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The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom

Corrie ten Boom,

John Sherrill (Contributor)

Start date: May 1, 2011

Discussion: Clean Reads Book Club

Discussion leader: Janet

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Inspirational for Daughters of the King...
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Clean historical fiction/fantasy
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Nov 13, 2007 Beth Given rated it it was amazing

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I read this book about nine years ago, but it was definitely time to re-read! This encouraging, true story is beautifully expressed and brimming with hope and faith. Not only was the book interesting to read (I loved the bit of intrigue, as Corrie explains how her home was used as a hiding place for Jews), but every paragraph toward the end (with Corrie and Betsie in prison) was inspiring. The characters themselves are so very likable; Betsie and Father in their pure and abounding faith and love I read this book about nine years ago, but it was definitely time to re-read! This encouraging, true story is beautifully expressed and brimming with hope and faith. Not only was the book interesting to read (I loved the bit of intrigue, as Corrie explains how her home was used as a hiding place for Jews), but every paragraph toward the end (with Corrie and Betsie in prison) was inspiring. The characters themselves are so very likable; Betsie and Father in their pure and abounding faith and love, but also Corrie herself -- she is very, very good but struggles with some of the human frailties that make her so very accessible to the reader.

Some of the stories I remembered from the first time (it helps that some are shared in General Conference every few years!) but yes, I'm so glad I read this again, and took some notes this time. Here are some quotes I liked:

"'Do you know when [Tante Bep] started praising the Wallers so highly?' Mama went on. 'The day she left them. As long as she was there, she had nothing but complaints. The Wallers couldn't compare with the van Hooks where she'd been before. But at the van Hooks she'd actually been miserable. Happiness isn't something that depends on our surroundings, Corrie, it's something we make inside ourselves.'" (p. 33)

"'It would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. ... Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.'" (pp. 26-27)

"Young and old, poor and rich, scholarly gentlemen and illiterate servant girls -- only to Father did it seem that they were all alike. That was Father's secret: not that he overlooked the differences in people; that he didn't know they were there." (p. 13)

"'Corrie,' [Father] began ... "do you know what hurts so very much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. THere are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill the love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or, Corrie, we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel. God loves Karel -- even more than you do -- and if you ask Him, He will give you His love for this man, a love nothing can prevent, nothing can destroy. Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, Corrie, God can give us the perfect way." (p. 44-45)

BETSIE: 'If God has shown us bad times ahead, it's enough for me that He knows about them. That's why He sometimes shows us things, you know -- to tell us that this too is in His hands.' (p. 63)

MR. DEVRIES (THE BULLDOG): "Books do not age as you and I do. They will speak still when we are gone, to generations we will never see."

"Every day of my life had ended like this: that deep steady voice, that sure and eager confiding of us all to the care of God. The Bible lay at home on its shelf, but much of it was stored in [Father's] heart." (p. 134)

"They were services like no others, these times in Barracks 28. A single meeting night might include a recital of the Manificat in Latin by a group of Roman Catholics, a whispered hymn by some Lutherans, a sotto-voce chant by Eastern Orthodox women ... I would think of Haarlem, each substantial church set behind its wrought-iron fence and its barrier of doctrine. And I would know again that in darkness God's truth shines most clear." (p. 211)

"Oh, this was the great ploy of Satan in that kingdom of his: to display such blatant evil that one could almost believe one's own secret sins didn't matter." (p. 214)

"That very week I began to speak. If this was God's new work for me, then He would provide the courage and the words." (p. 234)

"And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself." (p. 238) ...more

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