Psalm 46: 1-11 (links validated 9/12/22)

There is something about the Louis Armstrong spiritual “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” that smacks of Psalm 46’s own combination of realistic admission of trouble in life and yet a bold proclamation that there is hope to be found in the God who can still receive us like a refuge and silence us long enough to hear God’s reassuring voice. Trouble and sorrow in the Armstrong song is nonetheless followed up with “Glory, Hallelujah” as well as the line that then reveals how any sense of praising can come in a song that otherwise centers on suffering: namely, the only one who really does know the troubles any of us see is Jesus.

There is something about the Louis Armstrong spiritual “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” that smacks of Psalm 46’s own combination of realistic admission of trouble in life and yet a bold proclamation that there is hope to be found in the God who can still receive us like a refuge and silence us long enough to hear God’s reassuring voice. Trouble and sorrow in the Armstrong song is nonetheless followed up with “Glory, Hallelujah” as well as the line that then reveals how any sense of praising can come in a song that otherwise centers on suffering: namely, the only one who really does know the troubles any of us see is Jesus.

One person I knew who wholeheartedly trusted God was the late Mary Cosby, who in 1947 was one of the co-founders of the Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., along with her husband, Gordon. Some of America’s most prominent social justice pastors consider that church a trailblazer because of its primary focus on work with the poor and disenfranchised through dozens of nonprofits and small faith communities. The Church of the Saviour took discipleship very seriously; participants who wished to become members had to devote at least two years to personal spiritual practices, leading to intentional commitment to follow Jesus Christ in one of the church’s specific faith communities. I had known Gordon and Mary since 1970 through my studies with them and other teachers at their Servant Leadership School in D.C. Both Gordon and Mary later became my mentors in forming a church in Richmond, Va., in the 1990s based on their model. Gordon was a giant of the faith, and Mary had amazing capacities for charm, teaching the gospel with stories, and exhibiting a deep gratitude to God. But now their lives were drawing to a close...

The historian Stephen Ambrose has said that, with the exception of General Eisenhower, then-First Sergeant “Bud” Lomell was the single individual most responsible for the success of D-Day. In the early hours of the invasion, his unit of Army Rangers landed at the foot of some sheer cliffs adjacent to Utah Beach, a place known as Pointe du Hoc. They quietly scaled the cliff with ropes, without being noticed by the German defenders — who figured no one could possibly climb those cliffs. Their objective was five large artillery pieces that pretty much controlled Utah Beach. If those cannons were operational a few hours later, when the first wave of invaders was scheduled to hit the beach, the carnage would have been unbelievable. Sergeant Lomell and his men found no cannons where they were supposed to be: only some telephone poles the Germans had set up as decoys, to fool the Allied reconnaissance aircraft into thinking they were gun barrels. Moving inland, they found the real guns hidden in an apple orchard, covered by camouflage netting. About two hundred German soldiers were nearby, receiving orders from their officers. No one was defending the guns. Bud ran up to the artillery emplacement himself and destroyed the gun sights by bashing them with the butt of his rifle. Then, he used thermite grenades to melt the firing mechanism. He performed this sabotage without the Germans noticing. By the time the Allied soldiers hit the beach, the guns of Pointe du Hoc were useless.