With a little critical distance, all beliefs may seem a little weird, especially if they're not now your own. Take the Moravians, for instance. When I worked in Duke's Perkins Library in Durham, USA, a zealous Catholic library assistant referred to Moravians not as Protestants, but as "heretics." My, I thought, are we still living in the Middle Ages? Apparently, in some ways, she was. She also believed that with every birthday, one's guardian angel grew a foot taller. She, no doubt, would have looked askance at another worker at the Fuqua School of Business Library named Florene, a fascinating person who kept her long hair in a massive bun -- she was part of a little known Christian sect originating in the Netherlands, another "heresy."
After a heavily persecuted beginning more than 550 years ago that drove them underground, the Moravians / Unitas Fratrum / Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine / Jednota bratrská now openly number nearly a million people. It is a peaceful Christian sect, epitomized by the motto: "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things, charity." In the North American colonies, the Moravians were organized into a Northern Province (centered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) and a Southern Province (centered in what is now called Winston-Salem, North Carolina). Those in the know will probably think of food (eg., Moravian cookies), architecture and music, plus the Moravian Star pictured alone and in a cluster above. How about you?
Today's Rune: Defense.
3 comments:
Interesting, I used to cover religion as a reporter but did not have Moravians in our coverage area.
Being raised blissfully ignorant among wealthy, New York Jewry, I've never heard of them (except, perhaps, as "goyim.") I love those lit stars, though--very cool!
"In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things, charity."
- someone thought long and hard before crafting that one. Wow.
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