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So
now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved
you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the
world that you are my disciples."
(John 13:34-35 NLV). I know Memorial Day has come and gone,
but the following story surfaced and I could not let it slip by without passing
it on. The stories of courage and love are such powerful encouragement to us. In the open salvos of World War II, a large British military force on the European continent, as well as English citizens and diplomats, retreated to the French coastal port of Dunkirk. With its back against the English Channel, the British army faced a German army that threatened to drive it into the sea. To save what he could of his army, British prime minister Winston Churchill called for all available sea vessels, whether large or small, to evacuate the soldiers and civilians from the besieged French beaches and bring them back across the Channel to safety. An incredible array of ships and boats raced to the rescue, fishing boats and cruise ships alike. As the flotilla made its way to the beach to pick up soldiers and then move out again, Nazi aircraft set upon them like vultures while German artillery pummeled them with shells. Ships were strafed with machine gun fire, and some were blown out of the water altogether. Three German Messerschmits attacked the defenseless Lancastria, a converted cruise liner whose decks and hold were packed with soldiers. One bomb dropped directly down the ship's smokestack, tearing a huge gap in her lower hull. Nearly 200 men were trapped in the forward hold of the now severely listing ship. No one doubted that the liner was going down. Chaos, smoke, oil, fire, and blood, mixed with terrified cries of the men trapped below, created pandemonium on deck as those hopeful of surviving searched for lifeboats or simply leaped into the water. Moving through the middle of this living nightmare, a young Navy chaplain quietly worked his way to the edge of the hold and peered in at the darkness below. Then, knowing he could never get out, he dropped into the hole. Survivors later told how the only thing that gave them courage to survive until passing ships could rescue them was hearing the strong, brave voices of the men in the hold singing hymns as the ship finally rolled over and went to the bottom. This true story testifies to the courage and compassion of one faithful Christian who gave his life to provide comfort, courage, and hope to the suffering. Perhaps you will never be called on to make such a sacrifice in the face of certain death. However, there are so many other expressions of love that mean so much in the lives of others as we interact with them each day. We are also called to demonstrate that kind of love in our lost and dying world. Whose life will you make better today by having been there?
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