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A climber fell off a cliff, and, as he tumbled down, he caught hold of a small branch…
“Help! Is there anybody up there?” he shouted.
A majestic voice boomed through the gorge:
“I will help you, my son, but first you must have faith in me.”
“Yes, yes, I trust you!” cried the man.
“Let go of the branch,” boomed the voice.
There was a long pause, and the man shouted,
….”Is there anybody else up there?”
Just like that desperate climber, many of us are finding it hard to trust — in anything.
So we hang…
Here’s a thought — while we hang, let’s grab
- a dose of humor
- a dash of inspiration
to bolster our spirits.
Here’s one survival story you’ll enjoy.
It comes from World War II, during the London blitz, when bombs rained down on London for nights on end.
Many were forced to find shelter in the London underground tunnels.
There, 100 feet below the surface of London, something strange occurred.
The residents, rather than quivering in fear, found their heroic spirit in community:
- singing songs
- sharing stories
- telling jokes
They found something in which they all could trust — each other.
A festive, spirited party would erupt each night.
They transformed a vertical faith focused on one’s personal relationship with God, into horizontal one focused on one’s neighbor.
They became each other’s — higher power.
And it made all the difference in the world.
These resilient Londoners busied themselves lifting each other up each terrifying night — proving once again that even when the world crumbles, the human spirit can still rise.
Here’s one such leavening story.
During the height of the Blitz thousands of Londoners took shelter in Tube stations each night. Some stations, like Aldwych and Holborn, were closed to trains and became full-time shelters.
Over time, people brought bedding, food, and in one notable case, a full upright piano.
According to several eyewitness accounts, a group of determined locals somehow managed to haul a piano into the shelter at Bethnal Green station.
The exact method?
Unknown.
Once installed, it became the center of nightly singalongs.
One elderly man named Mr. Higgins, a retired postman with a loud voice, took to performing every night at 9:00 p.m. sharp.
His singing was enthusiastic, if not exactly in tune.
One evening, during an especially intense raid, the all-clear hadn’t sounded and Higgins was halfway through “There’ll Always Be an England” when a parrot (yes, a real one belonging to a woman named Edna) suddenly squawked:
“Shut up, you old donkey!”
Everyone froze — then erupted in laughter. Even Higgins had to sit down, laughing so hard he nearly fell off the piano bench.
The parrot was henceforth known as Winston Minor.
That piano stayed in the station for months, and when the war ended, it was eventually removed — rumored to be so battered and tea-stained that it now only played patriotic songs by muscle memory.
Churchill himself was a master at finding humor in the midst of the darkest of circumstances, and used it to lighten the load of the whole nation.
For instance…
When asked at a press conference about continuing the war effort alone after France fell, he said in a memorable speech, “If the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.'”
What went unreported:
He turned to a minister who looked quite nervous, and dryly added;
“Don’t look so frightened, we’ve got a long way to go before we even get to the hour.”
Or, during the Battle of Britain Churchill famously praised the Royal Air Force:
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
But then, did you know, after a long pause, he muttered into the ear of an aide:
“Particularly the bartender.”
So if you’re feeling;
- a little out of sorts,
- a little guarded,
- a little off center,
let a few cartoons from New Yorker magazine lift your spirits.
You have a lot of boring health issues, so I’m prescribing some medical marijuana for myself.
I started my vegetarianism for health reasons, then it became a moral choice, and now it’s just to annoy people.
Uh-oh, your coverage doesn’t seem to include illness.
Thanks, but we don’t need insurance of any kind.
I’ve finished my New Year’s resolutions, and now I’m going to get a running start on yours.
Just a thought…
Pat