Some say I live in the past. Guilty, your honor, but with an excuse: it’s nicer there.
In fact, I have an even better reason.
The past is full of proof, undeniable proof, that we can do all sorts of different things better than we’re doing them now. It’s true that I don’t write about what was bad in those days. I focus on what was good, and what was better than it is now.
Because, dagnab it, if we did it well once, we can do it well again!
The good parts of the past are signposts to a better future. We do not have to live with the trash that’s poured on us every day and night, these days.
Winston Churchill was described, in his lifetime, as a man from the past, a Victorian relic, no place for him in the exciting world of 1940. But this was the man who came galloping out of the past to save his country, chosen by God for that purpose, when no one else could do it. Without this man from the past, his country might not have had a future.
And we remember sweet things because their sweetness is good in and of itself, and our loved ones because we love them still.
And we do not have to accept “the way things are.”
Amen, Lee, amen. Even the picture you chose captures that longing and the innocence we miss.
That was by Grandma Moses. The hard part is choosing just one.
When I was a child, Churchill was just a ridiculous looking old man. From a more mature perspective, he is the very image of a hero. He, probably more than any other single individual, is the reason that Western civilization survived the ’30s & ’40s. He saw the danger and sounded to alarm, only to be ridiculed and mocked.
Chamberlain waved the written evidence of his tragic concession about and proclaimed that he had achieved “Peace for Our Time”. I guess that the people he had sold out in Sudetenland were of no consequence. In the meantime, Churchill had sounded the warning of a rearmed Germany and laid the groundwork which allowed Great Britain to survive the Battle of Britain, fought in its own skies. They prevailed over the German assault, by only by the thinnest of margins. Without Churchill, it would have ended differently and the US would have had to deal with a unified Fortress Europe in which the Nazis called the shots.
We reel at the collapse of France and Britain in our day, but these countries would not have even existed in their current form had it not been for Churchill. He claimed that he felt protected and I’m not about to contradict him on that. During the Battle of Britain, his favorite post was on a rooftop, watching as the battle unfolded. He was not one to cower in a shelter while others laid their very lives on the line.
God doesn’t forward a copy of His plans to me, I have to watch how things work out, just like everyone else. I believe that God sends us what we need, when we need it. The world needed Churchill in the ’30s, and sure enough, we had him when we needed him. There’s a greater lesson here. Churchill was not a perfect man. He is said to have drank to excess, could be very difficult to deal with and was known to be condescending towards those whom worked in his employ. He had a powerful ego and was not a stranger to folly. But he got the job done and, it appears, that God was able to accomplish His purpose by employing this flawed human.
Thank God for Churchill. I no longer envision him as a ridiculous looking old man. In his youth he was quite the dashing figure and obviously a fit, strong specimen. I prefer to remember him in this way, the bold, brash young warrior whom grew into one of the world’s greatest statesmen.
Thank God for Churchill.
He was known to drive on the sidewalk when he thought the street was too crowded.
One of the greatest works of history I’ve ever read is William Manchester’s multi-volume biography of Churchill. I highly recommend it!
That sounds about right.
Churchill was a great man and he was aware of his greatness. That might seem unforgivable by the tepid standards of our day, but his life’s work bears testimony to the fact. If an entertainer believes they have the right to take to the sidewalks with their car, shame on them. If a man like Churchill needs to do so, I’ll be stepping out of his way and saluting. Churchill delevered the goods.
I’ll have to see if I can work Manchester’s book into the stack. I have a hole in my reading schedule coincident to my 167th birthday. 🙂
FWIW, I read a lot of non fiction. In the last year, several historical/political works have dropped from the list, only because things are changing so rapidly that a book written as little as a year ago could be obsolete.
Churchill’s life story will never become obsolete.
Indeed. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Elisha, Jesus. Churchill may not have been a character intrinsic to the history of ancient Israel, but I believe that he played a role in God’s overall purpose.
I’m taking the next train back to the future. It will be an express with no stops at 2008!
🙂