My friend Michael was born on August 13, 1960.

Today, he looks at this date and puts it in an historical context. Wryly, he likes to say that his government loved him so much that it gave him a wall for his first birthday. Of course, Michael is referring to the Berlin Wall. Since the construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 13, 1961, this means that this year has marked its 50th anniversary.

Michael was born in East Germany. Therefore he grew up on the "wrong" side of the Wall. Not only did his (then) government give him a Wall; it also made his life miserable in other ways. After his mother's death, when he was about ten years old, he became an orphan and the local pastor took him in as a member of his household. This brought further disadvantages. Because he grew up in a pastor's household, he was not allowed (in Communist East Germany) to study to become an ordained pastor. He longed to travel in the world; he wished to live abroad. But there were limits in his freedom of movement. There was the Wall. So he could not go "west." On a smaller scale, he toured the countryside as a trumpet playing clown in a circus (I am not making this up). Michael could not become a pastor. But eventually – at the very least – he could study to become a church musician, a cantor.

One of the most liberating moments – for him and for millions of other citizens in East Germany – must have been November 9, 1989 when the Wall came down. Because he had a church related degree as a church musician, he could finally enter a program to study to become a pastor. I was at his ordination in the Georgenkir-che in Eisenach in 1994. (It is the same church where Johann Sebastian Bach was baptized. A group from our church went there in 2006.) The fall of the Wall opened new opportunities for Michael.

But there are still other walls, new walls.

In ancient times, walls built around a city were quite common – for the purpose of protection against a warring enemy and to provide some security in case of a siege. Today's walls around a city would not be able to withstand the force of modern military technology. Modern walls serve a different purpose.

The wall in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, probably the world's most dangerous border, is a reminder of the ongoing conflict between North and South Korea; as is the separation fence in the Holy Land between Israel and Palestine. The wall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is intended to prevent rioting between radical Catholics and Protestants. The walls in the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla (autonomous cities located in North Africa) are designed to stop a stream of people making their way from Morocco into Europe. And then there is the highly fortified border between the United States and Mexico.

The online-edition of the German magazine Der Spiegel states, that "[e]very one of these barriers is a monument to the failure of politics. When conflicting parties can't make peace at the negotiating table, they simply build a wall."

It is a simple truth. Each wall has two sides. But the effects of this truth run deep. While governments on the one side hope to keep out illegal immigrants or drug smugglers, people on the other side seek ways to overcome those guarded gateways to a new life. Some succeed. Between August 1961 and September 1962 people from West Berlin dug a 500 ft-tunnel under the Berlin Wall to help 29 people escape from East Berlin. (This event was made into a movie, called "The Tunnel.") Others pay with their lives. Here, the Berlin Wall also gave us ample evidence.

On the day of the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Wall, my friend Michael celebrated his birthday. The Wall continues to exist in our memories. In a very real way, Michael could celebrate his 51st birthday. And he truly had reason to celebrate.

After the Wall came down, Michael had plenty of opportunity to travel the world. He visited us when we lived in South Dakota. But he also welcomed people from all over the world into his house. Now, his wish to live and work abroad has also been fulfilled. By the end of August, he and his family will have moved to Cape Town in South Africa.

In a sinful world, walls will be continued to be built. His government may have given Michael a wall for his first birthday. Today, Michael can say that as a joke. After all, this Wall stood tall for "only" 28 years. In contrast, God so loved the world that through his Son Jesus Christ he tore down the wall of hostility between us and him. This is certainly no joke and reason enough to be thankful to God who wants to see us cross over into eternal salvation.

 Yours in Christ Jesus, the giver of ultimate hope and freedom,
 Bjoern E. Meinhardt, Pastor