{"id":4757,"date":"2025-07-18T08:33:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T12:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4757"},"modified":"2025-07-18T08:33:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T12:33:14","slug":"superheroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/superheroes\/","title":{"rendered":"Superheroes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

Superman is back in theaters this week \u2013 an enduring symbol of a lone individual trying to right the world\u2019s wrongs.

But not all superheroes wear capes. And comic books aren\u2019t the only places you can find redemptive tales. \u00a0\u00a0

Nicholas Winton, a 29-year-old British stockbroker, was horrified by Hitler\u2019s efforts to annihilate Europe\u2019s Jews.

Unlike so many of his peers, Winton decided to do something.

Leaving the security of his home in the UK, he traveled to Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.\u00a0Even as Jewish parents were being sent east to German death camps, Winton quietly herded their children onto trains heading west from Prague.

In 1938 and 1939, he courageously supervised the rescue of 669 Jewish children.\u00a0

Their lives almost certainly would have ended at Auschwitz.\u00a0

It wasn\u2019t easy finding a landing place for so many kids.\u00a0Winton brought them to England, where bureaucrats hassled him over their incomplete documentation.\u00a0He resorted to various \u201ccreative means\u201d to fill in the blanks.

Who would ultimately watch over these children? America refused his pleas to get involved. Britain finally consented to help. By means of newspaper ads, he quietly found foster families willing to raise them as their own.

Having secured the survival of almost 700 helpless strangers, Winton, incredibly, kept his exploits a secret for 50 years.

Only when his wife Gerte stumbled upon an old scrapbook in the 1980s was his heroism brought to light. The stockbroker, true to form, had kept careful notes, including the names and pictures of every rescued child.\u00a0

Gerte decided to pass the information along to a journalist.\u00a0

That ultimately led to a remarkable 1988 episode of the British TV program That\u2019s Life. <\/em>When you watch the show, Winton is introduced as the special guest. His extraordinary efforts are finally made public.

Then come the surprises. Winton has unknowingly been seated next to a woman he does not recognize \u2013 but whose life he had saved when she was a little girl. Then the woman seated on his other side reveals that she, too, is one of his rescues.

That\u2019s when the host asks, \u201cIs there anyone in the audience tonight who owes their life to Nicholas Winton?\u201d

Here\u2019s a link so you can watch what happens next: Story of Nicholas Winton BBC That’s life – Short version<\/a>. Tissues are highly recommended.

Winton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003.

At his death in 2015 at the age of 106, praise for Sir Nicholas came from all over the world.\u00a0

\u201cHe was a hero of our time,\u201d said Daniel Taub, Israel\u2019s ambassador to the UK. \u201cHis legacy, as a point of light in an era of darkness, will forever be remembered.\u201d

Prime minister Gordon Brown said, \u201cAnyone who had the privilege of meeting him immediately felt admiration, respect, and were in awe of his courage.\u00a0That courage led him to risk his life to save the lives of some of the most vulnerable people.\u201d

His son Nick said concerning his father\u2019s legacy:\u00a0\u201cIt is about encouraging people to make a difference, and not waiting for something to be done, or waiting for someone else to do it.\u201d

Jesus said in Matthew 25 (if we can paraphrase just a bit), \u201cWhoever feeds, clothes, visits in prison, heals, serves, or delivers by train to the safety of a new family in a new land, the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, is actually doing such amazing things for me.\u201d

Nicholas Winton lived long enough to see the children he rescued become adults, and to have children of their own, who now have had children and even grandchildren of their own.\u00a0

Is it really possible to imagine blessing four generations?

It is.\u00a0And it all begins today.

By God\u2019s grace, you already have the superpowers to change the world.

Be brave<\/em>.

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here Superman is back in theaters this week \u2013 an enduring symbol of a lone individual trying to right the world\u2019s wrongs. But not all superheroes wear capes. And comic books aren\u2019t the only places you can find redemptive tales. \u00a0\u00a0 Nicholas Winton, a 29-year-old British stockbroker, was horrified by Hitler\u2019s efforts… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[157,74,341],"class_list":["post-4757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-compassion","tag-matthew-25","tag-service"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4757"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4759,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4757\/revisions\/4759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}