The Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness has unearthed a heretofore undiscovered Bonhoeffer text on the viscitudes of cheap and costly grace in the context of Lent Madness. We share it with you, without comment, as we believe the text speaks for itself.
Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of Lent Madness. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like wares from the Lentorium. The Saintly Scorecard, the bracket posters, the write-ups of fabulous Celebrity Bloggers are thrown away at cut prices -- like Frances Perkins mugs at 50% off. Oh wait...
Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching on topics other than saints, writing our own name in the bracket, voting without reading the comments, not seeing the humor in Lent Madness...Cheap grace is grace without Wi-Fi, grace without the Golden Halo, grace without an updated bracket.
Costly grace is the saintly kitsch hidden in the field; for the sake of it, a person will gladly go and sell all that he or she has. It is the Lent Madness bracket of great price for which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of the Supreme Executive Committee, for whose sake a voter will pluck out the internet connection which causes the participant to stumble.
Costly grace is represented as Lent Madness' inexhaustible treasury, from which the Supreme Executive Committee showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits (except on votes).
PS. Stay tuned for information released later today about Lent Madness 2016 swag. Mugs? Pint glasses? A Silver Halo for Julian of Norwich? All will soon be revealed.
126 comments on “Dietrich Bonhoeffer wins 2016 Golden Halo!”
GREAT graphic! Will be inviting dear Dietrich over for coffee very soon, and meanwhile am savoring one of the best Lent Madness experiences yet. All shall be thanked, and all shall be thanked, and all manner saints shall be thanked.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I finally picked a winner! Thank you SEC Padres and Bloggers and and FORWARD MOVEMENT and Ms. Jane P. whom I have not forgotten ! LENT MADNESS FOREVER
and Dietrich Bonhoeffer whose spirit hovers over us all....Evil did not prevail and never will as long as there is the Resurrection!
Wow, thank you for the mention! This is the first lent that I discovered this site and I LOVE IT! Wish it went on all year, which I guess would then mean a whole year of penance, but if there were Lent Madness, I think it would be worth it!
A wonderful selection of saints, with some hard contests. It was also a pleasure to travel through them in Oliver's company.
I concur, Barbara! He rocked it.
Hurray for Bonhoeffer.
Constance for 2017!!! (Gotta start the race early in these political times).
The king is dead. Long live the king.
We need #ConstanceWouldGo bumper stickers in the Lentorium!:)
I agree!
YES! YES! YES!!!!!!
I'm in.
Totally agree!!
Me too!!
I'm up for that. or the Julian shot glass
Blessed Good Friday, Happy Easter... see you all next year, Lord willing
I second the Julian shot glass!
Very cool.
I agree!!!!
Yes! And Julian pint glasses!
Yes, swag! The coffee mug will sell like hotcakes!
A saint for our times and all time. Great match ups this year. Next year---Hugh of Lincoln, please?
Second! Been asking for him for years now.... 😉
A dozen mugs, please!
Wonderful Lenten Season...thank you SEC for keeping it silly yet Deeply meaningful.
Thank you bloggers...that Bonhoeffer quote yesterday was just so beautiful and inspired me deeply...it should def be on Saintly Kitsch IMHO.
As should Julien's blessed "all manner of things shall be well..."
Wishing everyone the deep peace which passes understanding as we move into these next Holy Days.
Bonhoeffer Bobble-head in the Lentorium please.
First time poster but have been voting and enjoying Lent Madness for 3 years. We love this entire experience and are already anticipating the separation anxiety known as LMW!!!
My only regret is that Dietrich Bonhoeffer can no longer share his story with us all during future Lent Madnesses.
He can be a trading card!
This has been a year of tough choices, but Bonhoeffer with the Golden Halo is validation that peace and justice comes with a price - and also and most importantly with great love and sacrifice. May we all embody Christ in the world with Bonhoeffer's example.
Thank you to the SEC for a wonderful Lent Madness Season.
The journey has been most enlightening and delightful, but I'm disappointed in the end--not in the choice of Bonhoeffer whom I deeply respect though Julian helped save my life, but in the rather cheap way you've played with his concepts of grace. Nevertheless, I look forward to next year and wish you a blessed Easter.
Thank you for all the work and research that went into sponsoring Lent Madness. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about all of the Saints; their lives and their contributions. I think the process has worked, and Saint Bonhoeffer is deserving of the Golden Halo!
