All God's Children Read Online Free

the bustling street below, tears of disappointment leaking down her cheeks. Earlier she had seen workers leaving their jobs for the day to gather at the café on the corner. Across the street was the bookstore that had been owned by the family taken from their apartment. The shop was dark and closed now, although the window still featured a display of books gathering dust.
    Through the open bedroom window, she could hear the jingle of the bell on the bakery that occupied the ground floor of their building. On mild October days like this one, the baker opened the rear door to get more air circulation in the hot kitchen. She and Liesl so liked waking to the aromas of fresh bread and pastries baking. A streetcar passed. The wind rattled through the trees, scattering their brilliant red and gold leaves. In the distance she heard the piercing siren of an ambulance.
    She settled her gaze on a woman entering the rear courtyard of the building next door, a straw shopping bag in each hand. From the looks of her parcels, she hadn’t gotten much at the market. Beth recognized her as the woman who, with her husband, had moved into the apartment that had been suddenly abandoned. This new couple had been taken into the camaraderie of the neighborhood without question. She watched the woman greet another resident of her building who was sitting on the rear steps, smoking his pipe. The man gestured broadly as he apparently relayed some news. The woman’s shoulders sagged a bit more, and then she shrugged and shook her head before continuing on her way.
    Turning away from the scene below, Beth’s thoughts returned to the letter she held. She stared at the blacked-out lines, then smoothed and folded the thin sheets of stationery and placed them back in the envelope. How she longed for some positive news—at least something that might make her heart lighter. How she longed to return to a place where she didn’t have to censor her words or thoughts.
    But even if Beth could return to Wisconsin, then what? How would Aunt Ilse cope? How would Uncle Franz be able to concentrate on his research and teaching so that his position at the university remained secure? No, her place was here—not just because she had no exit visa, but because everything told her that this was the right thing to do—this was God’s plan for her at this time in her life. She had prayed about it in meetings for worship over the last several months, asking God to show her His way, and in the end she had come to the certainty that she was meant to be where she was. She could only hope that in time she would be able to go home.
    She turned her thoughts back to the immediate situation. The arrival of the doctor presented a new puzzle. He was here—as apparently he would be tomorrow and for days to come—his sudden presence only adding to the confusion and uncertainty that roiled through the house these days. Oh, what did it all mean?
    Beth sighed, for in their faith there was only one answer to such a state of inner turmoil.
    “Be still and know that I am God.”
    She should wait for the following day when the few remaining Friends living in Munich would gather in her uncle’s simply furnished sitting room for the weekly meeting for worship. But as her mother often told her, at times a person could not wait for the gathering of others to seek God’s guidance. So Beth sat in the rocker, folded her hands in her lap, closed her eyes, and waited for the calming beacon of that inner light that Friends around the world believed dwelt in every person—even Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
    After several moments she was able to shut out the sounds that floated up to her from the street through the open window. She was less successful in shutting out the sound of Uncle Franz’s laughter, which found its way to her like a whiff of the rationed and treasured pipe tobacco he smoked. Determined to find the calm and comfort of silence and to have all thoughts focused on God, she pushed