“These are scary times, my God”

On Resilience and *The Birth of God* by Etty Hillesum. For the third time, Nijkleaster is hosting this mystical lecture. This time, we’ve invited someone from our own community: Sytze Ypma.

Saturday, August 29, 2:30–4:00 p.m. at the church in Jorwert. A cup of tea or coffee will be waiting for you starting at 2:00 p.m. Cost: €12.50 per person (all tickets are now sold out)

His lecture focuses on the transformation in Etty Hillesum’s life. On the advice of Julius Spier, she begins to meditate, pray, and listen to her inner world. Moreover, she records this in her diaries. In them, we read how, during that journey, Etty witnesses the birth of God within her deepest self. Through prayer, she develops a mystical relationship with something within her that she calls God.  In a short time, a wondrous kind of loving relationship grows that transcends human intimacy and brings her happiness in times of war and the threat of deportation. Her resilience and imagination can inspire and “arm” us in the frightening times in which we live.

Sytze Ypma is a pastor in Franeker, a religious psychologist, and occasionally a guest preacher at Nijkleaster. Etty Hillesum’s diaries have been a constant companion of his for a long time.

All tickets have now been sold out