Signe’s experiences in Berlin – as a student of Jewish artists, of her Jewish friends and of Hans the SS Officer – made her deeply aware that all was not well in Germany. Arriving in Visby she was intrigued and apprehensive at the same time eager to discover more about this man Frank Buchman whose ideas were attracting people from all backgrounds and ages.
Buchman was deeply concerned that the world was once more on the brink of war. Large Nazi rallies were being held in Europe but also in North America. Arthur’s recent Gestapo experience at the Nazi Rally in Nuremberg had made the urgency of the situation obvious to him and he was also eager to join Buchman at Visby. In fact Signe and Arthur would likely not have met and our family would probably not exist if it hadn’t been for Buchman.
After the first world war people worked and sacrificed for common goals and ideas were born that engaged the multitudes of people who had known hunger, hardship and suffering. While communism and fascism with its offspring nazism had taken hold, materialism became the underlying ideology in western thinking. Scientific progress, industrial progress and material progress became goals in themselves and were embraced by all the main western nations. Hatred and revenge were underlying motives in communism and fascism and they certainly had the effect of stirring passions into action but materialism was based on the desire for progress for the sake of comfort and ease and had no such effect on passions. And so there was no clear idea that could resist and successfully replace communism, fascism or materialism and once again military re-armament was taking place. The scars from World War I had obviously not healed.
Buchman felt that spiritual and moral re-armament was what was needed most – not military re-armament and it was this that led to this series of conferences across Europe in an attempt to avert another war from breaking out. Thousands of people had attended the meetings in Norway, Denmark and Britain and in 1938 they converged on Visby for a with a focus on the countries of the Baltic rim. These smaller European nations were still hurting from the last war and feelings could easily be ignited. Meanwhile the major European powers were engaged in an armaments race giving a clear sense that something was far from right under the surface in Germany, France and England.
The conference in Visby was held in a huge, ruined cathedral, with no roof! Birds flew in and out but the weather was perfect and the ruins made a perfect setting for the conference.
A young Finnish soldier spoke there about how he had suffered under Sweden’s occupation of Finland and how he had sworn never to speak Swedish again. This was at the time when Sweden had taken over the administration of Finland, when school in Finland had to be taught in both Swedish and Finnish. Everything including street signs and notices had to be written in both languages. He felt the loss of their national integrity and pride very keenly. But when he came to Visby and heard how change in people’s lives had created miracles of unity, he decided to give up his hatred of Sweden and demonstrated this by telling his story in Swedish.
This brought Signe to think of her friend Hans, the German SS officer. She wrote him a letter, telling about what she had learnt in Visby. She said that she thought he would find something here that would satisfy him. By return post she got a 19-page letter explaining why she was wrong and he was right. He sent her a copy of Mein Kampf, Hitler’s manifesto of what he was really out to do. Signe was shocked. She had realized that what was happening in Germany was very bad and this was why she had left. But as she read Hans’ letter she realized that what was happening in Germany was even worse than what she had grasped when she was there. It was massive.
Signe realized in Visby, that each individual has the responsibility to live in such a way that peace is possible. She felt she needed to ask forgiveness of people that she had wronged and once she had done this she felt as if she had touched an electric current and was walking on air exclaiming ”I felt lit up inside. I realized that power comes from operating according to the natural laws that exist both in the spiritual and natural world. If you go against these laws or principles, you create trouble and this leads to chaos in the end.”
In those days photos were essential to reporting as they contributed essentials to the written text. For this, Arthur needed a dark-room and the only place that had enlarging equipment and a dark-room on this little island was the local chemist. Arthur used to go there with a Danish photographer around six pm and they worked through the night priting pictures till three or four in the morning. Then they would catch a few hours of sleep till the first meeting of the conference at 7.30 when they would have stacks of prints for people to send home to newspapers in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Finland. These countries were all free at that point but the risk of war was in the air and there was a great sense of urgency. The Swedish press sent a plane daily at 9 am to pick up the news reports and photos that Arthur had ready to send to Stockholm. The news from Visby was published daily in the Swedish press throughout the conference. Arthur’s photos of Buchman’s work with the Oxford Group were also being distributed by Associated Press (AP), Reuters and Camera Press and eventually published all over the world.
