![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/203.170.86.202\/wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Zamerini-Air-Corps-bombing-Nauru.jpg?resize=400%2C266\" "\\"Zamerini-Air-Corps-bombing-Nauru.jpg\\"")
<\/p>\nToday is the anniversary of the death of someone incredible, though the chances are, you have never heard of him. Those who have, may only know Angelina Jolies\u2019 version – the movie version that shows some of the success, the depth of suffering and even some of the incredible nature of forgiveness, but certainly not the true reason for it.
\nI am talking about a man called Louis Zamperini, who died seven years ago at age 97.<\/p>\n
In his early life, he was bullied and nearly died twice – once in a house fire and once after falling into an oil rig and nearly drowning.
\nAfter his dad taught him boxing as self defence, he got good at it – very good. This enabled his desire for revenge. In fact, he states he was addicted to \u2018getting revenge\u2019 on bullies.<\/p>\n
His brother saw warning signs and directed Zamperini\u2019s energy towards the running track instead.<\/p>\n
Zamperini soon became known for his speed, especially towards the end of races. Recording a 4min 21 second mile shot him to local recognition and down a path of running success. One day, where 40 people died in Manhattan alone due to severe heat, he ran the 5000 metres and came tied with the the record holder. He became the youngest ever to qualify for the Olympics 5000m.<\/p>\n
Known as the Torrance Tornado, Adolf Hitler himself insisted on meeting him for his \u2018fast finish\u2019 and fame came his way. Surrounded by free food, Zamperini revelled in it and even put on 5 kg in a short amount time. This part of his life is well documented.<\/p>\n
The war however, cut short his running career and his dream of running in the Tokyo olympics\u2026<\/p>\n
He joined the army air corps and on one mission to liberate Nauru returned in a plane with 500 holes in it, skidding to a halt with a flat tyre barely making it home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the next flight, looking for lost soldiers, his replacement plane ditched in to the ocean. 9 of the 11 crew died in the crash.
\nThe remaining 3 soldiers, climbed into their life raft and tended to each others wounds.<\/p>\n
It would turn in to a 47 day, 2000 mile drift of harrowing nature. Sunburn, dehydration, mental anguish, hunger, sharks and untold dangers became the normal. This came as a Japanese plane circled them for 30 minutes, doing pass after pass, shooting at them. 48 holes were shot in their life raft:<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the first time in my life I prayed\u201d Zamperini said years later. \u201cI said<\/p>\n \u2018God, if I survive this ordeal and get back to America alive I will seek you and serve you\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This statement, to a God he didn\u2019t know, came right at his lowest point, right when everything in him wanted to survive. Maybe you, too, have said something like that to God – maybe caught up in the heat, the fear, the sadness of a moment you said something (even fleeting) to \u2018god\u2019? Hold that thought\u2026<\/p>\n After another harrowing length of time on that raft, Zamperini and his only surviving comrade were captured by the Japanese as soon as they made land, nearly 5000km away. And not just any Japanese, but by the infamous corporal Mutsuhiro Watanabe aka \u2018The Bird\u2019. Infamous for being sadistic in his treatment of prisoners, \u2018the bird\u2019 was later stated to be 23rd out of 40 most wanted war criminals.<\/p>\n He would never be brought to justice. His disgusting torture of prisoners definitely reflected on his core Nihilist philosophical belief that ‘human existence held no objective meaning’. Somehow surviving until the end of the war, Zamperini did eventually make it back to America alive. His harrowing treatment, his life and his time on the raft was not forgotten, though the promise was. He was now famous, brushing shoulders with hollywoods elite and soon married.<\/p>\n But as life settled down and the bright lights of Hollywood grew dim, the memories of previous treatment didn\u2019t. Nightmares and flashbacks became regular, even constant. This second round of torture, that many ex military know all too well, led Zamperini to start drinking.<\/p>\n His life and marriage suffered and started to spiral downwards. To a point where even the neighbours knew. But one neighbour cared enough to act\u2026 The neighbour invited Zamperini and his wife to come and hear a largely unknown Billy Graham speak\u2026<\/p>\n Zamperini immediately remembered that little prayer, that promise, made while being shot at on that raft. He had neglected that promise, so agreed to go and hear Billy Graham speak.<\/p>\n At that event, Zamperini came to a heart-felt conclusion that<\/p>\n \u2018no man can solve the problems of life without Jesus Christ\u2019. