DEC 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 12

DARYL LOTT
daryl’s deliberations
Christmas Time Perspective
There was one Christmas that
was different than all the others
in our history. The Christmas
of 1941 was the one that
wins the dubious prize for sheer
uncertainty and frightfulness.
America had been mauled by
Japan in a diabolical surprise
attack at Pear Harbor on December
7th—just 18 days before
Christmas. The Philippines were
under siege and it was all but
certain that American forces
were going to be captured by
the notoriously cruel Japanese
army. The Pacific Fleet was in
disarray and the sunken and
still smoking battleships sitting
on the Hawaiian harbor
sea bottom could not provide
a quick response. The Atlantic
fleet was being hammered
by German U-boats in ocean
battles that left merchant ships
blazing within sight of coastal
cities like New York and Boston.
The indispensable life line of
supplies between America and
England was very much endangered.
Many lives were being
lost in the rough cold seas of
the North Atlantic.
In a bold move, Prime Minister
Winston Churchill made
the perilous sea journey from
London to Washington in order
to visit President Franklin D.
Roosevelt. The men had talks
regarding a common war strategy
to defeat Germany and
Japan. There was a feeling that
the Christmas and New Year
holidays should be cancelled.
This was not as extreme as it
might sound to our modern
ears. The United States had to
gear up wartime production
in what was to be a fight with
very powerful adversaries who
wanted to destroy freedom
around the world. We all know
that the Christmas and New
Year holidays may only be two
days on the calendar, but those
are normally “dead weeks” for
most business and government
operations. Many private and
public sector executives did
not want to lose those valuable
weeks of initial productivity.
England had already been
at war for over two years and
their production capacity was
at 100%, but the British people
were at the end of their rope.
Anything that would delay the
much needed supplies and
support would cost British lives.
American productivity had to
be quickly geared up into overdrive.
Lives depended on it.
As Roosevelt pondered the
unthinkable—cancelling Christmas,
an executive spoke up.
“The holiday isn’t for us. It’s to
honor the Christ Child. It’s His
holiday—not ours.” Exactly.
Roosevelt ordered that federal
holidays not be cancelled. In the
longer term, the people would
DARYL LOTT
be energized by honoring God.
On Christmas Eve, Roosevelt
and Churchill addressed the
freedom loving peoples of the
world from the balcony of the
White House. We would join
the fight against evil until our
last energy was spent. The men
then ceremonially lit the White
House Christmas tree. The
brotherhood of free peoples
would engage a ruthless and
determined enemy.
Roosevelt and Churchill saw
a much needed opportunity to
get our allied efforts off on the
right foot. The notion that our
countries needed each other
was no longer simply a theory.
In addition to the losses America
suffered in the Pacific, the
British were being handed some
cruel defeats as well. “Fortress
Singapore” was considered
impregnable by sea invasion as
it was on the southern tip of the
Malay Peninsula. However, the
Japanese figured if they could
land much farther north, then
their troops could, believe it
or not, ride bicycles south and
defeat the British army at Singapore.
Japanese troop ships
were dispatched to invade the
Malay Peninsula and the soldiers
inside would race their bicycles
to the British back door.
The British countered the move
by sending a battleship, “HMS
Prince of Wales”, and a cruiser,
“HMS Repulse”, to destroy the
Japanese troop ships at sea.
These most powerful of British
warships became the first capital
ships in history sunk in the
open ocean by aircraft alone.
The British Empire was dealt a
staggering blow that weighed
heavily on the minds of Roosevelt
and Churchill (both were
Navy men at heart). What to do!
The devastating losses that
both nations suffered in December
highlighted the reality that
the war was going to be long
and hard. Roosevelt and Churchill
knew that the death toll
would far exceed the 15 million
of the Great War. They knew
that “Happy New Year” was not
going to be appropriate for the
foreseeable future. They knew
that the possibility of America
and the British Empire losing
the war was conceivable. Allied
victory was not inevitable.
What could they do to start this
joint endeavor?
Roosevelt and Churchill happened
to be members of the
same Protestant Church—the
Church of England (as it is
called in England) and the Episcopal
Church (as it is called in
America). The men reasoned,
like George Washington before
them, that anything they did
without God’s Providential leadership
would be fruitless. All
of our citizens, young and old,
black and white, healthy and infirm,
Jew and Gentile, had to be
engaged in the initial response.
New Year’s Day 1942 would
be, by Presidential Decree, a
National Day of Prayer. The idea
was simple, but genius. If the
war was going to be an existential
conflict between good
and evil, then good people
were going to have to pray. The
prayer wasn’t the usual plea
for forgiveness and remorse for
failings. The prayer, according
to the president and prime minister,
was a prayer to make our
nations worthy of being called
good. Our nations had to ask
God for his blessing of making
us worthy to be on His side.
The two leaders prepared
themselves and went to George
Washington’s own Anglican/
Episcopal church on the Day
of Prayer. They sat down in the
general’s own pew and got
right with God. They asked their
Heavenly Father to take their
nations’ heartfelt responses
to a monstrous evil and make
them worthy to be called good.
American and British citizens
echoed the prayers of their
respective leaders. Our parents
and grandparents wanted to
be counted as worthy to fight
evil in the name of Goodness.
They did not ask the Father to
take the bitter cup of war from
their lips; they only wanted
to be worthy of the struggle.
Perhaps that’s why they have
been called the “Greatest Generation.”
The Americans and
the British would never forget
the Christmas of 1941– it was
fraught with anxiety.
Perhaps in this time of anxious
uncertainty, we should
pray that we are worthy to help
our neighbors in need. Maybe,
just maybe, we should pray
that we are worthy to give our
neighbor a cup of water in His
name. I believe that is what my
grandparents did—and yours
did, too.
112 The BLUES The BLUES 113