The ruins at Visby gave a dramatic setting to the conference and Arthur was able to take pictures of young participants on a mound in the ruins of Visby. He was struck by Signe’s beauty and wanted to place her first in the row – but figured that someone might question his motives so he placed her as a safe number three!
At Visby Signe began to sense that here was something that could bring about change without violence, without war, without hatred and without organization. She could see how this could happen spontaneously through contact between people and give results whenever the simple guiding principles that Frank Buchman and the Oxford Group spoke about, were put into action in people’s private and even public lives. She met people who had come from many other parts of the world and she heard first hand about the changes that resulted from personal steps in change.
Frank shared freely about his own life and challenges and Signe and Arthur soon got to know more about the man behind Oxford Group and what it was that led vast numbers of people to follow his thinking and find new purpose in life.
Frank grew up as a fun-loving, deep-thinking son of a close-knit American family in Pennsburgh, Pennsylvania. He studied first in Pennsylvania but continued to Yale Divinity School after which he was ordained and embarked on his first job at Penn State College. Here he took care of a group of boys at the YMCA. Frank wanted them to share his own experience of a warm family life in which food was an important ingredient – including pancakes on Sundays! But when the board decided to cut the cost of food, Buchman bucked, they disagreed, and he was fired. He became bitter, depressed and unwell. His doctor suggested that he take a cruise and in 1908 he left for Europe.
It was during this time that Buchman’s life changed dramatically. While in England he took part in a conference in the Lake District and one day attended a small gathering of 17 people in a church in Keswick where Buchman had a vivid experience as Jessie Penn Lewis described the crucified Christ which changed his life forever. Buchman decided to write to the YMCA board who he hated and ask for their forgiveness for his self-will. He never heard from them again but from then on he felt free. That afternoon he took a walk with a student and told him what he had just done. The student decided to take similar steps – and this became the blueprint for Buchmans work: recognising a need for divine intervention; knowing that the only place you can start is with yourself; putting right what you can; experiencing that sin is the only thing that can get between you and God; and passing it on. This was the basic process of ”change” that became the hallmark of his work. The spirit of change and the freedom it brought with it was infectious and spread fast. Buchman usually put other people forward rather than himself and put people into action taking them with him overseas to gain perspective, just like he had invited Arthur to join him in Denmark and Visby. In 1930 a group sailed for South Africa where they travelled by train. The carriage that was booked for them was marked ”Oxford Group” and the name stuck!
During the winter of 1938-39 Signe joined other young people in Stockholm and Uppsala who were experimenting with the ideas they had learnt in Visby. Signe’s elation and new discovery soon led her to overdo it and she saw the old pattern of sleep deprivation and exhaustion repeating itself. Neither Signe or her family understood the cause of her health issues but her parents were always caring and thoughtfully met her needs. In the spring of 1939 they suggested that she come home to Norway and arranged for her to stay on a farm in the country where and rest up. She had spent very little of her life in Norway and followed this up with family at Thomas Heftyesgate in Oslo where her family had moved on their return to Norway. In hindsight this was the last time Signe spent with her family for a very long time and these were precious times, particularly with her youngest sister Lillan who was now 12.
Most of the world was deeply aware of the dangers of authoritarianism after World War I. North America had on top of this been thrust into a 10-year drought and faced a massive environmental crisis that devastated their overfarmed and overgrazed lands. This dustbowl was the result of severe winds that had whipped across the plains and eroded the earth into billowing clouds of dust. The sky would darken for days and thick layers of dust were even left inside homes. The ecology and agriculture of North America was severely damaged causing hunger due to a lack of food and work during the 1930s. America was now in the middle of a big industrial boom in an effort to restore the economic setbacks and food shortages of the dustbowl and had no thought of engaging in European affairs or fighting a new battle. They had had the last war and they didn’t want another. Arthur remembered how ”They were very much for us in spirit, but that was about it. There was a large central-European population in America and they had the Nazi flag right next to the Stars and Stripes at in their meetings. The Nazis also had quite a following in ’America First’ organisations. War hadn’t happened at this point and the hope in America was that they wouldn’t have to go to war. But Buchman was concerned that Americans would, ’either listen to God or you will listen to guns.’ ”
While America was fully embarked on an internal battle for expansion making materialism rampant in the States, massive Nazi rallies promoting Americanism were being held in major US cities including one on February 20 1939, at New York City’s Madison Square Garden attended by over 20 000 people. The event was held on a stage that featured a huge portrait of Washington in his Continental Army uniform flanked by swastikas.
