Jul | 13 | Between Silk & Cyanide

Key Word:- HOPE

Title:- Between Silk & Cyanide  

Matthew 11:4-6 “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

Leo Marks wrote the fascinating book called, ‘Between Silk & Cyanide: A Code Makers War, 1941-1945’ Aged just 22, Marks began working for the S.O.E creating secret codes for heroes dropped into occupied Europe. Marks wrote over 500 poems for agents to use. Those dropped behind enemy lines would memorise the poem and simply transmit the poem back to headquarters which with the simple repositioning of a word or words within the text, would then relay the desired message. Violette Szabo was one such poetic agent.

The film “Carve Her Name With Pride’ tells the story of this remarkable young woman who would later be arrested and executed in Ravensbruck concentration camp. The film features ‘The Code Poem For the French Resistance’ which was given to her. Violette's problem was that for the life of her, she could not correctly memorize the first poem she was given to use as her code! So, Marks apparently gave her this particular poem, a poem dear to his own heart, which was dedicated to his fiancée who had tragically been killed in a plane crash.

The life that I have is all that I have
And the life that I have is yours.
The love that I have of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have,
Yet death will be but a pause,
For the peace of my years in the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.

This poem touched Violette’s heart and she did not forget it.

I am convinced that God speaks today through communication ‘codes’ hidden in Hollywood films, or set in secular books, or even in seemingly unwise words dripping from the drawl of donkeys….of which there are many. Yet God still speaks, tapping out His love poems on the souls of all men everywhere, by whatever means He can!

A dark dungeon and a brutal death gripped the greatest of preachers, John the Baptizer. Hope fading, he urgently taps out a desperate message “Are you the coming one or do we look for another?” Jesus taps out a loving response, a code if you will, that encapsulates not only Johns desired answer, but every promise and prophecy of the past concerning Jesus and every certain hope of the future concerning John! When John the Baptizer received the words of Jesus, I wonder if it also contained for him, a very personal code from the heart of the Saviour to John's own broken, wounded and fearful heart? I wonder if that code were translated it would read? “ And John remember, the peace of My years and the long green grass will be yours and yours and yours.”

Listen:- In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:2-3

Pray :- For Your tender message of hope, I weep. My eyes, my eyes overflow with water, that the Comforter would restore my life, draw nearer to my soul, restore and prosper all of my children, and crush the enemy, as I walk between these pressing hills of silk and cyanide. Let me know Oh God the certain hope of Your victory. Amen.