Storming the beach

Imagine staring death in the face. Imagine knowing that you are about to die in a foreign country, and the majority of people whom you are dying for do not even know your name. Now imagine having the courage to continue on in the face of this almost certain death.

The men who fought gallantly during the D-Day Invasion did not have to imagine these things. They lived each one June 6, 1944. As 160,000 Allied troops approached the French coastline, there was no time for second guessing and no time for turning back in fear. There was only moving forward.

It takes more than courage to do something like that. It takes the belief that what you are fighting for is of greater worth than your life. These soldiers clearly believed that protecting this country, and the world, carried more importance than their own life. They were able to put aside everything of comfort and familiarity for the future of millions of people.

“We've got to remember the folks who did it and those who still do it – the one percent who go into harm’s way for the benefit of the (other) 99 percent,” Dave De Soucy, a retired officer who served in combat during the Vietnam War, said in an article on the United States Army’s website.

This day in United States history could arguably be one of the most important days in our past. This was the beginning of the end for Hitler. It was a huge step in ending World War II. But it was also the end of thousands of soldiers. Their last act on this earth was fighting for freedom for not only their family, but also for strangers.

How should this knowledge affect the way we as Americans live our lives? Should knowing that men who fought nearly 70 years ago to ensure that we can live in freedom influence us in any way?

If this knowledge affects anything, it should at least affect our pride in this country and in our soldiers. We should take pride in the fact that these men took enough pride in their country to give up their lives for its safety and for the safety of those living in it.  

“It is important that (people) recognize that the freedoms they enjoy today are a result of the sacrifice of millions of people from all over the world that ensured their liberty,” Joseph W. Westphal, under secretary of the Army, said in another article on the United States Army’s website. “No greater act of bravery was ever carried out than that of millions of citizen soldiers, and civilians, who faced and defeated tyranny and rebuilt this country and the world.”

This day should be an inspiration to those of us who may never stare death in the face. It should inspire us to be strong and stand up to whatever our personal Normandy beaches are. And, just as Dwight D. Eisenhower said, we should “accept nothing less than full victory” when we storm these beaches.

Killer clowns and paranoia

‘Tis the season to find your inner child through the completely acceptable tradition of dressing up as anything your heart desires, no matter your age. It is also the season of willingly paying money to walk through a dark house filled with goblins and clowns bearing chainsaws who jump out at you from corners, giving you what feels like the beginning of a heart attack.

I cannot watch horror movies, and I am petrified of clowns. But for some reason, I love walking through haunted houses. There is something oddly exciting about knowing that at any second someone or something could jump out in front of my face, causing me to scream in fear and cling to whomever is nearest me at the moment.

Knowing it is completely fake, and each person causing me to break out in a cold sweat is simply your average Joe with some clown makeup on, dispels any fears of actually being cut up into tiny pieces by the clowns with the chainsaws. Besides, according to a study done by the University of Westminster, you can burn more than 100 calories just from watching a horror film. Imagine how many you burn walking through a haunted house.

Each year, Liberty University puts on Scaremare, a haunted walk through creepy woods and an old house. Clowns, masked figures, insane people and goblins terrorize those walking through. Thankfully, they are not allowed to touch you, but they sure love getting up in your face or whispering in your ear.

Always traveling in groups of about six or seven, this year a young gentleman joined my group after losing his group, or so he told us. Walking through the haunted house, he stayed in the front, pointing out to us any hidden figures ready to pounce. He seemed to know exactly where to go through the maze of hallways, and my friend and I began to speculate if he really lost his group or if he worked for Scaremare. We questioned him, wondering if this was all a plot to gain our trust before turning on us and terrifying us in some way or another.

Denying our accusations with a smug little smile and a shake of his head, he continued to lead us on, and we continued to follow him, not knowing what else to do but accept the inevitable Mr. Hyde when the time came. After all, we knew the whole thing to be fake.

Well, as it turned out, walking through haunted woods and a creepy old house heightens paranoia because the poor kid really did just lose his group. I wonder what was going through his head as we told him that, since we were convinced he was a worker, we would not come save him if a clown dragged him off into the woods in an attempt to frighten the innocent college students.

I think it’s interesting how often we do this in our everyday lives. In today’s culture, we expect the worst. We find it a normalcy to hear about people enduring persecution, someone getting shot in Baltimore or a patient dying of cancer. Not to say we just shrug our shoulders and say “such is life,” but it has become something that we expect in this day and age.

On the flip side of that, when something like a faith healing or the pope washing the feet of prisoners occur, we look for another explanation. The faith healing was probably a hoax, and the pope probably had ulterior motives for his actions. Because we are so used to forgery and evil, it is difficult to take off our rose dipped in poison colored glasses.

