D-Day June 6, 1944. The day in which the Allies entrance into France was brutal and costly. What ended in a victory and a beachhead also marked a mass grave where many brave men gave their lives for something greater than themselves. I can imagine that disembarking from a landing craft in the face of heavy machine gun fire and knowing the chances of death were high was not a comforting thought. So why did those men leave the craft? The men who lay strewn on that fateful shore did not prove their courage when they took a bullet but when they left the ships. Courage is not being a casualty but being willing to be one. Whatever battle we engage in we must not ask ourselves the question “Will I win?” but rather “Am I willing to stand?”
Heroes like Churchill, Patton, Eisenhower, De Gaulle, and others would not have been successful if men had not been willing to die for their cause. It is easy to measure one’s mission in life by following the easiest path that will lead to material success. But the great men are those who endure to the end standing for truth. As FRC President Tony Perkins often says, “When you’ve done everything and can do no more, just keep standing.” Standing doesn’t mean temporal success, it means being faithful. Let us remember on this historic day that the men who taught us best how to stand were those who fell forever on that war ravaged Normandy shore. May we stand faithfully wherever we find ourselves.
