Amen.323

The final thought in this prayer is startling and thought provoking, comparing the communications of man through the ether with prayer to God. It is something to ponder.

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?

—Deuteronomy 4:7

August 11

Missing in Action

Marjorie and Rowland Gaunt were married in Cranston, Rhode Island, in August 1943. Within a few weeks, Rowland received his navigator’s wings and assignment to a B-17 bomber squadron in England. In March 1944 Marjorie received the dreaded telegram informing her that her husband was missing in action. For months, she lived in the limbo of not knowing. She continued her letters and her prayers in spite of the agonizing uncertainty. In November, with dwindling hope, she wrote:

Wherever you are, I know you must feel my love for you. My love has grown stronger each day and it is just bursting for expression. I’ve told you many times how much I love you, and I am so thankful for that now… Please, darling… keep your eyes uplifted and trust in God. I’ve prayed continually for His protection over you and His guidance during these long trying months. I pray for Him to give you patience and to bless you and make you strong. Oh, that I might bear it for you. I would gladly die that you might come back to those that love you and live gloriously to serve humanity and God… Be strong, my darling. May God give you courage, patience and strength that will carry you triumphantly through your ordeals to lasting peace, gentleness and love.324

Unfortunately, these prayers were not answered as Marjorie hoped they would be. Rowland was lost at sea in February 1944 when his B-17 was shot down off the coast of Denmark. It was not until 1945 that she was officially informed of his death by the War Department. Marjorie’s courage and faithfulness sustained her during this long ordeal and are a strong witness to the power of faith in such a bleak time. Her prayers may not have been rewarded in this life as she had hoped, but we can rest in the assurance that God’s will was accomplished and that this brave couple will triumphantly find lasting peace and love together in eternity.

And the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.

—Mark 10:89

August 12

Physical Separation

Erman Southwick was inducted into the Army in 1943 and served in Europe for most of the war. He was sustained during this separation by a lively correspondence with his wife, Flora, at home in Marietta, Ohio. Her words made a moving case that she and Erman were not really separated by the miles between them:

When I get a letter from you I try to make a mental picture of all the things you tell me and then knowing you as I do I work out just how you reacted to what you said and the expression on your face. It makes me feel so close to you and through every line of your letters is the assurance over and over again of your love and that gives me a safe warm feeling inside. You see, darling, I just love you so much, I don’t really recognize any separation from you. They can separate us physically and that is pretty hard to take sometimes but when there is complete emotional and intellectual unity between two people to really separate them is impossible.325

This couple demonstrates the biblical model of marriage: “So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate”(Matthew 19:6). Even though separated by time and distance, they remained united in spirit. The marriage relationship is intended to be an everlasting bond between a man and a woman reflecting the depth of our relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. With the words “complete emotional and intellectual unity” this young woman perfectly captures the essence of that higher unity promised by the apostle Paul. In one of the most moving passages of Scripture, we receive a vision of the spiritual unity in Jesus Christ that will prevail through every hardship:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

—Romans 8:38–39

August 13

Pocket Prayers

In 1941 the Episcopal Church of the United States published a small booklet for soldiers and sailors that could be carried in their pockets wherever they went. It included an Order of Worship, Holy Communion, prayers, psalms, readings, and hymns. All these were selected to meet the needs of military men and women. Some of the prayers are especially poignant and universally relevant:326

For God’s Help

Grant us, O Lord, in all our duties thy help, in all our perplexities thy counsel, in all our dangers thy protection, and in all our sorrows thy peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour, Amen.

Grant us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Fidelity

Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labour and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Loyalty

Almighty God, grant us thy gift of loyalty. For our homes, give us love and obedience; for our country, sacrifice and service; for our Church, reverence and devotion; and in everything make us true to thee; through thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

For Loyalty to Our Homes

Grant, O Lord, to those in the service of their country who have left wives and children at home, a steadfast loyalty through all the days of separation, that returning at length to their beloved they may know the joy of unbroken fidelity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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