El refugio secreto (1971)

After I finished this book I told myself a lie: "It's over." The truth is, it isn't. This story is still playing out- in the hurt minds, bodies, and scarred lands of the world. My family is one that wasn't directly touched by either of the great wars (and I use great in the sense of large and monstrous). Due to timing ... my grandparents were too young and my great-grandparents too old. Oh- they enlisted in the draft, but they were never sent overseas. But, as I look over the world and the people who inhabit it, I see that the effects of this war are still being felt. However, like Corrie and Betsie, we can be thankful for the fleas. We can draw on The Lord for our strength.

Most of us will pass through times that test us. While, God willing, I will never be sent to a concentration camp, I will have my own road to walk, my own tears to cry, and my own tests of will, fortitude, and faith. So it will be with all of us. Like Corrie Ten Boom, learn from the Betsies that surround us. We all know one or two. Become strong so that when our time comes, we can triumphantly rise above the circumstances and stand for good.

One last thought, I'll bet, if you had asked the Ten Booms (before 1939)if they could survive that time in prison they would have faltered, just a bit. But, through faith and sheer will-power, they made it. And so can we. But don't look ahead to your trials. It is better to look up. ( )

Based on the events of World War Two in Holland. Corrie Ten boom was a Dutch woman who sheltered Jews in her home during the Nazi occupation of Holland. It is an OK story. I have nothing against a Dutch family helping to save the Jews, but the amount of preaching about how God was so good to the Ten Boom Family, did not gel with me at all. ( )

It’s very pretty writing; it’s like a fairy tale or something. You meet Death, of course, but it’s very pretty, like “The Little Match Girl” of Hans Christian Andersen. I guess that Corrie is the Little Watch Girl. (And Corrie & Karel is just like The Little Mermaid’s Lost Love.)

…. It’s always surprising how romantic Christian women can be, and many are, especially if you consider romantic in the broader sense of not worldly or practical, a dreamer, like somebody who turns into a spinster so she can stay servant-y instead of marrying the minister and turning into a formidable dragon; now I’m not really talking about Corrie directly I guess, but it’s in line with her character type, you know.

…. “Twelve Years A Slave” is quite romantic too; I prefer the plain honest misery to the romantic kind, Lorde’s beauty queen in tears, but whatever works right.

…. At the same time, as romantic as Corrie is, she’s a very masculine person, a business person, the first woman licensed watchmaker in Holland, who knew more about money than food, and less than her sister about remembering names and the purely social aspects of conversation. It’s an added layer that makes the whole thing more beautiful.

…. Otto and the old man whose name I can’t spell also have a story; some social workers think of older adults as the forgotten minority.

…. I really do think that there’s an interplay of masculine and feminine with Corrie and Betsie, the two sisters.

…. Saint Betsie of Haarlem, they should call her. Corrie is like Watson and Betsie is Sherlock Holmes, spiritually speaking.

…. If we are to suffer, let it drive us deeper into prayer.

…. O to be a prisoner, and not a guard!

I should also say something about the suffering of the Jews, for whom there could be no release, but I wouldn’t know where to start….

O to be a prisoner, and not a guard—but Betsie would say something better, of course. You don’t hoard spiritual riches, or merely give thanks for them and then walk away. Jesus would love, and my impulse is not as good as that.

[b:The Hiding Place|17339177|The Hiding Place|Corrie ten Boom|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1370828692l/17339177._SY75_.jpg|878114] is an interesting book. In a nutshell, it's the most historical account of Corrie ten Boom--a older, unmarried devoutly Christian woman who lived in Holland before, during, and a bit after World War II. It tells the story of how she became the center of one group hiding and getting Jews out of the city and eventually paid the price for it.

It's (unfortunately) not a story we haven't heard before, but I don't think I've ever read one from the perspective of a devout Christian. It's interesting to see how her religion drives her decisions, giving her the strength and hope to overcome all manner of problems throughout her life.

In particular, it's an interesting (at times intentional, at times not) look into the idea that God puts us in terrible situations in order to make us better people, that 'God has a plan for us all'.

This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.

It's... hard to see how she believes that all through. Seeing being stripped before the prison guards as an echo of Jesus naked on the cross? Thanking God for fleas because it means they wouldn't be caught praying by the guards? I see where they (and countless others are coming from). But as always, my thought really is: couldn't God do better?

Overall, it's an interesting read from a historical perspective and I expect would be an even stronger read if you were devoutly Christian. ( )

The characters' depth to their personalities impressed me.
Also, her sister's faith ( )