Looking to the Past for Courage
St. Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St. Edmonds, near Ipswich, England
by Tara James
At fifteen I visited the UK for the first time, thanks to a summer job and my godparents living in the east coast village of Ipswich, England. I was in heaven from the moment the plane’s wheels hit Heathrow’s tarmac.
For three glorious weeks, I soaked in the sights, sounds, and scents of the place I’d only read about in Austen, Tolkien, and Gaiman novels. We visited abbeys, castles—even a manor house with a genuine, three-century-old hedge maze. But it was the row of tiny dots on the horizon that piqued my curiosity.
Mrs. Mary Bishop, my godfather’s mother, explained they were defensive installations built to stand guard over the English Channel during World War II. The brutalist architecture looked post-apocalyptic to my teenage eyes, but after 50+ years of disuse (this was the 1990s), that was to be expected.
Mary pointed out the living history of Ipswich, like a church missing half a wall after being bombed in the War. She described the children evacuated from their families to escape persistent air raids. She delighted me with unexpectedly cheerful stories of women who worked in munitions, code breaking, espionage, and other war efforts.
Her main point was that her community united, not just to win the war, but also to help each other. Mutual support helped them overcome the fear, hardship, and monumental task of rebuilding post-war England.
Now, when we live in an era that feels so reminiscent of the 1930’s, I continue to heed Mary’s long-ago lesson: courage is action, not emotion. In her opinion, people who weren’t afraid were often just too dense to realize the danger. (Gotta love dry British humor!) World events can be discouraging and overwhelming, but I find inspiration in the example set by the Greatest Generation.
These are my key take aways:
Life will always challenge us; we choose how to respond.
Keep calm and focused on your goals; don’t let obstacles derail you.
Keep your chin up and your sense of humor intact.
People and values worth protecting, regardless of the fear involved.
I’m grateful to this day for Mary’s wisdom and friendship. Her words echo through time to help me stay focused, hopeful, and active in these dark times. Or, in the immortal words of the Brits, Keep Calm and Carry On.