This weekend my wife and I went to the movies.  We don't often go, for many reasons, but this time we wanted to see Unbroken.  I discovered Louie Zamperini a few years ago and immediately loved the man and his story.  (I don't mean to sound like I ever met him, because I didn't.)  So, when the movie was being made I was very excited, but a little worried about what Hollywood might do.  The movie was good.  It was a solid middle of the road PG-13, little language, very heavy emotionally.  However, there is one point on which I wish to correct (or at least clarify) something that I wish the movie had handled better.  I will cut them a little slack since the man's life was a string of unbelievable events, any one of which would make an amazing movie.  To get a decent understanding of his life's story and the truth that it teaches, I recommend reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and supplementing that by reading or watching any documentaries and interviews about/with Mr. Zamperini, of which there are many.  I cannot possibly do his story justice here either, but (as stated earlier) I just want to make sure that you are aware of some important points. The movie left out most of Zamperini's post-war life (again, understandable due to time constraints), which I believe contains the most important and redeeming part of his story.  Mr. Zamperini did not entrust his life to the Lord, by cutting a deal with him while drifting in the Pacific.  This is the one point on which I and, more importantly, Mr. Zamperini differ with the movie.  When he returned home from the war, Zamperini's life was consumed by hatred and nightmares of his suffering at the hands of his captors and tormentors.  He drank heavily and even made plans to return to Japan and kill those who had made his life and the lives of so many others so unbearable.  Zamperini's marriage was hanging by a thread; his life was in shambles.  At rock bottom, a place we all come to at some point in our many different ways, Zamperini finally trusted God and repented, upon hearing a sermon from none other than Billy Graham.  The Lord took control of "Zamp's" life; his marriage was saved; he forgave those he had hated so fervently.  He even returned to Japan to meet and forgive those he had planned to kill, except for the most singularly brutal and sadistic of them.  Zamp sought him out to forgive him in person, but Mutsuhiro Watanabe refused to meet him face to face, and went to his grave running from forgiveness.

There is much more story to tell, but I will leave it at that.  It is very important to me that as many people as will listen understand that Louie Zamperini's story is not an illustration of the triumph of the human spirit; (in fact I've never seen a triumph of the human spirit that ended well, but that's another story for another time) it's not a portrait of a man who was tough enough.  Louie Zamperini's story is a dirty, sweaty, bloody, funny, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, crushing, soul-searching, tear-soaked, jumping up and cheering story of God's love for a man, who is now face to face with God Himself.

I am also very glad to share with you what happened after the movie ended.  We saw the movie on a Saturday afternoon, so the theater was pretty full.  At the conclusion of the story that honored one of our military heroes, who endured unthinkable suffering and torment for more than two years, the entire body of moviegoers stood up and cheered.