The Random Thoughts of Henry Holloway
In January 1856 Queen Victoria instituted the ‘Victoria Cross’. It is given ‘For Valour’. The deed, or deeds for which it is awarded, must always have reputable witnesses. Most people will agree that many people, who deserved the decoration, never got it.
There are many kinds of courage and it is difficult to compare them. In our generation the discoveries of men have turned our eyes to the startling and daring events of life. We applaud, without stint, the heroism of those who made every new advance possible. But I could take you to a home where a woman, in face of want and difficulty, has fought the battle of life bravely to give her children a decent start on the road of life. She lives unsung, and she will die unsung, except by those who know and love her. We can be carried away by the glamour of daring heroism and miss the heroism of the life that is lived quietly and nobly in difficult circumstances.
There are people who live like that in every town and village. Patience and faith are their only weapons in life’s battle. You will not easily recognise them. They have no uniform. They wear no medal. They help to keep the lives of others sweet and wholesome and they revive the flame of courage from the dead ashes of despair. I have been privileged to share some of the deeper things of life with some of these unknown heroes. I have watched the spirit of men triumph over the seeming disasters of life.
It is sometimes easier to do a brave deed which involves physical courage, than to stand up for one’s principles, which involves moral courage. A young fellow in an officer’s mess was offered a drink. He didn’t drink but it took a lot of courage to say so just there. As it was, a senior officer congratulated the lad on his courage. To do the thing that is unpopular or to stand out against the crowd takes a lot of courage. Almost anything is easier to meet than the sneer which greets a display of moral courage.
One thing that was made very clear to us during the war was that some of the bravest deeds were performed by the most unlikely people, dock labourers, costermongers, shop assistants, bank clerks, just an odd parson or two - folk from the most prosaic walks of life. You never know the kind of stuff of which you are made until you are put to the test.
A young fellow was in prison once for ‘being on enclosed premises for an unlawful purpose,’ One day he escaped over the roof with a policeman in hot pursuit. Suddenly there was a crash. The policeman had fallen through a skylight and just managed to save himself from a 30 foot drop by grabbing a girder with one hand. Without help he might easily have lost his hold. In a flash the fugitive saw the policeman’s peril. It was a chance to get away. He stopped and shouted: ‘Hold on, mate. I’m coming.’ In the test, the real man was brought to light.
After dark, one of the chaplains in the Middle East was walking with his young son. The lad said to him, ‘Daddy, what is God like? “I don’t know what God is like, son,’ said the father, but pointing to the stars, he said, ‘That is His uniform.” And has He any decorations?’ the lad continued. ‘Yes,’ said his father, ‘He has a Cross, but He carries it in His heart.’
The Victoria Cross is the symbol of a matchless courage. That Cross is the symbol of a matchless love, an amazing courage and a generous forgiveness.
| Previous |