The year was 1949. The place – The City of Angels. A young, tall, lean President of a small college was setting up a huge circus tent but he had no animals. His tiny band of builders were busy laying down sawdust, laying out folding chairs, and laying it all on the line with the hopes that somebody would come. They announced their presence and intent to all the major media outlets – nobody wrote a word. Nobody, it seemed, gave a rip. Undaunted, this man on a mission simply carried on. Each morning he would get up early and work well into the night. The first few days hardly anybody came and next to nobody noticed. As their first week came to a close a few more began to show. It always begins with a few…
Week two was to be their last in LA but momentum dictated they change plans. Something was happening and this young man could feel it. He huddled his team together and called an audible – we’re staying on a bit longer team, he told them. Everybody high fived and got back to work. It would be two more weeks before a young, broken POW from the Pacific would be forced by his bride to come and see what was going on under this great, big circus tent. He wanted nothing to do with it but his wife was persuasive and finally, reluctantly – he went. You see this man wasn’t just any man – he was Louie Zamperini…
This Christmas season the movie Unbroken will tell Louie’s incredible story of undaunted courage, strong will, and never say die attitude. As you watch you will find yourself questioning how one man could endure so much. Plane crash in the pacific, 47 days lost at sea, shark attacks, capture by the Japanese, endless torture at the hand of “The Bird,” and all while starved, sick, and sleep depraved. You will, undoubtedly, feel soft and softer as you watch. The movie will show the triumph of the human spirit and you’ll walk out inspired by Louie’s long road to recovery and the power of his belief. However, Hollywood being hollywood, they may fail to tell you the whole story. If you want a bit more color and commentary, check out the book by the same title written by the author of Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand.
You see, the tent scene in LA wasn’t a circus. The ringleader wasn’t employed by Barnum & Bailey. In 1949 Billy Graham was just getting started in living out his opus. His pivot point was the 1949 LA Crusade where the world took notice. And, under that tent a reluctant, broken Louie surrendered, not to another man, another country, or another company. Louie surrendered to, as C.S. Lewis would say, the hound of heaven. He surrendered and his PTSD, according to him, disappeared in an instant. His life would completely change direction. He was never the same. Bitterness left him. His desire for revenge was replaced with a profound sense of peace. And he would go on to live a long, fruitfull, full, life.
So, this Christmas, do go and watch this worthy film. And, remember you and I all gotta surrender. None of us can make our lives right and whole on our own. We, my friends, are all broken – aren’t we. And, God wants to help us all. Good…
BUILT TO LEAD 