Here is a true story by Paul Harvey.
You will be surprised who this young man turns out to be.
(Do not look at the bottom on this letter until you have read it fully.)
Years ago a hardworking man took his family from New York State to Australia to take advantage of a work opportunity there.
Part of this man’s family was a handsome young son who had aspirations of joining the circus as a trapeze artist or an actor. This young fellow, biding his time until a circus job or even one as a stage hand came along, worked at the local shipyards which bordered on the worse section of town.
Walking home from work one evening this young man was attacked by five thugs who wanted to rob him. Instead of just giving up his money the young fellow resisted.
However, they bested him easily and proceeded to beat his body brutally with clubs, leaving him for dead.
When the police happened to find him lying in the road they assumed he was dead and called for the Morgue Wagon.
On the way to the morgue a policeman heard him gasp for air, and they immediately took him to the emergency unit at the hospital.
When the guy was placed on a gurney a nurse remarked to her horror, that this young man no longer had a face. Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all his teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull. Although his life was spared, he spent over a year in the hospital. When he finally left, his body may have healed but his face was disgusting to look at.
He was no longer the handsome youth that everyone admired.
It continues…
When the young man started to look for work again he was turned down by everyone just on account of the way he looked.
One potential employer suggested to him that he join the freak show at the circus as «The Man Who Had No Face». And he did this for a while.
He was still rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company. He had thoughts of suicide.
This went on for five years. One day he passed a church and sought some solace there. Entering the church he encountered a priest who had seen him sobbing while kneeling in a pew.
The priest took pity on him and took him to the rectory where they talked at length. The priest was impressed with him to such a degree that he said that he would do everything possible for him that could be done to restore his dignity and life, if the young man would promise to be the best Catholic he could be, and trust in God’s mercy to free him from his torturous life.
The young man went to Mass and communion everyday and after thanking God for saving his life, asked God to only give him peace of mind and the grace to be the best man he could ever be in His eyes.
The priest, through his personal contacts was able to secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in Australia. There would be no cost to the young man as the doctor was the priest’s best friend.
The doctor too was so impressed by the young man, whose outlook now on life, even though he had experienced the worst, was filled with good humor and love.
The surgery was a miraculous success.
All the best dental work was also done for him. The young man became everything he promised God he would be.
He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife, many children, and success in an industry which would have been the furthest thing from his mind as a career, if not for the goodness of God and the love of the people who cared for him.
This he acknowledges publicly. The young man. Mel Gibson. His life was the inspiration for his production of the movie «The Man Without A Face».
He is to be admired by all of us as a God fearing man, a political conservative, and an example to all as a true man of courage.
Mel Gibson has produced the movie «The Passion of the Christ». This is his way of thanking God for his many blessings. And it’s also his way of showing us how Christ truly suffered.
He’s gotten a lot of flak from Hollywood for doing this movie. Please e-mail this to everyone you know. And go see the movie when it’s released on Feb. 25. It will change your life forever!
