A Dream of Peace Slips Away
Tom Watson Sr. on Faith in World Peace
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Date Published: August 23, 2021
Date Modified: January 7, 2024 |
Watson Articulates His Faith in Peace
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In September 1939, Tom Watson wrote an editorial for THINK Magazine entitled, “Faith.” The concluding paragraph gives some insight into his spiritual nature and how he found the strength to keep working for peace in a world with so many nations – in 1938 – on the brink of war and – in late 1939 – at war.
“[Nothing before, nothing behind;] The steps of faith fall on seeming void but find the rock beneath.”
In the situation which faces the world today we may well ponder these words of the poet [John Greenleaf Whittier, an American poet]. The vision essential to clear thinking; the common sense needed for wise decisions; the courage of convictions based on facts, not fancies; and the constructive spirit of optimism as opposed to the destructive forces of pessimism, constitute the "rock beneath" which "the steps of faith" will find. Thomas J. Watson, “Faith,” THINK Magazine, September 1939
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It takes faith to find "the rock beneath"
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It reads like an open prayer written so that he might keep his vision, his common sense, the courage of his convictions, and his spirit of optimism through one of the world’s darkest times. He needed these rocks beneath his faithful steps to help humanity find peace and avoid war.
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The Reality of War Sets in: It Can't Be Avoided |
But in September, Germany invaded Poland. Britain, France and Canada declared war on Germany, and Russia invaded eastern Poland and then Finland. President Roosevelt first proclaimed the United States neutral, then declared a state of emergency, and then repealed the U.S. arms embargo. Tom Watson had spoken of and worked for peace between men for most of his adult life. His leadership as director of the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace and long years of service within the international business community culminating in his being elected President of the International Chamber of Commerce appeared to be for naught. His dream was slipping away – even for an optimist the future looked bleak.
Thomas J. Watson Sr. was 65 years old, and his life’s passion of world peace was surely gone—even he could no longer deny it. At this point, in early October, a reporter for The Daily Province in Vancouver, Canada wrote an observation of Tom Watson that was important in its peculiarity because it is impossible to find any similar description of this man in any other interview of the time.
The reporter observed that “there wasn’t much hope [for peace] in his voice.”
This should bring tears to the eyes of those who dream to someday see humanity at peace. Surely, it is understandable if Tom Watson wondered if the rocks beneath his feet had given way, and he displayed a momentary lack of faith and hope in the future. Surely, few men have walked a similar path as far as he did, few talked to so many business and political leaders in the name of peace, few created a successful harmonious corporate institution that crossed the national boundaries of 79 countries—all of these were steps taken by one man in the pursuit of worldwide harmony and peace.
The reporter observed that “there wasn’t much hope [for peace] in his voice.”
This should bring tears to the eyes of those who dream to someday see humanity at peace. Surely, it is understandable if Tom Watson wondered if the rocks beneath his feet had given way, and he displayed a momentary lack of faith and hope in the future. Surely, few men have walked a similar path as far as he did, few talked to so many business and political leaders in the name of peace, few created a successful harmonious corporate institution that crossed the national boundaries of 79 countries—all of these were steps taken by one man in the pursuit of worldwide harmony and peace.
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The loss of such a passionate, life-long, dearly held dream would have crushed a lesser man or woman; but now, a new realization was dawning on him: He and his country would have to "fight for peace."
Tom Watson was starting down the path of becoming Democracy's Man 'O War.
In July 1940, he offered the full facilities of IBM for the defense of democracies around the world. He and the people of his corporation were now becoming the rocks to be found "in the seeming void beneath their countrymen's feet."
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Standing on the rock "beneath"
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"The Binghamton Press" Dated July 8, 1940