Like so many others in...
Illustration
Like so many others in his South American country, he had suffered torture at the hands of its right wing military regime. Contrary to the accusations brought against him, he was no Communist. He was only a Christian who had spoken out for the needs of the poor. Now, thousands of miles away from the scene of his torture, in the quietness of a New England seminary, he spoke of his ordeal.
"Juan," let us call the young man, described the beatings which were administered with increasing viciousness over a four-day period. He told of the electric shock treatment which came after the beatings failed to produce a confession he could not honestly give. Without shame his captors had applied the electrodes to absolutely every part of his body.
"Juan" spoke of these matters softly. It was not the drama he was trying to communicate. It was something far more pressing. Had he thought he would survive the ordeal? No. He really had not expected to survive at all. Too many others had simply disappeared. What sustained him in that time was the one thing he now most wished to share. Even as they fixed the electrodes to his flesh, he knew the Lord was his salvation and that in some way, though he could not see it then, the Lord would surely vindicate.
The "Juans" of this world, the Jobs, the faith-filled innocent sufferers are legion. Do we have the faith to heed them? ... to join them?
"Juan," let us call the young man, described the beatings which were administered with increasing viciousness over a four-day period. He told of the electric shock treatment which came after the beatings failed to produce a confession he could not honestly give. Without shame his captors had applied the electrodes to absolutely every part of his body.
"Juan" spoke of these matters softly. It was not the drama he was trying to communicate. It was something far more pressing. Had he thought he would survive the ordeal? No. He really had not expected to survive at all. Too many others had simply disappeared. What sustained him in that time was the one thing he now most wished to share. Even as they fixed the electrodes to his flesh, he knew the Lord was his salvation and that in some way, though he could not see it then, the Lord would surely vindicate.
The "Juans" of this world, the Jobs, the faith-filled innocent sufferers are legion. Do we have the faith to heed them? ... to join them?
