God and Churchill HB Read online

  Certainly the times in which Winston Churchill lived and worked had much to do with forming his global image. His service in the First World War as a battalion commander – after his departure from leadership of the Admiralty in a manner that some would find embarrassing – showed his pluck and commitment to duty. And Churchill of course was indispensable to Britain and America’s victory in the Second World War.

  By the standard he set, all political leaders since have been mere pygmies – with the possible exception of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Yet even they pale in his shadow. No one else can touch Churchill for his vision, leadership and persistence.

  Churchill reminds us of Babe Ruth, the great twentieth-century baseball player. The Babe struck out a lot, but he also hit many home runs. So, too, Churchill, as Sandys and Henley remind us, experienced many failures, but history remembers him primarily for his huge successes. Not only did Churchill make history; he also bent it to his will and even today embodies the classic definition of a leader.

  Churchill had many contemporary enemies, and there are still those in Britain who believe that he was too full of himself and that many of his ideas were ill-conceived. Yet his achievements were so momentous that these voices get little attention outside of academic circles or critics whose philosophies are put off by Churchill’s beliefs.

  Momentous is a word befitting of Churchill. His prescience as a teenager about his future leadership role for his nation, and his early experiences and relationships, would all be part of what prepared him for his life’s mission. When he became prime minister on 10 May 1940, he declared it to be the destiny for which his previous life had been the groundwork.

  As for relationships, Churchill had a far less than ideal upbringing. His father, Lord Randolph, mostly rejected him and gave him not love but criticism; his mother, Jennie, pushed him, but she was often preoccupied with a series of men who were not her husband. Churchill was small and often the object of bullying, but he overcame it all through the force of his ego, strong will and persistence.

  Such struggles shaped in Churchill the attitude that he would articulate one day: ‘Never give in, never give in, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.’

  But who put such moral steel in Churchill’s heart and spine? If his parents were not strong spiritual and ethical guides, who gave Churchill such principles? Though he did not have accessible, engaged parents, there was one relationship that has been too little considered and written about. Elizabeth Everest, young Winston’s nanny, was much more than a caregiver. She was a spiritual mentor, whose simple and resolute faith would anchor a little boy who could be a troublemaker and a disappointment to his teachers. Her influence would prove to be lifelong.

  One of the great services that Sandys and Henley have rendered to us is in bringing Mrs Everest more into focus. Among the unique factors that made Churchill who he was, Mrs Everest’s role is major. Sandys and Henley do not pretend that she made him a deeply religious man. However, she gave Churchill a love for the King James Bible and an understanding of the ways in which Christianity formed a ‘certain way of life’ (in Churchill’s own words) that he spoke of again and again as ‘Christian civilization’. He was passionate in its defence, as the many references to it in his speeches demonstrates.

  It was not just his times that made Churchill, but in many ways he shaped his times. Sandys and Henley end this book with hope. They discuss how Churchill ‘kept calm and carried on’ in his day, demonstrating personally that, although the times were hard, they were endurable. The authors show how Churchill spoke with frankness about the ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’ that lay ahead, but he always led his nation and its allies to maintain a positive outlook through the grim task of defeating Hitler and the Nazis.

  Sandys and Henley note the opinion of Lord Moran, Churchill’s personal physician, that a secret to Churchill’s health and strength was his ‘buoyancy’. True, he could fall into the deep depressions that he called his ‘black dog’, but he always came up again into light – and hope.

  This was more than psychology; it was the outcome of a deep faith. Recent writers have tried to present Churchill as an agnostic or even an atheist. However, they seek to freeze him forever in his youthful doubts while he was serving in India. Churchill was not an active churchman, but as Sandys and Henley show, he was a person of deep faith and biblical knowledge who grew far beyond the scepticism of his younger days.

  God and Churchill is intensely relevant to our own times. Beliefs, world views, religion and spirituality are at the heart of contemporary conflicts. To ignore this is to misunderstand the nature of our times. Worse, it is to be ill-equipped for the battles blazing across the globe. Such was Churchill’s world. Sandys and Henley show here the roots of Nazism, with its mixture of ‘perverted science’ and Aryan mysticism. The labels are different, but the similarities between Churchill’s day and ours are remarkable.

  Churchill was more than a leader for his time. He was ‘a man for all seasons’, to borrow Robert Bolt’s title from his play about Sir Thomas More. ‘There has been no one remotely like him before or since,’ writes the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

  The world is the worse for it.

  Churchill, as a man for all seasons, is a model of leadership for our times. He was a full-orbed human being, and now Sandys and Henley present his spirituality as well as his humanity, showing the critical link between the two. The authors answer not only the questions of the past but also those of the present, as they show the leadership we need now for the sake of the future.

  The most intriguing issue Sandys and Henley explore – one that most Churchill authors dodge – is the role of God in the making of Winston Churchill. This provokes several other questions: Does God have a plan in human history? Does God intervene in the course of human events? Does he raise up leaders at critical junctures to save civilization? If so, was Winston Churchill one of the many ‘deliverers’ who have appeared in history’s arena at just the right time and place?

