(*August 11, 1930 - † August 13, 2011)
MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, OHIO, Saturday, August 24, 2011 at 4 p.m.
Marek Zikmund, pastor, Farní sbor Českobratrské církve evangelické Boskovice
Madam Zdeňka Mašínová,
Mr. Joseph Mašín,
Dear guests,
I would first like to thank the Mašín family for the invitation to today's farewell service; I enormously appreciate it and am all the more sorry that for family reasons I could not come. I am now with you in my thoughts and in my prayers.
For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seekpeace, and ensue it. For the eyes ofthe Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but theface ofthe Lord is against them that do evil. Andwho is he that will harmyou, ifye be followers ofthat which is good? But and ifye suffer for righteousness' saké, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 1 Peter 3:10-14
The world is neither good nor evil - it is what we make of it. Whether good or evil prevails, depends on each one of us. Yes, God created this world as good, but he has endowed human beings with the freedom of choice. With the ability to perfect or mutilate their gifts, their soul, their life. To champion God, stand up for truth and justice, or to turn their backs upon them. To do good, seek peace and actively pursue it, or leave everything up to the circumstances, and wait for an opportunity to present itself. The choice is ours. Yet the choice is urgent, we are summoned to make it directly by our heavenly Father. Man was created in Goďs image to manage, cultivate and develop the garden of this world and a network of interpersonal relations. We are not predestined to a given fate. On the contrary, it is our calling and our responsibility towards the Lord and towards the world order. Radek Mašin's announcement of death says: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." This wise and courageous bequest goes hand in hand with the biblical admonishnient: "For he that will love life, and see good days... Let him eschew evil, and do good."
On none of its pages does the Bible resign from finding good and detecting evil. Despite, or perhaps because of that, good and evil are often intertwined with each other and barely recognizable. How often in our country people háve acted with the motive of building good and peace, and their efforts only lead to an even greater subjugation of society and to the trampling of basic human rights and freedoms. Jesus taught to distinguish between wheat and weeds, between the sowing of good and of evil. One song expresses it succinctly: Say NO to the devil, say NO. This was true in biblical times, 50 years ago, and is just as valid today. Say NO to the devil, you had your eyes open for what is truly good and you stood up for it...
In what kind of a world and in what times we live depends on us. The admonishment at the beginning of the biblical selection describes this: "For he that will love life, and see good days... Let him eschew evil, and do good.'" Good days and peace will offer themselves to you, if only you turn away from the evil. You have to contribute some part of yourself, or potentially give up something. No worldly goods, nothing really of value, such as freedom, is free. We know that a country can be freed, but we are still far from true liberty, if we do nothing for it and sacrifice nothing for it. We have come to understand this after many decades, thanks to people such as Radek, while considerable parts of society still cannot accept it. We are inclined to believe that the totalitarian regime was undermined by the passivity of the silent majority. Accordingly, anyone who acted in accordance with the former regime and just thought differently, is worthy of recognition. It pleases many, especially when we hear it from the mouth of the highest political leaders. It only takes a little, and it will eventually fly. The important thing is to keep up your good opinion of yourself.
Concrete experience and biblical wisdom, however, say differently. The direct word of God is: Man, it is not enough just to go where the wind blows you; it is not enough to settle for what is good just for you, it is necessary to rejoice in the Good, to go after it, and give up your own security if another commits injustice. Radek Mašin was one of the direct ones. He was a straight guy who for the good of Czech society experienced the Communist secret police's Gestapo-like methods, the uranium mines, the loss of personál freedom, the contempt of those who after the fact také moral offense over the lost lives of Communist policemen or militia.
It is striking how in our country people who decided to flee the country prize ingenuity, while the fight against the regime inside the barbedwire-infested homeland builds on the blood shed on the pillory by those who were first to také the gun in hand. And so it is in these times that questions are heard, which are directed repeatedly by many towards those who fought in the Resistance: Why did you do it, when you didn't háve the opportunity to make fundamental changes? Why risk your own lives and of your nearest and dearest? Did you have to resort to weapons? Certainly, they didn't háve to. They didn't have to do any of it. Of course they knew that any retreat of Good leaves a void where Evil will settle. And then Evil acted - in the form of executions, and the imprisonment of innocents, the theft of assets, devastation of the environment and the soul. Those who opposed all that, although in those times without a chance, helped us give the communist frenzy its proper name. And that gave us the courage to resist evil, and be zealous for good. Resist with arms in hand, when our entire society was in danger.
The United States of America, the Mašín brothers' and Milan Paumer´s new homeland has this experience encoded in its genes. In the American colonies' Declaration of Independence it is written: "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive [...] it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government" Similarly, although much later, the Czech Act on Lawlessness of the Communist regime formulates it thus: "The regime based on communist ideology ... was criminal, illegitimate and reprehensible. Resistance against it was righteous, morally legitimate and worthy of respect." To this we can and must add that not so much resistance rather, more specifically, the people involved in the resistance are worthy of our highest respect and appreciation.
Thank you Joseph Mašín, thank you Vladimír Hradec, thank you Zbyněk Janata, Václav Švéda, Ctibor Novák, Milan Paumer, thank you Radek Mašín - thanks to you we have reason to remember the horrors of the communist frenzy also with pride. These are real people, faces, in which shines such a rare indomnitable spirit, pride and inner beauty. People who are helping future generations understand and interpret the biblical promise:
Even if you should suffer for your righteousness, you are blessed.
AMEN
Oration by Jan Zeno Dus
Translated by Barbara Masin 2011
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