2nd Opinion: Knowing how the story ends

Posted: 11/02/07

2nd Opinion: Knowing how the story ends

By Toby Druin

I am reading An Army at Dawn, Rick Atkinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the war in North Africa in 1942-43. Atkinson was a writer and editor for the Washington Post for 20 years, and his account of the war is rich in detail.

I am about a third of the way through the book, but two things already have impressed me. The first is that the United States must remain the No. 1 super power in the world. We must maintain an army superior to that of any other nation— one with enough manpower to fight on two or more fronts with equipment second to none and the ability to deliver them immediately.

America’s isolationist bent prior to World War II encouraged Japanese imperialism and Hitler’s ambitions. Never should any nation or ruler doubt that the United States is willing and ready to defend itself and our allies from such arrogance.

The second realization was more spiritual. Through the portion of Atkinson’s book that I have read to date, the war has not gone well for the allies. By the time the United States entered the war in December 1941, Japan had marched through much of Southeast Asia, and Germany had control of much of Europe and already was doing battle with Russia.

When U.S. and British forces began the invasion of North Africa in November 1942, they were ill-equipped to do battle, both from a leadership and equipment standpoints. Atkinson writes that the United States learned how to fight a war in North Africa, and had it not been for the lessons learned there, the outcome of the war that would be carried to Europe a year later could have had a far different outcome.

Reading about the terrible losses of the allied forces in those first few weeks in North Africa, I found myself wanting to get to the good stuff—the times and the battles when “we” would begin to win. You see, I know how the war eventually turned out. I’ve read the book, you might say. It will end in the spring of 1945 with Hitler killing himself in a hole in the ground in Berlin.

It occurred to me as I was reading that this is a metaphor for the Christian life. We are at war with Satan, and more often than not, it appears as if he is winning—that Christianity is taking a beating. Satan has more attractive equipment, and we are constantly lured into the devastating traps of sin.

But I know how the story ends. Jesus defeated sin when he gave his life on the cross and was resurrected. He has promised he is coming back. Maybe it will be while I am still alive; maybe not. Either way, I know how it is all going to turn out in the end.

I’ve read the Book.

Toby Druin is editor emeritus of the Baptist Standard.