  In light of contemporary issues, these may be the most important concerns of all regarding the making of a leader. It’s not merely the making of Winston Churchill that is in focus here, but more so the burning issues of civilization’s survival and the quality of leadership needed in our times for that struggle.

  INTRODUCTION

  JONATHAN SANDYS

  When I was a child, my sense of identity was framed in part by the knowledge that I was descended from one of history’s great heroes: Sir Winston Churchill, who, as prime minister of Great Britain, had inspired the nation and her allies during the dark days of the Second World War. My grandmother, Diana, was Churchill’s eldest daughter, and her son, Julian, is my father. I grew up hearing stories from family and friends who had intimate, first-hand knowledge of Sir Winston, or Great-Grandpapa as I have always known him.

  One of my treasured memories as a youth was the day I met Sir Martin Gilbert, Churchill’s official biographer. At a book launching I attended in London for one of Sir Martin’s books, I approached the great historian for an autograph. He took one look at me and said, ‘You’re one of Julian’s boys, aren’t you?’ Heady stuff for a teenager, to be recognized by a man of such stature, and it made quite an impression on me.

  Though during my childhood I was immersed in rich relationships with my family and at church, I suffered some setbacks along the way that shattered my innocence about the world, destroyed my cheerful self-image and set me on a downward spiral that persisted for almost two decades.

  As I approached the age of thirty, it became clear to me that something had to change to get my life back on track. That change began, surprisingly, when I ‘met’ Winston Spencer Churchill, who was both a hero and a mystery to me. Developing an acquaintance with the spirit and soul of Great-Grandpapa, though he had died te
n years before I was born, was a crucial factor in my recovering a sense of identity and purpose. Little did I realize at the time what a mighty oak Churchill had been, casting a tremendous shadow over all of us acorns.

  I dreamed of embracing my great-grandfather’s legacy and surprising everyone by becoming a Member of Parliament. Then someday I would run for prime minister, and Churchill’s DNA would once again inhabit No. 10 Downing Street.

  Building on the vague notion I had of my great-grandfather as a heroic figure who had saved the world from something terribly bad, I studied everything I could about him. I probed the memories of family members, such as my great-aunt Mary Soames, Churchill’s last surviving child. Along with my father and others who had known Churchill in his lifetime, she provided a vital connection through which I was able to learn so much.

  Despite dyslexia and the struggles I’d had in school, I became a self-taught historian, consuming all the books I could find about Churchill and his era.

  I soon discovered that, though he was arguably the greatest leader of the twentieth century, he was only a man, not a god – no better or worse than any one of us.

  As it happened, bringing Great-Grandpapa down to earth was a liberating experience for me. When I realized that I could not rest my identity in someone who was just as much a frail human being as I was, I decided to step out of his shadow and embrace my own identity.

  Still, I wanted to do something in life that honoured the Churchill legacy, which I felt was important to share with future generations who were losing hope or had already lost it.

  The primary book that helped me see Great-Grandpapa with the greatest clarity was one he himself had written: My Early Life. I was struck by his accounts of hubris, heroics and near-misses – and above all, by his honesty about himself.

  As I read about his youthful struggles, I was encouraged to find that someone as great as Winston Churchill had faced personal challenges similar to my own – difficulty in school, rejection and an early reputation as a failure. That was when I began to relate to my great-grandfather and to understand his humanity, replete with the flaws and limitations we all share. I also found within myself the kind of resolve embodied in one of his greatest lines, spoken in 1941 to the boys at his old school, Harrow. As the destiny of the nation hung by a slender thread under the onslaughts of war, he had advised the young men, ‘Never give in, never, never, never …’

  As I reread his words, I was filled with renewed determination. Learning that young Winston’s teachers had wanted to give up on him at times, and that he had written many unhappy letters to his parents, helped me to overcome my own self-doubts. I was captivated by a new vision: If Winston Churchill’s story and words could so inspire me with hope and confidence, they could help people everywhere. I decided I would devote myself to keeping his legacy alive by speaking and writing about Great-Grandpapa.

  As with many ‘great resolutions’, I immediately encountered an obstacle. So much had already been written and spoken about Churchill – where would I begin? What unique facet of his life and impact could I capture and show to others? What was the essence of Churchill’s character and work that others had minimized or ignored altogether?

  The answer began to take shape on a 2005 trip to the United States, where a friend had arranged for me to speak about my great-grandfather at two schools in Macon, Georgia. Though I was surprised and overjoyed by the great level of interest in Churchill and the Second World War, I was disheartened to discover that a vast population of American – and even British – students had no idea who Winston Churchill was and what he had accomplished.

  The nations of the world today are in desperate need of encouragement and firm, decisive leadership. Having extensively studied my great-grandfather’s life and works, and catching the tone of his times and personality through my family members who had known him directly, I saw an opportunity to share something of Churchill’s life that would improve the lives of others. I saw in Great-Grandpapa, in his words and deeds, in his mistakes and his greatest successes, the one thing needed by so many in the twenty-first century: hope.

