Saturday, February 21, 2004


A Paul Harvey story

Here is a true story by Paul Harvey. Pass it to anyone who you think
would find it interesting and inspiring. You will be surprised who this
young man turned out to be. (Do not look at the bottom of 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 stagehand came along, worked
at the local shipyards that 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 him to a pulp. They kicked his face with their boots, and kicked
and 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 he was placed on a gurney a nurse remarked to her horror,
that his 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 is 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.
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 Christian he could be, and trust in God's mercy to free him from
his torturous life.

The young man went to Mass and communion every day, 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 worse 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, and manychildren,
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 was and is 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.

And to think I admired him before I knew any of this! He is quite a man!

Paul Harvey

(Wait, one more short one)

I wrote your name on a piece of paper, but by accident I threw it away.

I wrote your name on my hand but it washed away.

I wrote your name in the sand but the waves whisped it away.

I wrote your name in my heart and forever it will stay

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