Past, Present and Future
The Britannia Theatre, Shoreditch, suffered complete destruction by German bombs in WWII in the October of 1940 and was subsequently demolished in 1941. At that time my dad was 13 years old and living in Hoxton, close to that theatre and was soon evacuated with many of London’s children to the country and my dad was sent to stay on a farm in Newquay in Cornwall.
He enjoyed a great time on the farm with the farmer and his wife taking good care of him and he was safe, and far from the continual bombing taking place upon London. He enjoyed the freedom of the countryside and took part in the daily life of the farm by helping the farmer and his wife.
A TV Drama, which we have watched many times is ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’ tells the story of one particular boy, also evacuated from London to the country and living in a village with a widower and enjoying the relative safety of the countryside. Although you can imagine many of those evacuated children being upset at having to leave behind family and not knowing they would see them again and ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’ gives a real insight into the life of children evacuated and living with families they didn’t know.
After the war my dad kept in touch with the couple he stayed with, and when my brothers and I were still quite young, he received a letter from the farmer inviting my dad and his family to stay with them for a couple of days on the farm. Of course, my dad was thrilled to hear from them, wrote back and was pleased to accept their invitation.
I was delighted to meet the elderly couple that had looked after my dad when he was just a young boy.
The site of the old Britannia Theatre was cleared and eventually replaced by a new building - an apartment block that still stands to this day.
My dad, after the war which threatened, and in many cases, caused much in the way of destruction, was able to find a life of peace and joy when he married and started a family that offered a brighter future.
With hope in the saving work of Jesus on the cross, we can all find new life out of the chaos and destruction of our naturally sinful lives. This new life of hope which is found in Jesus leads us out of destruction and into a life of the hope of eternity in the presence of the God of justice and mercy.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
(2 Corinthians 10:4)
“When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.”
(Proverbs 21: 15)