The Mad Piper

 History calls him the mad piper. 

There's even a statue of him that stands on the Normandy beach where his legacy was made on that fateful day of June 6, 1944.  

D-Day. 

Sometime earlier, a young Scottish soldier named Bill Millin had been made personal piper to one of the top British commanders, Lord Lovat. The British War Office had banned bagpipers from leading troops into combat after the great losses suffered by the Scottish units in World War I but Lovat, the hereditary chief of Clan Fraser and descended himself from a long line of Scottish warriors, told Millin, "Ah, but that's the English War Office. You and I are Scottish, so that doesn't apply." Thus, Millin was allowed to offer piping services to his unit and to Lovat when necessary. 

And that's how 21-year-old Bill found himself alongside thousands of allied troops on that grey, windy morning in June, battling seasickness from the rough tossing of the landing craft and destined for a likely death on a day that will live forever in the history books. But all many of them cared about at the moment was to "get off that bloody landing craft," as Bill termed it. Wearing a battledress tunic and the kilt of Clan Cameron his father had worn in World War I, Millin decided to take his bagpipes out of the box while standing on the bow and start to play the boys into battle. Soon, the air was filled with the sounds of the old Scottish air "Road to the Isles" as a sailor relayed the music over the ship's loudhailer and it carried across the water. Troops on other landing crafts and ships cheered and threw their helmets into the air. This was to be their finest moment. Victory would be theirs... even if by their death. 

Millin's unit went ashore under heavy fire. Commander Lovat led them off the landing craft and the man just behind him was shot in the face and collapsed. Millin jumped into the water, which came up to his armpits, and his kilt spread all around him. The man behind him was hit and sank into the unforgiving sea. As Millin was trying to flounder his way to the beach, he heard Lovat shout, "Give us 'Highland Laddie,' man!" Shivering from the cold water, he put his mouthpiece to his lips and started to play as he struggled his way through the chilly surf. As the music started, Lovat gave Millin a thumbs up of approval. Upon reaching the shore, Millin was asked to continue playing the rest of the commandos ashore so, amid the live-fire of mortars, machine guns, rifles, and men shouting at each other and with bodies dropping all around him, Millin kept up the tune. Striding back and forth along the beach, Millin played on until the last man had set foot on shore. 

But his duty was far from over. Lovat's unit was under orders to reach the paratroopers at the bridges without delay, necessitating a six mile trek on foot in three and half hours. The march began with Lovat striding along and Millin still playing his pipes. The music paused briefly as the unit encountered some German fire but, within a short period following a swift counterattack, the march was back on, and Lovat told Millin to "start the pipes again and keep playing as long as you can until we get to Benouville. The Airborne are at the bridges there and when they hear the pipes, they will know we are coming." Millin would later say that he was amazed that he wasn't hit during the whole ordeal. He couldn't hear very much because of the drone of the bagpipes and, even though his pipes received some damage due to shrapnel, he was completely untouched and the pipes were still playable. When he had the chance to later ask some Germans who were taken prisoner why they had not fired a shot at him, they simply said that they had assumed he was mad. 

Bill Millin had the honor of playing the lament at Lord Lovat's funeral in 1995 and later donated his Cameron kilt and bagpipes to the National War Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland. He passed away at age eighty-eight in 2010. 

When I recently heard this story, it reminded me of another instance in history when music led the way for victory. In yet another wartime experience, we read in 2 Chronicles 20 of King Jehoshaphat sending out a choir of singers to lead their army into battle. They were faced with incredible odds - two opposing armies having come together to jointly attack Israel and leaving them in basically a no-win situation. The king was a godly man and knew that this fight was beyond them so, after asking God for help and gathering the people together for fasting and prayer, he led them out toward the enemy with music. You can read the full story for yourself but essentially, the two enemy armies turned on each other and Israel was saved without a single sword being drawn. The angel of the Lord intervened for them, and a song won the day. 

And what was that song, you might ask? Simply this: "Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever" (2 Chronicles 20:21). 

Gratitude. 

Praise. 

While it may not be under the circumstances of Bill Millin or the ancient Israelite army, we still find ourselves facing battles of our own on a daily basis. Battles for our peace, for our joy, for our spirit. Battles for our mind. All around us are things and situations that threaten to take away our contentment, our faith, our hope. And often, thanksgiving and praise aren't usually the first thing that come to mind when we think of how to fight back. We tend to rely on our own wisdom, or we stress about the problem and grow anxious. But rarely do we think of blessing God and declaring his victory over the situation. Yet perhaps this is exactly what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he commanded, "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you..." (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Maybe we rise to a whole new level of resilience when we fall back on the past faithfulness of God and trust His divine favor so deeply on our life that we stride among the flying bullets of life like Bill Millin, raising our song in belief. And perhaps this is also what sets us apart in the eyes of those watching the testimony of our life. When they expect us to face our battles with fear and uncertainty and instead, we choose to walk by faith and trust in the already-assured victory of the One we follow, our posture attracts them to the Savior we serve and magnifies Him in the eyes of the seeking. 

I don't know what fight you find yourself in right now. There are host of things it could be, and it probably feels overwhelming at the moment. Like King Jehoshaphat, you may be on your knees pleading to God for deliverance and clarity: "We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on You" (2 Chronicles 20:12). And maybe God's response in this moment is similar to Lord Lovat's: give us a song. Lift your voice in praise and come into agreement with the One who deserves all the glory. Even before the battle has finished, the victory is assured because of Who you are fighting alongside.  

Be your own version of the mad piper. Become so consumed with the tune that you don't even hear the bullets flying anymore. Even in the face of intense opposition and resistance, never set down your pipes, my friend. Never let go of your song. The enemies of your heart win with discouragement, fear, and confusion. God wins with praise... even when it comes from a broken heart. As long as you continue to rehearse the faithfulness and promises of God - as long you continue to play the tune of what you know to be true - God will come through. The battle is His, and He has never lost. You can trust Him all the way. But He asks that you not give up the song in defeat. His command to you is that you "keep playing as long as you can" and when the enemy hears your song, they will know that you are coming... that He is coming.