Psalms 37:37-40
“Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him.”
Today marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Sixth of June, when Allied troops launched Operation Overlord, the massive long-awaited invasion of Europe. It involved 4,000 ships, 11,000 planes, and nearly three million men along the heavily fortified French coastline in Normandy and further inland all over France. Their critical mission was to destroy the enemy’s hold on the coast by securing a beachhead and then to establish a port for supplies to be unloaded that would meet the needs of troops as they fought in the final push to victory in Europe which came in May of 1945.
We don’t read much about what was going on back home on that day—families despairing for their sons who were surely in harm’s way, across an ocean, fighting on foreign soil to free millions from Nazi tyranny and secure freedom once again. Civilization itself was at stake and it called for a powerful outpouring of prayer. This account gives us a window into what it was like on that day in just one location, Washington, DC.:
“On that morning of June 6, 1944, thousands of people were crisscrossing Washington’s Union Station. Their footsteps echoed throughout the vast hall, and you could see the sense of purpose on the faces of each of these wartime commuters as they headed north, south, east, and west on their respective trains. For weeks there had been an unspoken atmosphere of expectancy. When would the tide of war turn? When would Allied forces invade Europe? When would D-Day dawn?
Charles Wilson, the president of General Electric, was in Union Station that day and he later recorded the remarkable moment that he observed:
“‘No announcement was made from the loudspeaker. There were no radios blaring, no newsboys shouting the headlines. But suddenly the scurrying and crisscrossing stopped,’ said Wilson. ‘The hum of a thousand conversations ceased. The news passed quickly from person to person: The Invasion had begun… The Allied Forces were landing in Normandy.
A hush fell over that vast railroad station. The beam of sunlight fell into the waiting room as it does into a cathedral. And suddenly a woman dropped to her knees and folded her hands; near her, a man knelt down. Then another, then another, until all around me people knelt in prayer before the hard wooden benches of Union Station.
Some were no doubt praying for a loved one in the warzone. Others were praying for the troops in general, for the success of the invasion, and for the leaders of the Allied Forces. A hush filled that cavernous station as multitudes spontaneously fell to their knees in prayer. Then slowly the woman rose to her feet. The man beside her rose, too, and within seconds Union Station was alive with motion and sound again. But for those of us who witnessed the hush,’ wrote Charles Wilson, ‘Union Station will always have a special meaning: we were there on the day the railroad station in Washington, D.C., became a house of worship.’” *
Father, we thank You for the boldness, courage, humility, and dependence upon You that one woman expressed on that historic day, without saying a word. May we be so bold, to fall upon our knees, wherever and whenever You call; to pray that You would deliver us from the evil one and wickedness in this world. We, Your people trust in You and pray in Your name. Amen
~ painting by Abraham Hunter
*Adapted from “A Very Present Help,” compiled by the editors of Guidepost Magazine (Carmel, NY: Guideposts, 1985), 83.
