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In a sense, the Bible is God’s “Ministry of Information,” His ministry of providing the wisdom we need for abundant living. God’s Word Provides Wisdom in Troubled Times Yet the message rang true, for people instinctively understood that only the triple-braided rope of courage, cheerfulness, and resolution could pull them through. Many felt their leaders were “talking down” to the public. Critics lambasted this slogan as overly simplistic and condescending, especially because of its mixed use of the pronouns YOUR and US. Waterfield, the Deputy Secretary of the MOI, composed the poster that said: YOUR COURAGE, YOUR CHEERFULNESS, YOUR RESOLUTION WILL BRING US VICTORY. The improved morale was due in part to a trio of posters created by the Ministry of Information. Yet somehow, the British Isles found the courage, cheerfulness, and resolution to press through to victory. One aristocrat said, “It’s madness to suppose we can beat Hitler.” Another person on the opposite end of the social spectrum said, “I think they’re going to beat us, don’t you?” Another man wrote in his journal, “My reason tells me it will now be almost impossible to beat the Germans.” A young pilot in the Royal Air Force wrote home saying, “I don’t give much for our chances.” Even Winston Churchill himself said to a military assistant during a particularly grim moment, “You and I will be dead in three months’ time.” 2 England’s prospects were bleak, and some in the government wanted to seek terms of peace with Hitler. Looking back from the perspective of history, it’s easy to miss the hopelessness of the times. According to Mackay, from the outset of World War II, the British Ministry of Information and its partnering agencies “attached great importance to people’s states of mind, measuring the fluctuations in cheerfulness, how much people were interested in the war news and whether they were optimistic about victory or the future more generally.” 1Īt first, there was very little optimism about victory. Morale is half the battle, as historian Robert Mackay writes in his book by that title: Half the Battle: Civilian Morale in Britain During the Second World War. When facing a ubiquitous enemy like coronavirus, attitude can mean the difference between victory and defeat.