PCUSA Mission

Ostensibly, this story begins on a Sunday morning in June, when the pastor told us of an untimely death which would have far-reaching significance for persons in our Prague 6 congregation, for the Protestant Theological Faculty, for an ECCB congregation in the community of Kladno, and for many other folks in a variety of places. Dr. Daniel Alexander Neval had died of a heart-attack on June 3 at the age of thirty-five. Prior to that morning, I had not known that Daniel’s fiancé was the daughter of the member of the Prague 6 congregation who had accompanied me to the meeting of the Ecumenical Forum of Christian women just days before and who has extended particular kindness to me on many other occasions.

However, it was clear that Daniel’s future mother-in-law was heart-broken at his premature death, and it was evident that many other people were also deeply touched. A similar sense of loss was palpable the next evening, as John and I joined a number of dear friends at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Wall to attend a memorial service that had been prepared by Daniel’s fiancé and the Faculty’s International Department.

During that service, the outlines of Daniel’s contributions to the Czech Republic began to emerge. As Dean Pavel Filipi spoke, I recalled the energetic manner in which Daniel had participated in the life of the Protestant Theological Faculty. Not only had he pursued doctoral studies in conjunction with that institution, he had also been instrumental in founding and leading the association of international alumni that assembles in Prague each autumn under the name, “Friends of the Faculty.” As the Reverend Pavel Smetana spoke, I learned that Daniel had been quite involved in the reconciling pursuits of the Czech Ecumenical Council of Churches. [And,] as Professor Dagmar Čapková spoke, I was moved to consider the whole-hearted manner in which Daniel had committed himself to translating Comenius’ writings into German and to studying that important thinker’s life and works until he arrived at the ground-breaking insights which distinguish his Ph.D. dissertation. Other speakers reminded us of Daniel’s compassionate ways of relating to ordinary people and of caring for his Kladno congregation. Yet, my fragmentary recollections of the service at St. Martin-in-the-Wall are only part of the story.

I had long known that Daniel had grown up and studied in Switzerland. However, I only recently learned that his grandfather was a Protestant pastor in the Czech lands before his mother and father emigrated to a nation where they could offer their family a life characterized by possibility rather than poverty and freedom rather than oppression. Nevertheless, Daniel felt drawn to return to the heritage of faith that his grandfather had preserved. Thus, he came to the Czech Republic, immersed himself in its language and culture, and carried on Comenius’ legacy through his scholarship and service to the church. He dared to set forth on the difficult, but fulfilling, journey that was required to return to the source of his faith and to recover the roots of his ancestry.

As I consider Daniel’s story, I cannot help but recall that it was Comenius’ life-long desire to return to the land from which he was exiled as a result of Counter-reformation measures. In contrast, Daniel Alexander Neval was able to return ‘home’ and to live close to the source of his spiritual heritage. Thus, his short life was rich and full, and may be an apt invitation for us to take Comenius’ words to heart: ‘To enter into friendship with a dear one is an act which death cannot disrupt, because the spiritual friendship which unites our hearts in God is more than that which rests in the body.’* May it be so!

*This paraphrased ‘translation’ of Comenius’ words is intuitive rather than literal.