  But what had made Winston Churchill the image of hope for his day and age? I didn’t know, but I wanted to find out.

  Across from the Houses of Parliament in London stands one of the great statues of Churchill. It shows him resolute and firm in the face of suffering and danger. From the set of his jaw and his unwavering gaze, one gets the sense that he will press on to victory. But what gave him that strength of character? What propelled him into leadership and afforded him the strength to carry on?

  By this time, I had already been trying to write books and speeches about Churchill. But the more I researched, the more I realized that his story was incomplete – despite the volumes that had already been written about him. The sense that something important was missing struck me with great force.

  When I delved back into My Early Life not long after I had this realization, my attention was arrested by the series of near-miraculous escapes that characterized Churchill’s early adult life. Even more, my eye was drawn to Churchill’s apparent sense of divine destiny – even as early as his teenage years. I decided I must explore more deeply my great-grandfather’s personal faith. What did he believe about God? I had assumed that his references to Deity and Christianity were merely political platitudes. Was it possible it went deeper than that? More important, was it possible that God had played a role in making Winston Churchill the man that he became? As one who had left his faith by the wayside without abandoning belief in God, I was intrigued by these questions. Was Churchill’s faith something that other historians had overlooked or neglected?

  When I spoke with Sir Martin Gilbert about my thoughts, he encouraged me to press on in the pursuit of the connection between God and Churchill. In fact, he said, there was ‘loads of information’ on the topic that others had not considered in depth. He urged me to bring it to light if I were so inclined.

  Sir Martin’s encouragement was greatly motivating. As I ploughed into the research and developed the ideas, I became increasingly aware of God’s presence and power, though I still felt distant from him. Then in 2012 I passed through a season of crisis that brought me once again to a crossroads of faith.

  By then I had married Sara, a native Texan, and we were living in Houston. One night, a friend and I were talking about Moses, and our conversation became quite in-depth. At the end of the evening, my friend suggested that we go to church the following morning – something I hadn’t done in ages.

  When the pastor rose to preach that Sunday, his topic was exactly the same as what my friend and I had discussed the night before – the same Bible passages and the same points of focus. Neither my friend nor I had had any idea what the pastor’s topic would be, and I remember thinking that it couldn’t just be a coincidence. It was all too precise. As the pastor continued, I had a strong impression that I should start reading the Bible seriously.

  Not long afterward, while travelling in England, I began reading the New Testament. As I opened Matthew’s Gospel, it seemed that God was speaking to me on every page. Verse by verse, I wrote copious notes, pausing frequently to pray as I felt my heart drawn back to God and as I felt him begin to heal the pain of my past experiences. I returned to America with my faith restored and with a determination to once again be open to what God wanted me to do with my life.

  As I saw my own connection to God restored, I felt ready to write about the remarkable connection I had discovered between God and Churchill.

  I was confident I could provide a solid history of my great-grandfather, but I felt I needed some help articulating the connection between Churchill’s sense of divine destiny and the events of his life. I knew it would take a unique person who understood the complexities of national leadership and thus could appreciate Churchill the statesman, but who also grasped the importance of biblical principles in the context of historical events. Furthermore, this individual would have to understand the
Second World War, its spiritual underpinnings and the hidden challenges that Churchill faced. Finally, I needed someone who wouldn’t be grasping at straws, trying to fit God into the facts or putting words in Churchill’s mouth. As my great-grandfather once said, ‘Words, which are on proper occasions the most powerful engines, lose their weight and power and values when they are not backed by fact or winged by truth, when they are obviously the expression of a strong feeling, and are not related in any way to the actual facts of the situation.’1 Those words became my standard, and when I met Wallace Henley, I quickly realized that he fitted all of my qualifications.

  WALLACE HENLEY

  Like Jonathan, I went through a period in my life when my faith faltered and I lost track of the identity I had fervently embraced as a teenager. My crisis came in the city of Nuremberg, Germany, a town that had played a key role in the summation of the Nazi era.

  I was born on 5 December 1941, two days before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and brought the United States into the Second World War. My childhood was immersed in the war and its aftermath. Almost all my Sunday-school teachers and Boy Scout leaders were returning veterans, and they were heroes in my eyes.

  Another prominent memory was the countenance of Winston Churchill. His confident visage was on black-and-white newsreels at the cinema, and his voice resonated on our radios. In the mind of a young boy, there was something almost mystical about the Second World War that Churchill seemed to embody. That sense of valour and courage under fire stayed with me, and even intensified, over the decades. It is part of what brought me to join with Jonathan Sandys in writing this book.

  In 1964, I began preparing for a career as a preacher by enrolling in seminary and serving as a pastor at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. But it wasn’t long before I changed my focus from being a pastor to becoming a professor of theology. I decided I needed a degree from a European school, as had many of the great theologians under whom I had studied, and I set about figuring out a way to get to Europe with my wife, Irene, and our new baby.