Mowing, errands, doctor appointments (not mine) have kept me busy. Reading a book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran theologian who was hung in Germany shortly before the end of the war has triggered a reticence in me. (Hope no one was drinking coffee and choked) Yes, he was raised in a very intelligent family  – his brother was involved in atom-splitting – and in an atmosphere of intellectual discussion. One of the family’s unspoken rules was if you didn’t have anything worthwhile to say, you should stay quiet.

So . . . . gee . . .  I could be in a bind here.

Bonhoeffer was  upset by people borrowing Luther’s Hier stehe, ich kann nicht anders (Here I stand; I can do no other.) statement for their own agendas.  Groups like the Nazis, for one. But it sounds so good: Here I stand; I can do no other. It sounds so Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

I find myself wanting to say it every time I make a remark about house rules – such as no eating in the living room. So far I have held back . . . but I think it in my head, and, get this, I sometimes say it when I’m alone in the car.

Oh, dear, I should have heeded the Bonhoeffer Rule here.