In Shakespeare’s Romeo
and Juliet, the love-struck Romeo’s metaphor for the beloved Juliet is a star
at night or at dawn. Seeing Juliet,
Romeo says, “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? / It is the
east and Juliet is the sun.” (Romeo and
Juliet, Act II, Scene II)
Juliet is the center
of his life, of his solar system.
[__02] What – or whom – would you and I place
in the center of life? What would be the metaphor?
In 1st
Corinthians, Chapter 12, Paul uses the metaphor of the human body to represent
our communion, our Church.
Though remaining the
object of Romeo’s great affection, Juliet is really not the sun. It is really a
metaphor, a symbol.
St. Paul, on the other
hand, introduces the “body of Christ” as more than a symbol, but a reality.
We have experienced
this in relationships, have we not?
In a family, a
marriage, if a person were missing – or lost due to death – we would experience
physical and emotional pain, body and soul.
And, we also know
mother and child form a unit. Both are independent, persons of their own. But,
they also form one body.
I’d like to use this
human body/body of Christ to explain how we understand our dignity of
life/respect life teaching in our church.
This past week –
January 22 – is the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision – Roe v. Wade
– which legalized abortion and on this January anniversary, thousands of people
go to Washington not simply to protest and say no, but to say YES, to life all
stages
For when we speak of
protecting life at all stages, we are also protecting the body of Christ made
up of many members, many parts, many individuals.
Sometimes, it may be
difficult to determine how we should proceed – or how far this protection
should extend.
I’d like to use one
example from a recent biography, a bestseller by Laura Hillenbrand.
What we read in this biography
is how one particular individual is protected but how this protection turns out
to be the Good News for those carrying out the safeguard.
[__03] Louis [Louie] Zamperini of the United
States Air Corps in World War II, a young soldier in Hawaii and the Pacific in
the 1940’s, is the subject of a 2010 biography by Laura Hillenbrand.
This biography – this non-fiction
book – is titled:
“Unbroken:
A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption”, a New York Times bestseller.
The biography of Louie
Zamperini, Louie, shows – one the one hand -- his skills of adaptation and
endurance:
David Margolick, in The New York Times review, writes – “[Louie’s life] is one of the most spectacular
odysseys of [World War II] or any other war, and “odyssey” is the right word,
for with its tempests and furies and monsters, many of them human, Zamperini’s
saga is something out of Greek mythology.”
To survive in wartime,
in the Pacific, strength is necessary. The body is important to Louie who as a
young man in his 20’s, is also an accomplished runner on the track:
“Zamperini grew up in Torrance, Calif., and
thanks partly to a bout of juvenile delinquency — he became adept at breaking
into homes, then fleeing the police — he developed into a world-class runner.
He ran the 5,000 meters at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (even Hitler – [in Germany]
-- commented on him) and later, [on the track] [at USC] at the University of
Southern California, flirted with a four-minute mile. His coach said the only
runner who could beat him was — you guessed it — [the thoroughbred horse]
Seabiscuit.”
This comparison to Seabiscuit is quoted in the book –
intentionally – by the author. Laura Hillenbrand also wrote a historical
account of the thoroughbred horse, Seabiscuit.
Louie is fast; Louie
is strong.
And, this is going to
help him, in World War II, in the Pacific.
[__04] On the other hand, speed and strength
are not enough. There is also the will
to live, the will to survive. There is a desire for life within each one of us.
When we speak of being
pro-life, or supporting the dignity of life at all stages, we are affirming the
God-given presence of life in each of us.
And, this life begins
well before we are born or before we demonstrate strength or gold-medal speed.
And, this life endures
after our average speed – or velocity – is calculated in single digits, after
we have slowed down. This God-given life endures during an illness, a
disability, advanced age.
[__05] The Unbroken journey of Louie demonstrates not only speed
and strength but also the will to survive and to protect others who are
vulnerable.
And, it is not easy to
maintain this protection – to keep your guard up for the most vulnerable – amid
threats and dangers on the battlefield. Louie is on an odyssey of his own.
[__06] One particular mission is a test of Louie’s
endurance – both physically and spiritually.
It is also a test of his regard for the life of another soldier.
On this mission from
Hawaii, where they fly hundreds of miles from inhabited regions, the aircraft
malfunctions and crashes in the Pacific.
Of the approximately
12 airmen on board the plane, only 3 survive – Louie, Phil (the pilot) and
MacNamara.
And, of the survivors,
Louie remains the physically and emotionally strongest. MacNamara is, by far,
the most severely injured, the least able to help, and the most traumatized.
They float on a raft.
And, in this chapter of the odyssey, the storms overhead and sharks below them
are many.
They have very few
provisions – a few pints of water in canteens, and 3 bars of chocolate.[2]
The very first night
on the raft, while Louie and Phil, the pilot, are sleeping, MacNamara panics,
eats all the chocolate, drinks all the water.
[__07] Discovering this , Louie and Phil are
upset, but manage to restrain themselves and only Louie says it…and only says
it once to MacNamara aloud, “I’m
disappointed in you.” “Disappointed”– that’s
an understatement!
[__08] But, could we not say that this restraint,
this attempt at patience is also a manifestation of respect toward the
vulnerable and weak MacNamara.
Later, Louie will
acknowledge that MacNamara’s efforts – while small in magnitude – were in fact
a critical part of their survival.
Louie reflects later,
had Macnamara not survived the crash, Louie and Phil might well have died
themselves. Macnamara himself will die of his injuries.
And, in respecting his
life, body and soul, Louie and Phil give him the most dignified burial at sea
possible under the circumstances.
Up until the end, it
is MacNamara’s will to live, to redeem himself afterwards that allows him to
work, to contribute, to put an oar in the water.
But, first, it is
their sense of the body – of unity, forgiveness, that allows them to work as a
team.
Or – as we pray in the
Our Father – “forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Forgive him for
drinking all the water, he know not what he was doing.
[__09] We read in 1st Corinthians,
Chapter 12 this Sunday: “Now you are Christ’s body, individually parts
of it.” (1 Corinthians 12: __)
There are many parts
but one body.
This is not simply an
ethic – or personality characteristic – for West Point, the western Pacific, or
World War II.
It is an ethic for how
we guard the sanctity, the dignity of life at all stages.
As we read in Matthew
25:
“I was thirsty and you gave me drink …
whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me.”
(Matthew 25)
We are called to guard
the God-given presence of life in every person.
This is true in
protecting our own lives, the very young, the unborn, the elderly, those in
advanced stages of illness.
This treatment – this
protection – strengthens the whole body of Christ.
Louie Zamperini offer
this protection to his teammate in a difficult match. He offers this protection to Macnamara who
is troubled, even physically disabled.
By doing so, Louie is
saving himself. Louie invites –
welcomes - the weak Macnamara to do
whatever he can.
And, it is also true
that in our ethic of protecting life at all stages -- It is by caring for the weakest that also the
strong will survive.
[1] Merriam Webster:
“metaphor” = (1) a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally
denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a
likeness or analogy between them (as drowning
in money) (2) an object, idea treated as a metaphor: SYMBOL.
[2]
I could add that the Hillenbrand reports that
the chocolate was designed to lack flavor so that no one would eat except in an
emergency … or would not eat too much at one time ? This does not stop MacNamara.