Buchman was meanwhile convinced that moral re-armament would be America’s way to meet the crisis and assert a positive influence in the world instead of concentrating solely on USA’s own welfare. It was with this in mind that Buchman invited a large internatioinal team to come to America in the spring of 1939. Most of this team had experienced World War I first hand and were deeply committed to remaking the world and forging a pattern for peace. Together they were striving to influence the events that were escalating so horrifically in Europe and undertake a major effort to awaken the American people to the battle of good and evil going on in the world.
Signe was one of 100 Scandinavians who received an invitation to join Buchman in America. Signe’s parents had of course met Buchman in Norway and were understanding despite the fact that she had interrupted her career as a commercial artist which they had made possible with an extensive and expensive education. So the family were there on the quay to wave them all off on the 8-day boat trip from Oslo to New York. In those days it was quite an experience to travel on a steamship. There was a restaurant but if you needed to rest you could stay in bed and if you could stomach it you could order a tray of food. Signe was very seasick but one day when she and her bunkmate were recovering, she ordered a breakfast tray. “When the waitress came, she tipped the whole tray into my bunk – coffee, porridge and all! The poor girl was probably feeling sick herself!” That trip was a good way for these 100 Scandinavians to get to know eachother and arrive as a team. This was also the beginning of life-long friendships.
Meanwhile Arthur was about to start a photo holiday in the Cheviots in England. He was there with his friend Bill and planning to photograph a sheep farm. They were having supper at the farm when there was a knock on the door revealing a policeman who was obviously out of breath after pushing his bicycle up the hill for a couple of miles. He asked ”Is there a Mr. Strong here?’” In those days urgent messages or ’cables’ were sent as a telegram to a post office or police station. The policesman had a message for Arthur from Buchman asking if he would join him in America to help launch moral re-armament, now also known as MRA but it meant catching the ’Bremen’ from Southampton the following morning!
So, the sheep-farmer drove Arthur and Bill to Berwick, where they caught the Night Scot train down to London. Arthur had been living in a apartment in the West End of London and friends went ahead and packed his bag for him. ”I had been working on 5 photographic murals which I thought would be rather good to have at Frank Buchman’s birthday in June. Each mural was about 6 x 4 feet and I needed to bring them with me. Then I had to go and get a visa from the American embassy. To cut a long story short my bags and photomurals made it to the train but I missed it! I caught the next train arriving about 40 minutes later in Southampton. In those days you took a tender from the dock to the liner – in this case the ’Bremen’ which was anchored out in the harbour. With much presence of mind one of those travelling in the party asked the skipper of the tender ’Could I have a farewell call to my fiancé in Belfast?’ Of course, he fell for that and when they eventually got through on the phone she had a long conversation with him in Belfast (no direct dialling in those days) and sure enough, she held things up long enough for my train to arrive just as she finished her call. So, I caught the tender and the boat and I left for America. And my family were very surprised to hear from me later in New York! I didn’t see them again for seven years.”
By the time the international team arrived in New York, Buchman and his US team had booked Madison Square Garden; Constitution Hall in Washington DC; the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles; The World’s Fair in San Francisco aswell as many other meeting halls around the United States.
Arthur’s task was to enlist the Press. The large photomurals that Arthur had been working on were perfect billboards for these meetings as they were designed to be read in public places. Signe was asked to go and meet Arthur at the boat on his arrival from England, as the lettering needed to be done immediately. She set to work on the posters and billboards announcing the strategy for a Hate free, Fear free, Greed free America and to announce ”Moral Re-Armament week” from 7-14 May arouond New York, culminating at a major ”Citizens Meeting” at Madison Square Garden on May 14th 1939. Signs reading Moral Re-Armament the world’s security and MRA – a race with time to remake men and nations framed the arena and 14 000 people took part.
Arthur remembered how ”At the Madison Square Garden meeting there was a radio link-up with Britain and my old friend Tod Sloan.”
