Ernest Gordon listened to the groans of the death house
when he was a prisoner in Burma. He entered World War
II in his early twenties a strong robust young man from
Scotland but then came the capture by the Japanese and
months of backbreaking labor in the jungle, daily beatings
and slow starvation.
The allied soldiers there behaved like barbarians, stealing
from each other, robbing dying colleagues, fighting for
food scraps. The law of the jungle became the law of the
camp.
Gordon was more than happy to bid adieu, he was dieing
because of the conditions. Death by disease was far better
than life in Burma. He could wrap one hand around his
bony thigh. Diphtheria had drained him., he could not
walk, and he could not even feel his body. He shared a
cot with flies and bedbugs and awaited a lonely death
in this Japanese prison camp.
But something happened, something incredibly wonderful.
Two new prisoners, transferred into camp. Though also
sick and frail, they heeded a higher code.
They shared their meager meals and volunteered for extra
work. They cleansed Gordon’s ulcerated sores and
massaged his atrophied legs. They gave him his first bath
in six weeks. His strength slowly returned and with it
his dignity.
Their goodness proved contagious and Gordon began to
do to others as they did to him. He began to treat the
sick and share his rations. He even gave away his few
belongings. Other soldiers did the same. Over time, the
tone of the camp changed and brightened. Sacrifice replaced
Selfishness. Soldiers held worship services and Bible
studies.
Twenty years later, when Gordon served as chaplain of
Princeton University, he described the transformation
as …”Death was still with us, but we were
slowly being freed from its destructive grip…Selfishness,
hatred and pride were anti life. Love, self sacrifice
and faith were the essence of life. ..God’s gifts
to us all.”
Selfishness, hatred and pride,… you don’t
have to go to a POW camp to find them. A college dorm,
a company board room, a marriage, or really anywhere will
do. The code of the jungle,..Every man for himself,
Get all you can, and can all you get. Survival of the
fittest, is everywhere.
Does this code contaminate your world? If so then be
willing to make a change, like the two soldiers in the
story, make a difference in someone’s life. Replace
selfishness with sacrifice.
Olive branches do more good than battle-axes ever
will.
Soft speech can crush strong opposition.
Christ lived the life we could not live and took
the punishment we could not take to offer the hope we
cannot resist.
Tim Carlisle
