The light at the heart of love

I wonder if, at the core of genuine goodness, there is love.

I'm not sure. I think of Mother Teresa, who seems to have gone through so much of her life in darkness, but did so much for the God who didn't seem to be present.

And what of those chilly people who "love" humanity -- but don't like individuals?

But when you read about Miep Gies, the woman who helped shelter Anne Frank and her family until the Germans came and took them to the death camps, you have to believe that, in large part, goodness comes from love.

Gies and her husband didn't seem to even consider the possibility of leaving the Frank family (Mr. Frank was her boss) to their fate. They risked their lives to keep the Franks in the upstairs floors above the business where Mr. Frank had worked. As the story linked above details, Gies and her husband even spent a night in the attic to feel what it was like to live in terror.

It is easy to decry morality -- to make fun of a belief in absolutes, like evil and goodness. But what do you make of a Miep Gies?

The bravery of the four people who kept the Franks safe for as long as they could lit up a world of shadows. It is a light that has outlived that darkness.

Miep Gies died today, aged 100.

At the end of his article, NYT writer Richard Goldstein quotes from her memoir:

"But always, every day of my life, I've wished that things had been different...not a day goes by but I do not grieve for them."

Thank you, Miep, for bearing witness to the enduring goodness of which the human soul is capable.

I have a feeling that God was watching for you, as you were watching for the Franks, as we are called to watch for those who need our protection.

Lest we forget -- I don't think you will let us.