What can you do...
...when more than one third of the organised workforce in your country is unemployed? - Or when your people are under pressure during a military occupation ? This is the story about a group of Danes who took creative action in social and political life in Denmark in the difficult years around the 2nd World War, when Denmark was experiencing unemployment, military occupation, and disillusionment as to the role of the army.
From an experience of change in their own lives, each of these individuals felt a responsibility to help solve the problems in their society and country. After the war they engaged in the reconstruction of democracy and reconciliation in Europe. Although we live in a different time, their experiences may have relevance today. Times may have changed, but many of the problems at the core of our societies are the same, and - more importantly - the initiatives of ordinary individuals are still crucial when it comes to finding solutions.
I tell this story because these people have been a dynamic inspiration to me throughout my life. Their visions and actions taught me that you do not have to be significant to make significant things happen. Really, anyone can do something about the situation; we can all have a part in shaping the world in which we live. Some may call this naïve, but let the events speak for themselves. I got into touch with this group of people during the war and will include glimpses of the impact it had on me.
Just as the events I describe were merely bricks in the jig-saw puzzle of Denmark, so the situation in Denmark itself was, and is, closely tied to that of the rest of Europe and ultimately the world. Nothing ever happens in isolation. These circumstances are important in order to understand the feelings in the Danish population at the time, so I have chosen to begin each part with a brief summary of the situation as seen through my eyes as a young Dane in that period of history.
Several times in this book I mention the Oxford Group, or Moral Re-Armament as it was to be known after the war. That is because this movement was the inspiration of the people I am writing about. The movement in itself, however, is not significant to the story. Rather, it is the ideas behind the movement which are central, namely that anyone can be inspired to act if they are willing to take a good honest look at their own motives and seek direction in the quiet of their hearts. This is a method of action running through these stories like a thread.
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