This week, Carol Bechtel, the executive director of the American Waldensian Society, shares the first part of what she said at the February 17th celebration at Old Rock School in Valdese, North Carolina. Parts two and three of her remarks will be shared in upcoming weeks.
What a pleasure it is to join you for this February 17th celebration! This is only my second time at such an event. The first time was 5 years ago in Torre Pellice, Italy. My husband and I were privileged to join the procession up Via Beckwith on that chilly February night. I remember we had hoped to practice our Italian with folks along the way, but it turned out, they all wanted to practice their English with us! But it was fun in any case, and we did manage to catch something of the spirit of what this celebration commemorates. Unfortunately, it had been a very dry year, so they were not able to light the bonfire at the end of the evening.
And here I am for my second Feb. 17th celebration, only to have the bonfire cancelled again – this time because of rain! I feel a bit like Goldilocks – first it’s too dry, then it’s too wet. But next time, I’m sure it will be “just right!”
When I received the invitation to speak at this event, I wondered what I – an “affinity Waldensian” – could say to you that you wouldn’t already know. But then it occurred to me that maybe the most genuine thing I could do would be to give a few impressions based on my experience of both the Waldensian story and the real live Waldensians I have encountered in my 17-year sojourn with the American Waldensian Society.
When pressed for a title, I had the idea that I could include some highlights from the new 4-volume history of the Waldensians – a wonderful and ambitious project that has just come out in Italian. But then I realized that a short speech was probably not long enough to cover 9 centuries and thousands of pages, so I’ve decided to limit myself to some of the insights I have gleaned from the introduction to the 4th volume, which covers the period from the second half of the 19th century to the late 20th century. (So, roughly from the time of the Edict of Emancipation in 1848 – granting Waldensians civil rights for the first time in Italian history – to the present.)
Now, if you’re saying to yourself, that’s still a century-and-a-half’s worth of material, and we just ate a lovely dinner – fear not. I promise I will only hit the highlights!
The one other thing I’ll say before I begin is that this 4th volume is the one that is edited by Paolo Naso—a friend to many in this room, I suspect. Paolo was kind enough to send me the introduction, which I was able to translate with the help of my computer (my Italian still isn’t that good). So, I want to give full credit to Paolo for everything that you like in this speech, and I will take the blame for whatever it is you don’t.
I’ve divided my remarks into 3 sections. They all have to do with relationships. The first section has to do with the relationship between history and identity, which is where we will begin:
The Relationship Between History and Identity
From the moment I met my first real, live Waldensian – I think it was when I attended the Synod in Torre Pellice in 2009 – I realized that there was a living link between past and present for everyone who identifies somehow as a Waldensian. If I had assumed that the history of the Waldensian movement could be summarized in a single paragraph in a church history textbook, I was wrong. These were people whose present had been shaped by a very particular past. Centuries of individual and collective experience were shaping the discussions and decisions being made at that Synod. I’ll say more about that later, but it made such an impression on me at the time that I actually asked someone to take a picture of me with Paolo Naso so that I could send it to the church history professor at the seminary where I teach. I told my colleague, “Next time you cover the Waldensians, I want you to show the students this picture and tell them, ‘Look! Waldensians are more than a footnote in church history! Here’s Professor Bechtel with a real, live Waldensian!’”
The more I learned about the history of the Waldensians – a history that spanned more than 9 centuries – the more I realized that their experiences of marginalization and persecution had shaped them into a church – a community – with a gift for compassion and hospitality toward others who suffered in similar ways. I learned that Waldensians were people who valued education – in part because of their historic commitment to reading the Bible. And believe me, as a Bible professor, it’s hard not to be impressed by people who literally were dying to read the Bible!
History, it seems to me, is very close to the surface for most Waldensians.
It brought to mind passages like Deuteronomy 6 – which is still read every time a Jewish family celebrates the Passover. Listen to this passage from Deuteronomy 6:20-24 NRSV, and tell me what you notice about it:
When your children ask you in time to come, “What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?” then you shall say to your children, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case.
Did you notice how they said “WE were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt…” Not THEY – our ancestors – but WE. It’s not just THEM that the Lord brought of Egypt with a mighty hand, but US too. In other words, even though a couple of generations have already passed, the deliverance at the Red Sea is remembered as having happened to US too. And the story is told in just this way so that it is a living memory for each new generation.
Just so, it seems to me, is the relationship between Waldensians and their own story of deliverance. For all Waldensians – whether they are “heritage” or “affinity” Waldensians—this is not a story about something that happened to someone else. It is OUR story. History is a living link to OUR identity. There is a sense in which history is never fully in the past—but always in the present, whether we are conscious of it or not! Better, of course, to be conscious of it, and to cultivate the knowledge that builds and strengthens our sense of identity.
I suspect I’m preaching to the choir here, given that this event is being sponsored by the Waldensian Heritage Museum! But I don’t think we can underestimate the importance of passing these precious stories on to our children. Knowledge of our history is crucial to our identity.
In the picture above, the board of the Waldensian Heritage Museum in Valdese, North Carolina, is about to enjoy a meal together. Carol Bechtel is the third from the left and Kevin Frederick, the president of the American Waldensian Society, is fourth from the left.
