DIGNITY Wednesday, July 09, 2014 When Louis Zamperini’s plane was forced to ditch in the South Pacific during World War II, only three of the eleven passengers survived the crash, including Zamperini. The crash also destroyed virtually all of their provisions. The three lived in a six-by-two life raft, drifting westward some 2,000 miles on the open ocean in forty-five days. They were captured by the Japanese and their captors treated them to some of the most inhumane torture ever conceived by humanity. Over the next two years his Japanese captors “sought to deprive them of something that sustained them even when all else was lost: dignity, which author Laura Hilldebrand defines as one’s “self-respect and sense of self-worth, the innermost armament of the soul (which) lies at the heart of humanness.” “To be deprived of it,” she writes is “to be dehumanized.” Zamperini learned quickly that his captors meant to destroy him, not by killing him outright, but by dehumanizing him, taking his dignity. Zamperini finally concluded that, you only die if you lose all hope. And, you only lose hope when you lose your dignity. If our enemy can destroy our dignity he can destroy our hope. Once Zamperini figured that out, his total focus was on protecting his sense of dignity. Even though it meant cruel beatings, there were some things Zamperini refused to do. This can be a very dehumanizing world in so very many ways. There are demeaning jobs and demeaning bosses, people who supervise but don’t care one lick about those whom they supervise. We can throw our dignity away by engaging in dehumanizing activities. Bullying is dehumanizing; it can destroy dignity and end in destroying a life as sure as a bullet to the brain. When people never know or forget that they were made in the image of God and thereby granted dignity at birth, they tend to live in less than dignified ways and treat others the same. They also tend to surrender themselves to relationships and careers and jobs that are even more likely to rob their dignity even more. Yesterday, at the end of a long, hot day, I was ready to quit. There was this one last guy I needed to see. He lives in a nursing home and his disease is slowly robbing him of his independence. I went there, however, so he will hopefully never forget that, even in our weakest human state, we still have our dignity. I went to remind him because I’m hoping and praying there will be someone there for me someday when I need reminding. A dear friend called on the way home. I’m her “pastor” via phone. Her husband’s disease is trying so hard to rob him of his dignity. As she described his conditions I began to weep. He can’t protect his most basic dignity anymore so we will protect it for him, whatever it takes. When his torturers had done all they could to take his dignity, that was the last thing Jesus would surrender. When he could no longer protect it, he gave it back to God who then later returned it to him at the resurrection and ascension. Wherever you go today, don’t let anyone or anything have access to your God-given dignity. They can take your job, your money, your spouse, your house, your car – all of it. But, they can only take your dignity if you give it to them. And, if our enemy can’t destroy our dignity, they can’t destroy our hope. If they can’t destroy our hope, they can’t have our life, either.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 11:11:16 +0000
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