Wilder's Immergrün

'Wilders Immergrün' is meant to be a conclusion, the essence of his life stories, viewed somewhat distantly in the third person.

The focus here is not on the new, but on the synthesis, the well-roundedness, an overview from earliest memories to the present of 2019.

But why 'Wilder'? It is a concession to his love of nature and truth, his commitment to reality, and at the same time a warning against delusions.

And why 'Immergrün'? It is also a possible translation of the Latin VIRIDITAS, the 'green power' of God, as Hildegard of Bingen conceived it.

Even if we enjoy meat - it ultimately comes exclusively from the green. 'Everything is leaf,' Goethe recognized. Where nothing grows, there is need. Not only for the trained theologian have the great faith statements of religions, which have grown into dogmas, proven to be challenges for the human mind; even the Christian faith, which arose from the exaggerated statements of late Roman antiquity, is partly pure literature. A competition for the strongest, the most powerful God has led to increasingly unrealistic statements.

'Wilder' remains humble; he does not demand a belief in miracles, the green power of life is miracle enough for him! He looks back on his life with gratitude and is happy to be here.

We moderns have not yet moved beyond Albert Schweitzer's call: 'the reverence for life,' even though we have been able to - and must - expand the concept of life more and more.