The only part of the British Isles occupied by Germany in the Second World War was the Channel Islands. This brought hardship and repression to the islanders.
On the Island of Alderney the Germans had spread untreated human sewage on the fields. They were warned of the grave danger of doing this, but to no avail.
A boy went to play in the fields, and he became very ill and died. Facilities for the people were very minimal. This meant that the boy’s mother had the distressing task of laying him out for burial. There was a group of men brought over from Guernsey by the Germans as labourers. They kindly made the coffin for the boy.
The funeral service was arranged, but a priest was needed. The mother, in her sorrow, had no alternative but to go to the German military to ask for someone to take the funeral. They agreed to provide somebody.
On the day of the funeral the island roads were deserted, there was no military in sight. The Guernsey men carried the boy's coffin with the grieving mother, family and others from the community following up to the church. As they approached the door, a German army padre emerged from the shadows. He was the sole German among the grieving islanders,
The mother afterwards remarked that she thought he was a very brave man, so she must have been a virtuous woman to feel this way in her distress. He conducted the service, and after the burial, he stood and gave the German salute. A tense hush fell on the gathered company and they all stood still. The mother said later that she thought the Guernsey men could have turned on the padre and killed him, but they restrained themselves from expressing their feelings in any way. The padre then turned away and left.
The mother felt his departure deeply, for she said that he could not even come over to her and give personal words of sympathy and comfort at the graveside. She had just buried the son she had conceived, given birth to, weaned, raised, loved, and cared for with all her motherly attributes. The comfort she needed was not there from the person she would normally have expected it from.
All of us need comfort, not just when a person dies but every day we need physical comfort, the assurance of the comfort of knowing that we can pay our way in life, the comfort of family support and the comfort of knowing that everyone near and dear is happy and safe. Comfort covers many aspects of life, but what about the comfort that God gives. What is it, and how can we enter into the joy of it? The Bible tells us that true comfort is one of the attributes of God, for He is described as ‘the God of all comfort’. What an amazing statement! There is no circumstance, however complex, tragic, distressing or burdensome, to which His comfort cannot bring help and support.
The most outstanding comfort is knowing that our sins are forgiven, that we have the gift of eternal life, and that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour. Such blessed assurance because He died at Calvary for us. Do trust Him today, repent of your sin, and thank Him for dying to give you that very special comfort. The grieving mother looked for human comfort, which has limitations, but the most incredible comfort comes from the One who will never leave us comfortless, the Lord Jesus Christ.
DAILY MESSAGES WITH MEANING (16/11/24)
Written by RODERICK BARTON
All photos courtesy of Unsplash
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