From Etty, to God

“. . . there is a remarkable woman who can give us vision and stability, who can help us to do good despite all the terror due to the Covid-19 virus. She speaks from another time of dread, the Holocaust.”

From her journal: “You cannot help us, but we must help You and defend Your dwelling place inside us to the last.”

You cannot help us, but we must help You and defend Your dwelling place inside us to the last. There are, it is true, some who, even at this late stage, are putting their vacuum cleaners and silver forks and spoons in safekeeping instead of guarding You, dear God. And there are those who want to put their bodies in safekeeping but who are nothing more now than a shelter for a thousand fears and bitter feelings. And they say, “I shan’t let them get me into their clutches.” But they forget that no one is in their clutches who is in Your arms. I am beginning to feel a little more peaceful, God, thanks to this conversation with You. I shall have many more conversations with You. You are sure to go through lean times with me now and then, when my faith weakens a little, but believe me, I shall always labor for You and remain faithful to You, and I shall never drive You from my presence. (12 July 1942)†

* Excerpted from an article by Rev. Dr. Michael Plekon .

As for his quotes from Etty’s diary, her relationship to God expresses a remarkable similarity to that of Simone Weil in her Notebooks. Both young women writing at the same time under similar conditions, with the same attitude of shouldering the suffering of others. Both realists, both Jews under the threat of a horror worse than death.

† From Etty: A Diary 1941–1943. Introduction by Jan Geurt Gaarlandt, translation by Arnold J. Pomerans. London: Johathan Cape, 1983.