Thank you. This is been a great learning experience, and fun.
It feels like it all went by so fast. I wish we had a closing montage with a special song like that other tournament has "One Shining Moment."
Ask and ye shall receive. 🙂
Saints montage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqY9WoHj7Xo
I am from and still live in New Orleans. Love our saints!! Who dat!
Yay! Who dat!
Ditto. And I believe it's clairvoyatron
Double ditto!
Spouse and I have done it before. I don't think two votes from the same address sets off any alarms. It's when 25-50-300 votes comes from the same address. Please correct me if I'm wrong, O SEC!
I feel your pain; I'm from Georgia. Have you found The Christian Left Facebook page, or Unvirtuous Abbey? I appreciate finding some community there...
Tim and Scott, all the bloggers and backup team,
You are surely the pearls of great price throughout Lent.
Thank you and bless you always.
This has (once again) been a lot of fun--thank you all! I'm hoping for a great silver halo commemorative for Julian. My credit card is in my hand. . .
I believe Julian should remain eligible for a future Golden Halo. I ask the SEC not to bestow a silver halo,although I do treasure my St Brigid pint glass! All I know is that I would not have wanted to remove Dietrich Bonhoeffer from the running in the future so that his story could be retold. Ditto for Julian.
Why not something like, if you win the GH you're inellegable to run for 20 years, and 10 if you get the silver? Not thinking that far ahead? - well you're already training up the next generation of potential leaders with kids like Oliver to help you out,and these guys are all immortal so there's no possibility of not having the stamina for future play. And for if they have success in 'long in the future brackets,' there's already some fine kitsch awaiting. Mind you, there's also the possibility of a 'champions' round in a few decades... or less if the silvers as well as the golds continue and are allowed to play together.
Thanks SEC yet again for a thoughtful, prayerful and deeply humourous Lent Madness. Joyful Easter.
All GH winners are permanently retired from competing - and the winners of the various rounds have to wait various amounts of time before they are eligible to compete again. Here's a sample of the rules from this year's nominations post: https://www.lentmadness.org/2015/05/accepting-nominations/
Did I misunderstand something? Dietrich Bonhoeffer's name is the last one on the list of people who were ineligible this year.
What was the final score??? I loved Julian - how close was the race?
60-40 I think.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is most definitely the saint for our time!
Most definitely. Bonhoeffer's message is sorely needed this election cycle, but most especially this week.
A million thanks for this great experience & community! Looking forward to 2017 already :- )
Bless you SEC & blessings to All.
The Lent Madness team outdid themselves this year! I will look forward to lent next year. Such a blessing to be able to learn about the saints in a fun way.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is most assuredly a Saint for the times we are in right now.
Were that our secular campaigns, debates and, ultimately, elections be as civilized and respectful as Lent Madness. Thank you, Tim and Scott - and your many wonderful collaborators - for reminding us of the inherent decency of the vast majority of our species. Thank you, Lent Madness community around the world, for another inspiring season as we await Christ's Resurrection.
Thanks to all for another year of Madness!
And we made it through a whole Lent without anyone asking why a certain Presbyterian-minister-turned-children's-television-show-host isn't on the bracket!
I can't get our wonderful LM theme music out of my head. So here's a big "thank you" to Maestro Shiloh Ruby for the fantastic organ offering at the beginning and end of every Monday Madness video, and the splendid graphic designed by ...? Always makes me giggle!
A blessed Easter, y'all!
Oh my!! I will miss Lent Madness so much.
Is there no chance of "Pentecost Madness?"
Or at at least "Advent Madness?" Not at all sure I can wait a year. Especially at my age... Thanks guys!!
We held an Advent Madness at our church. Our celebrity commentator Oliver chose four Old Testament Heroes for us. We had write ups for all four and the congregation voted on them each week of Advent. The winner Ruth was awarded the Golden Star. It was a lot of fun!
Wait--is that THE Oliver we know and love here?
Good job there Tim and Scott, Best yet. Five "Constance would go" bumper stickers please. And two Bonhoeffer mugs of course.
A wonderful contest. I enjoyed it very much and definitely must have a saintly mug featuring Dietrich's likeness - very excited about that!
Another fabulous and informative year. Thank you to all involved.