Christ in Catastrophe

Emil Fuchs, a man who has passed through great suffering, has walked among us and lived among us. He spoke to us with the authenticity of one who has seen Truth and heard it and felt it; and even when he spoke of disasters his face was serene. Now he has gone back to labor in Europe, leaving this writing for us; therefore we set down these words about him.

We saw him as a short man, full faced, with white hair and gentle probing eyes. He smiled constantly, and his smile was that of the child, the saint, the man who can bear the hardness of the world without losing his own softness of spirit. When he gave lectures to us, stressing always the simplicity and power of Truth, he spoke with such intensity that his face shook. At other times, he shared with selfless humility our troubles of spirit and took joy in our happiness. Always the stamp of Truth was on him. To be in his presence was to experience in some part what he had experienced. He had found something so big that he was given completely to it. And some part of what came to him spilled over through his eyes and his voice to those around him.