Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

It's often the case that even the smallest acts of courage changed the world.

Kamala Bendova and her late husband Vakliffe, both Christians and mathematicians,

raised their family in communist-controlled Czechoslovakia,

while being engaged in anti-totalitarian efforts of the Charter 77 Resistance Group. Kamala shared their story of courage

during our Colson Center National Conference back in May. The Bendava's courage began with a small

act of resistance. In an old video clip from the BBC, which Kamala showed during our

conference, she and her husband debated whether or not to acquiesce to the government demand

that citizens display little flags celebrating the communist takeover. As Kamala described,

quote, you see, they wanted us to show the world that the Czech Republic was a democracy

on the outside, but on the inside, it didn't work like that. Yes, we had elections, but there was

only one party you could vote for. Well, powerfully, the video concluded, with the two agreeing

simply and decisively, but also courageously, no little flags, no little flags. Well, eventually, their resistance would cost

them greatly. In 1979, Vaklav was arrested for his involvement with Charter 77 and imprisoned for four

years. Despite this hardship, Kamala continued to open her home to dissidents, many of whom would

stop by to seek her advice and encouragement before they had to

be interrogated by the secret police. She relayed secret communications. She had resistance documents

in her apartment. And all the while, she and her family prayed and studied and stayed together.

The Bendavis taught their children to love truth and to reject lies, especially by reading to them

each and every night. In fact, the story that most shaped the moral imagination of her children

was Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, which was illegal at the time. When she was asked why

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