Buchman’s arrival in America with this multinational force made it clear that a mobile, integrated team of that size was a formidable instrument in the implementing of the vision that God had given him to remake the world. The young people who joined him from Oxford, Cambridge, Holland, Switzerland and Scandinavia were personally equipped, thanks to their own experiences of change, to tackle this big and bold programme. They divided into teams to work with the press, labour, industry, stage and art working all over the country, in close co-ordination with Buchman’s strategic goals to impact the whole of America. After the meetings in New York the task force left in a cavalcade of cars to Washington DC where 4 000 people attended a rally at Constitution Hall, near the White House on June 4, 1939, Buchmans birthday. Senator Truman who was unknown in those days – nobody thought he would become President – read what took place at the meeting in Washington into the Congressional Record, so that it went all over the country. One of the things he read was the message of President Roosevelt, who sent a special message to the meeting.
Once they got to California, Arthur enlisted a team to create an 18 foot long billboard, something that had never been done before. It stated Fear free, Hate free, Greed free world and was illustrated with portraits of people who had already started to implement the idea that change is possible and necessary in order to bring real peace in the world. 300 delegates attended a conference in Los Angeles on July 18th followed by a meeting of 30 000 people the following day in the Holywood Bowl where 15 000 had to be turned away due to lack of space! There were 4 serachlights beaming into the sky from the stage and at the end of this meeting Arthur scrambled up the slope to take a photo. A second after he took the photo the lights went out! ”Quote from Arthur”.
This was followed by a 10-day conference in Del Monte, now part of Monterey, starting 21st July and culminating in an international parade which passed all the way down the middle of the high street at the San Francisco’s World Fair Golden Gate International Exposition at Treasure Island. It was a dramatic scene where 25 countries were represented marching 10 abreast with their national flags flying.
The Los Angeles News, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco papers carried great support for these events on the West.
Despite the mood in America it was MRA’s idealism and practical personal steps of change that appealed to the American people who finally saw something to hang on to. Something that they could do. Something that made sense once it had been gathered into a workable idea. Meeting halls drew people to overflowing presentations, indicating a hunger for a deeper meaning in life.
The advance was great. Everyone in the task-force was expected and invited to contribute ideas and insights. Every morning they met as a team to compare notes, make plans and iron out any difficulties or personal differences which naturally appeared at times. These were no saints! They were normal human beings. They learnt how to work together without getting emotionally involved in each other and were expected to keep relationships free of sexual contact. There was a tremendous outpouring of hidden talent in action that affected life in the country in smaller or greater ways. Signe found this to be “A satisfying, thrilling experience that turned many heartaches into insight and caring for others and it cannot be overestimated what this meant in release of creative power. The writing, the music, the mounting of plays and the arranging of occasions that inspired solution to social conflicts were vast.”
As the summer passed things looked worse regarding war in Europe. In America materialism was rampant and isolationism firmly part of American politics with no involvement in Europe’s troubles. USA was rapidly becoming aware of its power as a world leader in car and aviation production and in the agricultural export market. But Buchman’s vision was that America could give Europe and the world the idea of a God inspired democracy. Communism and Nazism were already capturing the minds of the youth and the leadership of the country. Frank saw that dictatorship with materialism at its heart would mean the end of civilisation. Devastating industrial strikes, and bad land management had led to the dustbowls where rich green fields had previously existed. Enormous pressure was put on those who dared to challenge the ruthless drive for wealth and power which prevailed but Buchman’s vision and boldness captivated people of calibre.
Many of Signe’s European colleagues planned to return home after the three months were up. Signe’s father sent her money for her fare home. One day while they were in San Francisco Signe told Buchman that she felt it was time for her to go home too. He looked out into the distance for a while and then he looked at her and suggested that she stay a little longer. He didn’t say much but he had touched something in her heart that was big and beyond her and deep inside she responded positively. After that talk Signe went home to her lodgings and cried. They were tears of relief because in her heart she felt that she should stay, but they were also tears of pain because she was afraid that she might never see her family or country again. At least not for a long time. Signe longed to go home to her family and spend time in her home country Norway now that her family was living there again. Growing up as she had in Sweden, she had never had the opportunity to really get to know Norway apart from brief family visits to Sulitjelma and Horten. In Visby Buchman had inspired her to start this uncertain journey of getting to know herself, of being honest, and to begin the practice of listening to her inner guiding voice and now she sought that guidance in one of the biggest decisions she had ever made. So when most of the other Scandinavians left for home Signe stayed on in America. The money for the fare was used on dentist bills instead.
Close to one hundred years later one can but wonder at the sacrificial commitment and deep sense of calling that pervaded their work.
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