A WORD FOR TODAY, June 6, 2024
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, June 6, 2024
“Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you, he will in no way lose his reward.” Matthew 10:42, WEB
The youth program at the church I attended as a young adult was called Double-D Disciples. We called ourselves by that name because we always had donuts from that double-d donut shop (Dunkin Donuts) we all know and love. We talked about God and the bible, but we gathered around the donuts, a delightfully sweet treat for our Sunday morning discussions. Since those days I have discovered that there are many other donut shops, some of which serve absolutely terrific donuts, and I have even learned to make donuts in my own kitchen, but my heart will always remember that group of fellow Christians as we tried to find our way through the world by understanding God s Word with powdered sugar on our faces.
Today is the 80th anniversary remembrance of D-Day which occurred on June 6, 1944. D-Day was an incredibly risky maneuver by the Allied Forces to get a hundred and sixty thousand troops into France to fight Nazi Germany. General Eisenhower said, “We will accept nothing less than victory,” and in the end he got exactly what he wanted. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of men on that fifty-mile stretch of beach, but their sacrifice allowed many others to work their way into the heart of France to save millions of people.
Many world leaders and other visitors were in Normandy today remembering the lost and honoring the dwindling number of WWII veterans that survived that difficult but heroic operation so long ago. What would our world look like if it hadn’t been for the bravery of those soldiers and the brilliance of those who planned and executed the invasion?
I know it may seem odd to talk about war and death with a hint of pride in a Christian devotional. And yet in some ways it almost seems like divine intervention must have helped the Allies and set them on a path to stop the horror and tragedy that was going on in Nazi Europe. The soldiers killed many people, perhaps even a few innocent civilians and sometimes even their fellow soldiers, in the chaos of war. In the end we can’t even guess how many people, not only Jews, but also the sick, the elderly, the disabled and the different were saved by their sacrifice. Hitler may be remembered for the millions of Jews that were cruelly killed in gas chambers and other torturous ways, but they weren’t the only ones who suffered the evil of the Nazi regime.
War is never a good thing, but sometimes it is a necessary evil to stop an even greater evil in the world. As Martin Luther said, “Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world.” We live in a fallen and broken world, and sometimes we have no choice but to sin. When we do, we thank Jesus for His grace and trust that He will make good come out of our circumstances.
So, how does all this relate to donuts? Tomorrow is National Donut Day, and many people will celebrate by getting a free donut at their favorite donut place. Donuts were invented during the First World War by Salvation Army volunteers who set up tents near the battlefields to help and encourage the soldiers. They were there to offer spiritual aid and comfort, but they also provided the soldiers with coffee and donuts. See, it was very difficult to make enough cakes and pies to satisfy the sweet tooth of so many men. It was much easier, however, to deep fry dough and cover it in sugar. These donuts could be quickly made and served with coffee as the men enjoyed a brief respite from their task. They were also easy to eat. The donut huts returned to Europe during the Second World War. The idea made it back to the States and now there are donut shops all over our cities.
The first National Donut Day was on June 7, 1938 and honored the brave women called donut lassies who risked their own lives to give comfort in body, mind, and spirit to our soldiers. It is celebrated on the first Friday of June. We might think there’s no connection with the D-Day celebrations, but I imagine that those few living survivors who are being honored on the beach at Normandy today have fond memories of the donuts they enjoyed during those rare occasions when they could relax and eat a sweet treat from a pretty girl.
We might think that something as simple as a donut can have no real impact on the world, but it is amazing how little things can change an attitude, brighten a day, encourage a person, and even save a life. Like a smile in a grocery store or a donut on the battlefield, the glass of water in today s text can make a very real difference. It seems like nothing; for most of us water is readily available. But we all know how satisfying a cold glass of ice water can be on a hot day, and a glass of water can be lifesaving for someone who is dehydrated.
We are so thankful for the men and women who sacrificed so much on that day eighty years ago and during the necessary evil of the wars that overcame a much greater evil in the world, including those donut lassies who found a way to shine a spark of light in the darkness. May we never forget, both the reality of evil that exists and the signs that the evil is getting a hold in our lives. And may we never forget that sometimes all it takes is a smile, a donut, or a glass of water to shine the light of Christ in the world of someone who is being overcome by darkness.
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