In this writer’s opinion, Winston Churchill was the greatest man of the last century. Known as the “British Bulldog” he was the epitome of determination and resoluteness.
After the miraculous evacuation at Dunkirk in World War II where the British and French armies escaped certain disaster, it appeared the invasion of “The Island” by the German army was inevitable. On June 4, 1940, Churchill closed his speech to The House of Commons with these words:
“Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender….”
In the course of my years, I have observed friends and family and neighbors and total strangers meet with what I have come to call “crushing circumstances.” There is so much tragedy in our world. Sometimes it is beyond explanation – the depth of heartache and despair - unfathomable.
It may come as a singular, catastrophic event as in a senseless death, or a tragic accident, or “Stage IV cancer,” or “I want a divorce.” Or, “crushing circumstances” can unfold as a series of setbacks, one right after the other. Like body punches in the early rounds of a boxing match, each one takes its toll. You’ve heard it said, “When it rains it pours.”
Whatever the circumstances may be there is something in all of us that whispers, from time to time, “Why don’t you just give up?” It is a ghostly whisper - that whisper which beckons us to “Throw in the towel,” or worse yet, suggests “It’s no use.” It is a temptation of a ghastly sort.
As I write, on the wall behind me, hangs a photograph of Winston Churchill which overlooks my workspace. It is a prized possession. It is Sir Winston to a tee - his penetrating eyes, his set jaw, his face lined with the wisdom and experience of many years. Underneath the photograph is another of his quotes:
“Never flinch, never weary, never despair.”
Which brings to mind words of Paul, the apostle: “We are hard-pressed on every side yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; stuck down, but not destroyed…..” The apostle’s words sound almost “Churchillian.” Or should I say Churchill’s words sound Paulinian?
There is a great little stanza in Rudyard Kipling’s poem titled, “If” that goes like this:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the will which says to them, “Hold on!”
Sometimes we simply must hold on until the light returns.
On October 29, 1941, in a speech to the boys at Harrow School, Churchill spoke these words: "Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.''
And now, back to the apostle Paul, who wrote: “And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.”
There are a number of ways of saying that. Let me give it a try.
“No matter what happens to you in life, never grow tired of fighting the good fight. For in time, the payoff will come if you don’t give up.
We have Joseph Fort Newton to thank for these words:
“We cannot tell what may happen to us in this strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens in us, how we take it, what we do with it – and that is what really counts in the end.”
Copyright 2022 by Jack McCall
