This May Be Churchill’s “Finest Hour” For This Generation

Photo by Arthur Osipyan on Unsplash

On June 18th, 1940, then Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave what has now become a famous speech titled “Their Finest Hour” to the House of Commons. After France had been overrun and the British were regrouping following the battle of Dunkirk, Churchill steeled himself and delivered a riveting declaration of hope in the face of uncertainty and courage in the face of defeat.

Churchill ended his speech with this claim:

“ Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”

His words ring true for us today.

We may not be engaged in a world war with guns, airplanes, and soldiers but we are engaged in a world war against a pandemic that has infected over two million people in 185 countries around the globe. We may not be strategizing military missions or maneuvers but we are strategizing how to get millions of people to stay-at-home or shelter-in-place.

While these moments in time are not equal, there are many truths we see in Churchill’s speech that can change the way we approach these days.

Victory Will Come

“During that war we repeatedly asked ourselves the question: How are we going to win? And no one was able ever to answer it with much precision, until at the end, quite suddenly, quite unexpectedly, our terrible foe collapsed before us.” — Winston Churchill, “Their Finest Hour”

The year 1940 was perhaps the most desperate year of WWII. The Nazi Party was rising to power extremely quickly and had begun conquering the countries around them with what seemed to be little effort and military brilliance. Therefore, Churchill’s speech to the House of Commons came at a time of deep despair, anxiety, and fear about the future. The days and months ahead looked bleak and no one knew what was going to happen.

Knowing this, Churchill pointed back to WWI, reminding the British parliament that for four years the situation looked bleak and desperate. No one knew how the war would be won, but looking back, victory did come and peace was restored.

For us today, COVID-19 is scary and has created a lot of uncertainty, panic, and hardship for people all over the world. The days ahead may seem bleak. But like Churchill, we can look back on times of hardship including both WW1 and WW2, and we can know for certain that victory will come. The light will shine once again and hope and peace will be restored.

We’re All in This Together

“However matters may go in France or with the French Government, or other French Governments, we in this Island and in the British Empire will never lose our sense of comradeship with the French people. If we are now called upon to endure what they have been suffering, we shall emulate their courage, and if final victory rewards our toils they shall share the gains, aye, and freedom shall be restored to all.” — Winston Churchill, “Their Finest Hour”

Churchill knew in 1940 that it was one thing to lose a battle, but the real war would be lost if people lost their sense of comradeship with their neighbors and surrounding countries. They were in the fight together, for better or worse, for victory or defeat.

Today, we must look to examples of the past like Churchill and the English people during WW2. We must learn from their experiences and remember that we are in this together. Although we are socially distanced from each other, we must rise up and work, perhaps harder than ever, to stay connected with our neighbors, friends, families.

We must love those around us in new ways for these new times, and should we be called upon to endure with those who are suffering, we must do so with the same courage, the same boldness, and the same strength knowing that a better day is coming on the horizon.

Our Finest Hour

In the last paragraph of his speech, Churchill gave us three specific points that are tangibly helpful for us today. If this is to be our finest hour, if generations future will look back on these days with respect and admiration, we must recognize these truths in correlation with Churchill’s speech:

“What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. “

How we respond today will help determine the way the world continues after this is over. If we respond in isolation and selfishness, we will be planting seeds that will come to bloom once things return to a semi-normal state. If we respond in love and courage, we will see those characteristics mark the coming years and decades.

The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.

It may get worse before it gets better. For many of us, COVID-19 has come closer to home in these last few days and weeks. Maybe someone in your family may get the virus or be exposed. Maybe someone in your neighborhood or your office. Either way, the whole fury and might of this virus is coming at mankind during these days. There is much at stake in how we respond.

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”

Though the path may seem dark, we will prevail. Though the path may seem long, we will endure. What if we embraced these days, seeing those around us who are hurting, serving those in need, speaking words of life and love and joy and hope to the masses and to ourselves, so much so that the generations of the future will look back on these moments and say, “This was their finest hour.”

Let’s aim to make that so. Let’s aim to leave a mark on this world that is so desperately trying to leave its mark on us. I believe this is our finest hour and that there has perhaps been no greater moment in our lives to love those around us.