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n He had suddenly discovered the joy of this freedom and desired to pass it on to others.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t fame, speed, success or money or food or success or Hollywood that helped Zamperini. The God-man who came down to pay the penalty for all of Zamperini\u2019s sins – each and every one. And for the brutal Birds. And for mine. And for yours.<\/p>\n My prayer today is that you would experience the peace of Jesus and the joy that comes from true and complete forgiveness.<\/p>\n And maybe, just maybe, you have said something like Zamperini did, making a small but significant promise to a \u2018god\u2019 you may not have known (or even believe existed).<\/p>\n You likely weren\u2019t on a raft in the Pacific being shot at by the Japanese about to die at their hand. It could have been anything, anywhere – but it would have been real.<\/p>\n For me, I was about to die at my own hand. At the very bottom of the valley of my life, I said something that was easy to forget. \u201cGod I made a mess of my life\u2026if you are there & can do something with it, you can have it\u201d. Easy easy to forget, easy to get distracted from, to walk away from, but real.<\/p>\n Have you ever made a similar promise to God? Have you come good on that promise? Are you living in a way that lives up to it? Mine doesn\u2019t. And I want it to. I owe Him every breath.<\/p>\n Zamperini went through some terrible times after his life was spared. He also went through what seemed like amazing highs, blocking out the reason for his sparing. But eventually, God got His attention and opened his eyes.<\/p>\n Afterwards Zamperini really did live for God. He started a youth camp and even returned to Japan to share Jesus with people, also forgiving his captors. He carried the Olympic flame through the very region where He was tortured. What a contrast of lives: one lived without purpose, in luxury torturing and killing those purposeless beings – and when he died would have been judged and sent to hell for eternity. There is no escape for sin. <\/p>\n Zamperini\u2019s life on the other hand was littered with pain and hardship, yet he served, helped and lived for others. His life reflected forgiveness to those who didn\u2019t deserve it. And when he died, 7 years ago? He entered God\u2019s very house – heaven. Not based on what he went through or did, but based on what Jesus did on the cross for every human. <\/p>\n Zamperini\u2019s life was yet another shining example of the power of Jesus Christ. Please, don\u2019t let it be in vain – his desire was for you to know the truth & respond to it. <\/p>\n Lord, please forgive us for ignoring you and pursuing everything else. Please change our hearts and empower us to honour You. Fully. This is Your life, please use it for your glory.<\/p>\n #thankYouJesus A life of suffering and forgiveness<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[52,18,15,136],"tags":[137,60,135],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-for-thought","category-soul-food","category-suffering","tag-forgiveness","tag-saltlight","tag-suffering"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Zamperini-Army-Airforce-crash-tortured-Jesus-forgiveness.jpg?fit=688%2C639&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pasDCW-bm","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":724,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions\/724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBut right in the middle of it all, Zamperini finally fully<\/em> believed he would die…<\/p>\n\n
\nIf he had known what was to come, he may not have issued that prayer!<\/p>\n![\"3](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/203.170.86.202\/wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/3-men-in-life-raft-Zamperini-shot-by-plane.jpg?resize=240%2C196\" "\\"3-men-in-life-raft-Zamperini-shot-by-plane.jpg\\"")
<\/p>\n
\nSome of the physical and mental torture that Zamperini and others received is recorded in the book \u2018Unbroken\u2019 by Laura Hillenbrand. It was brutal, and gives an insight into what people went through and the sacrifices made in order to keep us safe.<\/p>\n\n
\nIt wasn\u2019t Zamperini nor his wife or his neighbour or even Billy Graham that was the reason or the cause of the joy Zamperini now felt.
\nIt wasn\u2019t a philosophy or religion – it was a person. The person of Jesus Christ. Real, alive and powerful.<\/p>\n
\nDoes your life reflect true honour, gratitude and worship to the One who not only Created you, but brought you through that terrible time?<\/p>\n
\nHe sought out the Bird to meet with him and offer forgiveness, but the Bird declined.<\/p>\n![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/203.170.86.202\/wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/screenshot_467.jpg?resize=185%2C339\" "\\"screenshot_467.jpg\\"")
<\/p>\n
\n#sacrifice #war #Zamperini<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"