By Joe McKeever
Do you know Sumner Redstone? His autobiography is called ‘A Passion to Win.’
In the days when he was chairman of Viacom, Redstone ruled over an empire which included CBS, Paramount, Blockbuster, Simon and Schuster, and about half the channels on your cable system. As a young man, he graduated first in his class at Boston Latin, sailed through Harvard in three years, learned Japanese and decoded messages for the O.S.S. (forerunner of the CIA) during World War II, and argued cases before the Supreme Court—all before beginning his business career.
Not your Average Joe.
In 1979, Sumner Redstone checked into Boston’s Copley Plaza Hotel. Sometime after midnight he smelled smoke and made the mistake of opening the door. Immediately he was engulfed in flames. Just down the hall, his co-worker opened his door and stepped into the corridor — and was burned to death.
Redstone staggered across his room and managed to open a window. He was able to climb onto a ledge just outside his third-floor window and kneel there, his right hand clinging to the windowsill. Flames shot out the window, roasting his arm and hand. His legs had been burned to the arteries and now his arm was charring. He thought if he could just hold on a little longer, surely help was on the way.
What he did not know was that Copley had not wanted anyone to know they had a problem and had not called the fire department.
For what seemed an eternity, Redstone held on to the ledge. “The pain was excruciating,” he writes, “but I refused to let go. That way was death.”
Finally, a fire truck with a hook and ladder rescued him. He had third degree burns over 45 percent of his body. He endured 5 operations lasting 60 hours in all, and lay in the hospital for months.
Redstone writes, “There are doctors who claim that your mental attitude will help you get through cancer. I don’t know about that, but I can say with certainty that my will to win, my tenacity, had a lot to do with my recovery.”
That is one businessman you would not want to go up against in a business deal.
On June 4, 1940, when Britain stood all alone against Hitler, England’s new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, inspired his countrymen to hang tough and stand strong. He told the House of Commons: “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender….”
Hold on. Hang in there. Don’t give up.
You have marriage problems? Don’t quit, keep working. Your church is trying to self-destruct? Stay faithful. You are laboring for the Lord and see no fruit? Don’t stop now. “Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we do not quit.” (Galatians 6:9)
Anyone can serve God and pray and tithe and sing hymns of joy when the bills are paid and the kids are doing great in school, everyone is well, and the prospects for the future look promising. But show the rest of us your faith when times are hard, jobs are scarce, and every day brings worse news. That’s when the song of Habakkuk kicks in….
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive shall fail, and the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the folk, and there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord.
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”
(Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Praise God anyway. Serve Him in spite of the difficulties. Do your job. Stay by your assignment. Never surrender. Help is coming and the harvest will be great.
“Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)
Dr. Joe McKeever is a Preacher, Cartoonist, and retired Director of Missions for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans. Visit his website.
