Yesterday, I wrote a letter I felt had to be written to a friend. I had prayed about it beforehand and within the contents of the letter, the Holy Spirit led me to pen these words by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl: "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
I read those words only for the first time yesterday, and they brought tears to my eyes because of the way these men rose above their situation and made a difference in other people's lives through their responses. To me, this was a profound celebration of the indomitable human spirit. And their actions were extremely encouraging to me because they showed that although they were in the deepest pits of hell on earth, they had the clearest sight of heaven in their hearts.
The extract was from Viktor Frankl's book - Man's Search for Meaning. I'll probably look for it at Kinokuniya over the weekend.
Isaiah 61:1-3
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that
He may be glorified."
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