The other night Susan and I watched the movie Dunkirk which provided an account of what was one of the most remarkable events of World War II. To the shock of Western Europe, Hitler’s military had successfully invaded one country after another through its ruthless practice of blitzkrieg (“lightning war”). France had fallen. What was left of the British and French armies was surrounded and isolated on a narrow strip of beach around the coastal city of Dunkirk.
Prime Minister Churchill wanted to rescue as many British soldiers as possible. He was aware that Hitler’s next step would be the invasion of England. To have any chance of repelling a German invasion, England needed at least some of the soldiers trapped on the beach at Dunkirk. British military authorities told Churchill that of the almost 400,000 soldiers stranded at Dunkirk, the most one could hope to rescue was only 45,000 men. However, through a fortunate convergence of conditions and events, over 338,000 British and other Allied troops were safely transported to England. Had “the miracle of Dunkirk” not occurred, Hitler, more than likely, would have been able to invade and conquer England, now the last nation in Europe opposing Nazi tyranny. Without this successful evacuation, the future history of the entire world might have been tragically and horribly different from what we now know and take for granted.
This amazing feat of rescue has been called “the miracle of Dunkirk.” Several conditions and events allowed for this astonishing evacuation: Hitler’s orders for German troops to pause before “finishing off” what was left of Allied troops; cloud cover which hindered German planes from utterly destroying the soldiers on the beaches and the ships and boats which carried these soldiers to safety; the heroism of the RAF; the genius of one British officer who discovered a way to move the soldiers to the ships waiting for them far from the beach (the docks were too badly damaged to use); the sacrifice of British soldiers at Calais as they delayed the Germans in the Nazi attempt to reach the hundreds of thousands of soldiers stranded at Dunkirk. However, there was one more factor which made “the miracle of Dunkirk” become a reality. The British government ordered, requisitioned, requested, and begged every seaworthy vessel capable of transporting soldiers to cross the turbulent English Channel and help bring England’s boys home so they could fight another day to save not only their homeland but all of Europe from the madness of Nazi rule.
Forming one of the strangest armadas in the history of humankind, ordinary people accomplished the most extraordinary thing.
The British people responded overwhelmingly. Forming one of the strangest armadas in the history of humankind, ordinary people accomplished the most extraordinary thing. Through their efforts, England, Europe, and possibly the Western world were saved or, at least, spared many years of death and destruction.
I can appreciate that this event has been dubbed “the miracle of Dunkirk.” The rescue of over 338,000 soldiers over several days under the most trying of circumstances was a spectacular event. But I do not believe it was a miracle. What happened was this: enough ordinary people dared to risk for a greater good. They refused to succumb to cynicism, despair, and negativity. With no assurance of success, they were willing to attempt what seemed, even to the naval experts, to be impossible. They met the crisis of the hour with uncommon courage and dogged determination. They were willing to sail into what could have been a deadly abyss to save other human beings in need. They did “the impossible” because they refused to acquiesce in the face of what seemed overwhelming and insurmountable odds.
Today, we are facing many existential crises which threaten the very foundations of democracy and even the very future of our planet:
*the grave ecological crisis which could end life as we know and enjoy it
*the rise of racism, fascism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, ruthless patriarchy, demonic propaganda, a stubborn and determined disdain for truth
*nationalistic brands of “Christianity” which in no way reflect the example and teachings of Jesus
*the emergence of political leaders who seek to create oppressive dictatorships and to achieve glory through the propagation of war against smaller countries
*a political and economic policy which makes the obscenely wealthy even richer, the poor poorer, and the middle-class struggling to keep afloat
*the scapegoating of refugees who simply want to live and provide for their children
*a spiritual vacuum which allows for no empathy, solidarity, compassion, or justice
*a crass materialism which proliferates greed, unstainable consumption, and ruthless disregard for one’s fellow human
These crises are just a sampling of what earthlings are facing in our time as well as some indication of the abominable legacy we will leave our children and grandchildren.
It would be easy to simply give up—to surrender any sense of responsibility and decency—to pass the buck to the next generation—to become overwhelmed by what seems too big and horrible to address, much less fix. But such responses offer absolutely no possibility for a future that can be anything other than a nightmare for us, our descendants, and the good earth with which we have been blessed. But what might happen of enough of us throughout the world said, “Enough!” What if instead of beating our breasts and succumbing to cynicism and defeatism, we chose to “sail our little boats out into the raging seas” and tried to do the impossible. No one knows what might happen if enough of us risked on the side of justice, love, peace, goodness, and basic human decency.
We don’t need a miracle. We need to join hands, voices, and hearts and discover the power we possess to turn this world around.
I believe there are many decent, caring, responsible people in the world who know that we can no longer continue the paths which are leading us into the destruction of everything which makes and keeps us human. We need to come together and form an even greater and stranger “armada” than was witnessed at Dunkirk. We don’t need a miracle. We need to join hands, voices, and hearts and discover the power we possess to turn this world around. Will we succeed in such efforts? I don’t know. What I do know is that if we do nothing, we have already failed and the cost of that failure will be exponentially more horrific than the cost of risking on the side of goodness, justice, and peace.