I wonder how often God just smiles and shakes his head at us when we don’t believe that he is doing something wonderful in our lives because we are too caught up in figuring out how the good is actually out to get us. I know I am guilty of doing this. God will bless me with so many good things, and yet I cannot enjoy it because I will wonder when the world will rip the rug out from under my feet, causing me to fall on my face once again.

God desires to bless us and provide us with situations in life where we are reminded of his grace and goodness. There is evil in this world, and unfortunately we do not need to look too hard to find it. But God is leading the way through it, pointing out when to be strong against the attacks of the devil. We just have to trust he is going to work out everything for our good. We have to stop looking for excuses to not trust. We have to follow even when we don’t know where he is leading, even when we don’t know what he is planning.

The beauty of this is we do not have to worry that he is going to turn on us and then laugh as we recoil in fear. We can have absolute faith and trust that he is on our side, and he will lead us out of the darkness and away from the clowns hiding in corners. All we have to do is follow.

After his family approached him at the end of Scaremare, and our pride took a slight blow with the realization that we were wrong the entire time, my friend and I laughed at our paranoia. We knew how ridiculous we must have sounded in the midst of all our accusations and distrust. If we had just believed him from the start, it would have saved us a lot of added extra fear. But then again, I guess we wouldn’t have burned as many calories.   

From atop the solo challenge

Approaching the high adventure solo challenge, I surveyed the situation at hand and knew at once that something was not quite right. The middle school kids who were supposed to be climbing into harnesses and strapping on helmets to take their turn climbing up the 20-foot pole were sitting off to the side. Glancing toward the top of the pole, I saw one of the middle school boys in a squat position, hands clutching his knees, face twisted in fear and concentration.  

I walked up to my coworker who was belaying for the poor kid whom I’ll call Jeff, and I asked him how long Jeff had been on top of the solo challenge. It is not uncommon for people to climb up the pole quickly, get on top and then freeze, too scared to jump off. At this point in time, I was told that Jeff had been atop the pole for about an hour.

This was already an impressive feat. Not only was it extremely hot, but Jeff was also squatting, too scared to stand up straight for fear of losing his balance. The kid had some legs of steel to endure that position for an hour. Despite the encouragement and cheers from his fellow campers and from the SpringHill staff present, Jeff was unwilling to make the leap.

 

The nerve-wracking thing about the solo challenge is that once someone reaches the top, the only way to get down is to jump. Each camper is harnessed in, of course, so after the jump, the camper hangs from the harness as the belayer slowly lets them down. So logically, there should be no fear of getting hurt or falling.

One thing I found interesting as I would belay campers is that many of them would ask the same exact question: “If I fall, will you catch me?” My answer was always the same as I replied with, “Yes, you can trust me. I am not letting go of this rope and, even if you fall, even when you jump, I will never let go.” At this point, some of them would close their eyes and jump. Others, however, would hear my words, but the shaky pole under their feet and the ground so far beneath them proved too much, and they gave into their fears and would not budge.

I never understood why they would rather stand atop that pole for long stretches of time, staring at the distance between them and solid ground, knowing that the only way was to trust me and jump. I never understood until I looked at it from another perspective.

I have been learning a lot about prayer recently. There are some major steps that I have to take soon, and I have been praying for God to give me wisdom and to reveal to me how he wants me to take these steps. These are some scary steps. Steps such as leaving the country for three weeks and figuring out what to do after graduation. Until now, the adrenaline has kept me moving. Just like my campers, I have raced to the top of the pole. But now that I am at the top, the only thing to do is take that leap and trust that God is going to catch me.

Staring into the future is like staring over the top of that pole. It is intimidating, and I know that on my own I would never make it. But God is right there, telling me, “Yes, you can trust me. I am not letting go of this rope and, even if you fall, even when you jump, I will never let go.” And so now the choice is mine. Do I trust him and jump, believing that he is holding onto me, or do I tremble at the top of the pole, letting the fear of failure and potential hurt hold me back?

Jeff squatted on top of that pole for two solid hours. By the time he was on the ground again, his face was red from tears, sweat and sunburn. My coworker had his own sunburn, as well as some impressive blisters from holding the rope steady for two hours. But he never let go.

I jumped off of my pole recently, and the relief was immediate. God has proven his faithfulness again and again, and I am overwhelmed by it all. I understand how easy it is to let fear take hold and paralyze any action or trust, but do not let that take over and consume, or you will never know what it feels like to have your feet on solid ground.