A Life Lived Well

Spycraft has several applicable adjectives and nouns that define the second-oldest profession, surpassed only by prostitution: confidential, classified, clandestine, covert, and concealed, with intrigue and deception that occur between danger and survival, where choices and consequences are the ends justifying the means (so argued) in the shady arena of tradecraft. The multifaceted world of spies, as revealed by these words, discloses the depth and diversity of espionage, with a hint at the rich landscape of intelligence operations and their unique characteristics. These characteristics offer a glimpse into the shadowy, captivating realm of espionage, as well as the nuances of strategy, schemes, and secrets that challenge the conscience. Second World War Germany provides a compelling context for some of history's fascinating espionage tales. This powerful historical novel captures the imagination with a touch of literary license, yet real for actual persons, agencies, events, chronology, and times, with a sophisticated, refined, intelligent protagonist whose life reveals the essence of a life lived well within the context of being and becoming and whose leisure epitomizes a studious armchair theologian, backseat philosopher, and pastime history enthusiast, who understands the value of all three in preparing his mind to prevail in adversity that defines who and what he is. Indeed, adversity defines and refines his character. At 2:00 a.m. on a moonless night, February 1, 1944, at a small, remote, secluded pier at Herm in the Channel Islands, a gray British submarine quietly accepted a unique warrior, Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) Hans Hoffmann, powerful physique at six feet four and 210 pounds, wearing the German Abwehr uniform (military intelligence) with impressive, handsome facial features despite a deep facial scar left of his nose, an eyepatch over his right eye, and the coveted Knight's black Iron Cross with silver oak leaves just below his throat. This warrior (skilled in the subtle art of espionage) carried an attaché case of invaluable intelligence. As the submarine submerged, a prayer of gratitude whispered from the lips of a stunningly beautiful Jewess with long black hair standing on the pier. This rogue Abwehr agent undermined the Nazi regime even as he ran from it with a price on his head, and wanted by the SS for rescuing a Jewish beauty from a ghetto labor camp directly under the eyes of the SS commandant with a letter bearing Hitler's forged signature. Fleeing led to the Ardennes and joining an underground resistance group to ambush Nazi rail convoys before fleeing to the smallest Channel island for refuge. This former pariah (in police internal affairs, police chief, and professor), once tasted the scourge of the SS whip wielded by an implacable enemy, was destined to return as police chief and professor in Heidelberg. Then, the Chancellor persuaded him to take a leave of absence as a federal criminal police investigator to locate and apprehend SS officers involved with three death camps and hiding for twenty years after the war. His tale is one of intrigue, romance, and survival, delving into the folly of the Faustian bargain, embracing Darwinian survival and Nietzschean Übermensch, and revealing the ultimate evil embedded in the Nazi psyche, juxtaposed with the meaning of true faith, casuistry of conscience, and what matters in life. The ethos of this extraordinary man provides a valuable lesson in the fundamentals of living well from the viewpoint of practical theology and philosophy of life: purpose, perspective, principles, and priorities—plain and practical after a purging process tinged with a trace of skepticism and common sense that sustains resilience in the stress and struggle of life and its anxieties, afflictions, and adversities. How to live is a question that resonates with relevance for rectitude and dignity. Living well is a life of choice, not chance, with critical convictions about clarifying, changing, cultivating, and controlling self in the circumstances and course of life. This remarkable man understood that life’s philosophy is more about what you are and do than what you know—crucial mapmaking for the soul, particularly cartography for the journey this side of the divide, destined for the other side. It is a search-and-rescue mission for the soul to determine the direction for life this side that prepares for the other side. Life’s journey should be about wise living with prudent simplicity, which has a crucial connection to silent solitude that succors the soul and declutters mental and physical space. Simplicity is more than a discipline. It is a way of being and becoming a commonsense conservative—an anomaly, outlier, pariah, and sojourner in a changing culture that abandons God and assaults tradition and reality with accommodation and assimilation. This unique and unusual man has the moral courage to withstand specious spin by Nazi propaganda to conform to the herd mentality and go with the flow based on feeling rather than reason—all antithetical to taking a stand or speaking out in defense of objective truth and reality. Yet, he truly appreciates God's unfolding providence that governs the time, manner, and effects of all that occurs in his life: each heartbeat decreed, every trial predestined, each disappointment foreknown, each discouragement foreseen, each sleepless hour preordained, and each result eternally purposed, for nothing small or big escapes His all-seeing eye and ordaining hand that measures the minute details of all that occurs in His unfolding providence. Meticulous, indeed! So, the extraordinary man revealed in the following pages presents a compelling and edifying narrative on how to live well, with a touch of practical theology, a dash of applicable philosophy, and a hint of instructive history. This book provides valuable lessons in the fundamentals of wise living in what truly matters in life, based on purpose, perspective, principles, precepts, and priorities—plain and practical, after a purging process tinged with a trace of skepticism and common sense that sustains resilience in the stress and struggle of life and its anxieties, afflictions, and adversities. The exceptional man revealed in this book personifies life as becoming what should have been without being encumbered by what might have been.