What makes a life worth living? What makes a life worth loving? In Bright Valley of Love, Edna Hong does not make a philosophical or scientific argument to answer those questions; she presents the true story of a handicapped child named Gunther and the care that he found in a place called Bethel before and during the rise of Nazi Germany. Yet within this short story, a powerful answer to both those questions is given, and not just explicitly—as when one handicapped child manages to convince his friend with epilepsy that his life is worth sparing from the death camps. 

In the preface, the author describes how she came to know Gunther, his story, and Bethel, in the early 1970s, and how she needed to imagine the dialogue as presented in her book. After this preface, the author disappears. The story is presented from Gunther’s perspective. It reads as a gripping and heartwarming short story of historical fiction. 

When originally published, Gunther was still alive, “flippering” (as they called his version of walking) up and down the streets of the valley where Bethel is located, and people could still meet this larger-than-life character (Gunther died in 1989). The latest publication of the book (2021) notes that while Gunther and his caretakers are long gone, Bethel has “grown to become one of the largest social service organizations in Europe,” and “still remains a haven for the sick that provides a life of dignity to people with all manner of needs.” (155) 

While Bethel today is a social service organization, the Bethel of the 1920s through 1940s was a thoroughly Lutheran village of both physical and spiritual care. Featuring various homes named after significant Biblical sites, the pastors, deacons, doctors, “sisters” and other caretakers would welcome anyone with any ailment. Gunther’s grandmother, who cared for him during the day, told him he was “nothing but a nothing,” a child born with “flipper” hands and warped bones. He was treated as such by his family until, at the age of seven, he was mercifully left at Bethel. There, he was treated as a child of God. While many of the ailments at Bethel were mental, Gunther’s were physical and spiritual, mostly because of the neglect of his first seven years. The love and interaction he received worked on him miraculously, so that eventually he was even able to speak, read, sing, and “flipper” around the village to run errands. The love of God for the last and the least is vividly shown. As Gunther and his friends are taught in confirmation class, “Who is my closest relative? Who is nearest and dearest to me? The one who suffers most!” (74) 

Gunther may have been able to receive love and interaction in many places. Yet I noted Bethel was a Lutheran place of care because Gunther received thoroughly Lutheran love and interaction. What I mean can be illustrated by two things I especially appreciated about the book: the frequent recourse to hymns and the teaching of vocation. 

Throughout the narrative, Gunther finds himself in church, having devotions, memorizing Scripture, studying for confirmation, and singing well-known Lutheran hymns. It should not come as a surprise that hymns of Paul Gerhardt make frequent appearances. There is even a helpful index in the back of the book of hymn and Scripture references. I’ll provide just a sampling:  

• As Advent approached and Gunther grew to worry about his young friend, Kurt, who was dying, his body and spirit were awoken not by the normal wake-up bell, but by the caretakers going from room to room singing, “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You?” 

• As their pastor prepared them for Kurt’s departure and for the celebration of Christmas, those gathered sang, “Ah, dearest Jesus, Holy Child, make thee a bed, soft undefiled, within my heart, that it may be a quiet chamber kept for thee.” 

• As friends and caretakers watched Kurt’s body laid to rest in its little coffin, they sang, “Jesus, priceless treasure… Hence, all thoughts of sadness! For the Lord of gladness, Jesus, enters in!” 

• As Gunther himself became able to memorize and sing hymns, and Pastor Fritz, the head of Bethel, grew more and more concerned about providing during the worldwide Great Depression, Gunther gifted Pastor Fritz a singing of “Evening and Morning” to celebrate his birthday and lift his spirits. 

• In 1933, Pastor Fritz would return from Berlin after failing to receive an audience with Hitler to raise his concerns about rumors that the incurably sick were being sent to death camps. Gunther sang for him “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” to pull him out of his despair. 

• When it seemed inevitable that, despite Pastor Fritz’s best efforts, the medical examiners would come to Bethel and round up so many that he cared for, Gunther sang, “If You But Trust in God to Guide You.” 

Not only did Gunther learn to cherish a treasury of Lutheran hymns, but he was taught to appreciate a doctrine beloved by Luther—the doctrine of vocation. Gunther and the other confirmands wrestled with how they would contribute to Bethel after confirmation. Gunther’s friend Klaus, with his many epileptic fits, figured he “will probably be called to shovel manure on one of the Bethel farms. It won’t matter if I have a fit and fall in the gutter. Whatever I do, my life will be manure.” (96) Yet he and the others were reminded that even a simple-minded young man named Fränzchen, who daily collected swill for the pigs, and who could only say, “Pig swill! Pig swill!”, was glorifying God. Pastor Fritz taught them, “Fränzchen could go around feeling that life has cheated him, that he has an inferior, worthless body and mind, not even good enough for the scrap heap. But Fränzchen’s spirit knows that even with his afflicted mind and body he can glorify God. And because he does, he brings joy to everyone he meets. To see Fränzchen makes me love Jesus all the more.” (99) 

While the dangerous conflict with Nazi ideology only appears in the last third of the book, the entire book is an answer to those who would say that human life—any human life—is not valuable. 

I would recommend this book to pastors, especially for sermon and Bible study illustrations on the value of life, the love of Christ, and the comfort of Lutheran hymns. I would recommend this book to Lutherans, to grow in appreciation for their Lutheran heritage and how it can be a blessing to their faith in difficult times. I would also recommend this book to all Christians to encourage them to reflect the selfless love of Christ to all people and to lead them to glorify God with whatever gifts God has given them. This book could also be given as a gift to those who care for others with special needs. I personally will be reading this book for my children as devotional material after dinner to help teach them the love that Jesus has for all.  

In Christ, every life is worth living—and loving.