Miss Dee was very active in the YWCA. She was very active in the work of women in the Methodist Church, and active in the Church everywhere she went. She was called on from time to time to give talks in these various capacities. We discussed earlier her presentation of the history of the LaPlace Methodist Church in 1934. But in her box, I found evidence of a good many other talks that she had made. She kept the notes. Often the notes were very sketchy, and she did not excel in penmanship! But to the extent that a couple of her talks can be reconstructed, they provide deep insight into the faith that guided her life and career.
Her tour of Europe in 1925 had inspired in her a great hope for the world. A few years after that tour she had the opportunity to refer to it in a talk. I am no able to identify the occasion for the talk. I believe that it occurred after the 1929 stock market crash, as the world was sinking into economic depression, and moving into ominous threat of war. The talk speaks best for itself:
We recognize as never before, says E. Herman in her Creative Prayer “that humanity is a circle which needs but to be touched at one point for a vibration to run through the whole.”
A few years after the first (illegible) War, the Christian Association of America (sic) conceived the idea of sending groups to Europe traveling from one country to another, meeting students, cementing friendships hoping thereby to help build bridges of fellowship and understanding across the great chasm of human relations made by the war.
I went with one such group in 1925. Our party consisted of students, professors and association secretaries from all over the country Maine to Washington St., Canada to the gulf.
We visited several countries including Germany, of course, and everywhere were received cordially, sometimes gratefully. Finally we arrived for a cosmopolitan conference in Gex, France. I shall not go into the story of the conference. We ate together, played together, talked together, worshiped together. There were many rich experiences but I shall share with you only one.
It was the Sabbath. Still and beautiful the little town nestled at the foot of the towering Jural Mt (sic) with the clear shining waters of Lake Leman lapping at its feet. We met in the little chapel of the Catholic orphanage. Artistic hands had made the place beautiful with vines and wild flowers brought from the nearby mountains.
A student from New Zealand was our leader; a German was at the organ; the scripture, I Cor. 12 (which you have just heard) were read in the three languages of the Conf. French, German, English. The hymns sung were written in both German and English. One could take his choice. An American Negro girl who had come with our party led us in a great prayer for interracial, international brotherhood. The Russians came into the chancel and gave in Russian a portion of the ritual of the Great Eastern Orthodox Church. It was then after the singing of a congregational hymn that we had the message based on the scripture brought to us by a French Girl, a German, and a Scotchman. I shall always remember Donald Grant’s (sp?) message that morning.
Humanity, he said, is one a (sic) social organism. Just as the analogy of the body and each member has something to contribute, so each race, each nation has its gift to bring to the cultural religious whole. We dare not for our own hurt prevent any group from laying its gift on the altar of humanity.
Furthermore, to be brief, just as no part of the body can suffer not even the little finger so no race , no tribe, no nation can be in want, in suffering of any kind and every group not feel the vibrations of that suffering in its own being.
It was then our leader called upon us to join in the Lord’s prayer each in his own tongue—Hungarian, French, Austrian, Polish, Australian, American. All the varied accents were there.
Our Father we prayed
The Kingdom come
Thy will (not England’s America’s Germany’s)
Thy will be done
Give us this day bread (and throughout Europe little children, men and women were holdup (sic) pleading hands for bread
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
What a prayer. Germans were sitting next to Eng and French, remember.
Shall we join in that prayer?
I have copied this talk that was written in Miss Dee’s own—not so great—handwriting. I have respected her deletions and additions, and even some things that appear to be the kind of writing errors that I might make. Regardless of where and why it was delivered, it was a powerful and courageous message! She still harbored hopes that catastrophic war could be avoided by the earnest effort of Religion.
But that was not to be.
I have included this post, although incomplete, in order to describe the broad outline of the life of Mary Christine De Bardeleben. I plan to develop it further. I would welcome any information that anyone has dealing with this part of her life.
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