallen through the ice into the frigid water.1 What choice would he make? [...]









