new church life : july / august 2017
right and help others . It was a lesson learned as a prisoner of war in Vietnam .
Thorsness was awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage as a pilot in 1967 , risking his life to save the lives of a crew who had bailed out in hostile territory after their plane was shot down . Just 11 days later his own plane was shot down and he spent six years as a POW . He endured horrific torture , including breaking his back , suffered malnutrition and endured solitary confinement . But his captors never broke his spirit , nor that of his fellow prisoners .
Thorsness wrote a book about his ordeal , Surviving Hell . But he never lost sight of heaven . He and his comrades came to appreciate their country – and their freedom – and to feel more blessed than their cruel captors .
But their faith in each other – and in God – was quickly tested the first Sunday they were together when they decided to hold a church service . It was swiftly shut down . But the next Sunday they gathered again at one end of their cell and began to pray .
As their senior ranking officer began to lead them in the Lord ’ s Prayer , guards rushed in and dragged him off for torture . The second in command immediately stepped up and began the prayer again . This happened successively with five men stepping up to lead the prayer and being dragged out , knowing they would be horribly beaten .
But after the fifth man was dragged off the guards left too . And a sixth officer stepped up led the men in reciting the prayer .
Thorsness wrote : “ Five courageous officers were tortured , but I think they believed it was worth it . From that Sunday on until we came home , we held a church service . We won . They lost . Forty-two men in prison pajamas followed [ the first officer ’ s ] lead . I know I will never see a better example of pure raw leadership or ever pray with a better sense of the meaning of the words .”
Thorsness was survived by his wife of 64 years , a daughter and two grandchildren . They said he was never bitter about his POW experience but was a better person because of it . He lived his life with good humor and enduring decency , committed to doing what ’ s right and serving others . And it all came from daring to pray when prayer took real courage – and faith in what the prayer was saying .
( BMH ) the hope of our ‘ better angels ’
A popular and controversial book , written by Steven Pinker in 2011 – The Better Angels of Our Nature : Why Violence Has Declined – has soared on the wings of a new “ angel .” Bill Gates , one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the world , has called it one of the most important and inspiring books he has ever read . Now it is a best seller all over again .
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