Two nights ago, I went to the Sphinx movie theatre to watch “Pressure”.  Last night I did the same thing.

It’s World War Two.  The Allies are planning for D-Day … the invasion of Normandy.  They need an accurate weather forecast for their soldiers crossing the English Channel – infantry, paratroopers, pilots.

The man in the blue shirt is James Stagg, a brilliant Scottish meteorologist recommended by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The man at the upper left is Dwight Eisenhower, the commander of the Allied forces.  The buck stops with him.

I will watch “Pressure” a third time, because I need to learn how to be brave. 

I’ll watch Jim Stagg.  He forecasts bad weather for June 5, 1944 – the scheduled invasion day.  His American colleague says that it will be clear skies, an opinion that Eisenhower and all the generals want to be true.  Stagg stands alone … quietly, assertively.

Eisenhower yells …

My recent problems with my landlord are nothing compared with the lives of thousands of soldiers.  Still, it took courage to stand up to him.

I keep watching Jim Stagg.  At one point, when Eisenhower is glaring at him, determined that D-Day sticks to schedule, a call comes in for Stagg.  His pregnant wife has been taken to hospital, and that hospital has been bombed by the Germans.  He doesn’t know if his wife is alive or dead. 

He walks out of the command centre onto lawns where a tent village has been set up for soldiers.  Four of them are drunk – dancing wildly, singing loudly.  And Stagg’s brain is exploding. 

His wife, the future of the world (Nazi controlled or not), and he’s the chief meteorologist, about to tell Eisenhower his decision, his best guess about the weather … which is bad.

***

And so I learn more about standing

Not crumbling

Standing