East Cleveland leader. [volume] (East Cleveland, Ohio) 1942-1970, 1957-08-08

on the street. There are containers
for such things every few feet so
there is no excuse.
Let me give you capsule report
of the places l have been.
England is much as / expected.
What remains of London's bombed
areas is heart rending. The old
palaces and churches are magnifi-
cent, but the church is struggling
in all of England. For too long it
was the champion of the status quo
and it is having a hard time con-
vincing the people that is has a
significant word to speak to a ma
tion which is undergoing the birth
pains of new political and economic
rule.
We had two days in the Cotswold
country and stayed at one of the
lovliest inns in Stratford- -on-Avon
There, of course, we had to attend
a performance at the Shakespeare
Memorial Theater. | saw the play
Julius Caesar which was ex-
cellently done.
With an all too short visit in our
minds and hearts we moved across
the channel to France.
Paris is Paris, There is no other
city just like it. 1t is impossible to
describe Versailles, the Louvre, La
Chappelle, the Seine, the Place de
la Concorde! These had all been
names, now they are vivid realities.
Most of our time in Paris was
spent in interviewing leaders in
the government. France is goinp
through a terrific struggle but
detected. even in the midst of what
seems to be political instability.
some of the same "stickino to it"
qualities for which the British are
well known. I believe France is
going to make it!
In Germany we had our first real
chance to relax a bit. We spent
three days in and around Bonn, the
capital Of the West German Repub-
lie and perfectly beautiful little
university city on the Rhine.
From Bonn we went to Wies-
baden and Frankfort and had a
seven hour trip up the Rhine River
This was a majestic panorama of
old castles and old German cities,
the most colorful trip so far.
Berlin was two sides Of coin.
One the West. and the other the
East. West Berlin was full of
people. Prosperity shouted from
everything and everybody. Most of
the West Zone has been completely
rebuilt.
But the East Zone! 1t is heart
breaking. There has been practical
ly no rebuilding, rubble and ruins
everywhere, block after block of
the skeletons which were once the
most beautiful buildings in the city.
We met Bishop Dibelius, head of
the Evangelical Church in both
West and East.
1t was a hectic day for him. He
was trying to intercede for three
pastors and seven lay people who
had been whisked away by the
secret police the night before.
Their crime? They had been try
ing to take group of under-privi-
legged children to church camp in
the West Zone for a weeks vaca-
tion from the city. The Soviet
authorities accused them of kid
mapping and had imprisoned them!
1t makes an American examine
the depth of his own convictions!
could write several pages about
Moscow.
The most moving experience we
have had was our attendance at the
service held in the Baptist Church
yesterday morning. This is the only
Protestant Church in operation.
The church seats about a thou
sand people and there were over
two thousand in the congregation.
They were standing in all the
aisles, on the steps leading up to
the balcony, and out on the side
walk.
The service was two hours long,
with two sermons, each by a diff
ferent minister. Can you imagine
our standing as long on a hot (92
degrees) July morning.? There are
three such services on Sunday, at
nine, one and six o'clock, and a
service on Tuesday, Thursday and
Saturday evenings. All are equally
crowded. In the USA we would
build a new church or enlarge the
old one. This is prohibited!
In spite of the anti-religious
propaganda, this church took in
six hundred new members last
year. Remember, these people are
laughed at, socially and politically
ostracized. They are outcasts,
enemies Of the state. How do they
do it? How did the Christian
martyrs do it? We can give the
formal answer but / daresay
none of us can comprehend the
meaning of such faith until we
have seen it under these conditions.
We are off today to Leningrad,
then to Finland, Sweden and Hol-
land. After that go "on my own"
to Switzerland, Italy, Greece,
Lebanon, Jerusalem in Jordan and
Jerusalem in Israel. | am most
A. - 4L~ HI.