We who were living during the Vietnam War generation will well remember
this story and photo of the Napalm Girl. For we of the Silent
Generation (born 1924 - 1945) living during the Vietnam War era, we
lived in our comfortable homes and went about our daily lives, and we
were witnessing real-time war live on television for the first time.
For the first time, we saw many instances of war played out on our television. And then we went on with our daily lives. Here at home, our Vietnam War was marked by the constant protest marches, hippie flower power, and our daily dose of a television war in a faraway place.
But, when we saw that famous photo of a young Vietnamese girl, clothing burned off and her body badly burned by napalm dropped on her small village - that image was seared into our minds. Yet, we went on with our lives and soon relegated that image to the back of our minds.
For those too young to remember, on June 8, 1972, Associated Press photographer Nick Ut took a photo of children running from a botched napalm attack. "I thought she was going to die," he said in a later interview about the photo of Kim Phuc, the naked girl in the center of that dramatic photo.
That is why I am happy that Dr. Harold Sala, in his "5 Minute Guidelines For Living Devotional" - has reminded us of this young girl and has introduced us to the Christian lady she has become. Today Kim Phuc is a Christian woman, who although living with a lifetime of pain and treatments, has forgiven those who caused her pain - and is now a living and wonderful testimony of the love and forgiveness found only in Jesus Christ.
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NAPALM GIRL: THE UNTOLD STORY
Dr. Harold J. Sala, Guidelines For Living, January 31, 2018
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/napalm-girl-untold-story/ (with audio)
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34
If you ever saw her picture, you surely would remember it for the rest of your life. It gained notoriety in the 1970s as an antiwar icon when a photographer took her picture as she was running naked from a napalm attack in Vietnam.[1] The 9-year old girl whose picture was so riveting became known as the “Napalm Girl,” and the picture appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. As an adult, writing of the horrible and devastating event, Kim Phuc said, “I had not been targeted. I had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Some 45 years after that dark, hideous day, Kim has recorded the story of her life - the pain, the fear, the hatred, as well as the transformation that eventually purged the anger, bitterness, and resentment toward those who caused her suffering - in a recently published book entitled, “Fire Road: The Napalm Girl’s Journey Through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace,” published by Tyndale.
In a Wall Street Journal article featuring the book, she explained her transformation saying:
As Kim grew in her faith, she realized that just as Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” she also had to forgive those who were responsible for her hideous suffering and give up the “crippling weight of anger, bitterness, and resentment,” in her own words.
For the rest of her life she will require treatment for the burns that covered her arms, back, and neck - a constant reminder that we live in an imperfect, broken, world. If ever an individual has reason to hate those who caused her suffering, Kim would be among them.
On one occasion I was in a home where a woman lived who had been imprisoned by the Russians in World War 2 - beaten and abused. She survived by eating garbage, warmed over a small fire in the middle of the night. “Do you hate them,” I asked her, “for what they did to you?”
Pausing for a moment she reflected and replied, “I do not hate them but we must never forget!”
If you struggle with the issue of forgiveness, strive to remember that forgiveness never means, “What you did was OK, because it was not OK. It simply means, I give up my right to hurt you because you hurt me.” It means you put (your) anger, hatred, and revenge in God’s hand, who is very capable of righting the score - and if it is not here on earth, there is a day of judgment and a hell where there is eternal separation from God.
Resource reading: Romans 14:10-12
[1] Publishers Weekly.com, Dec. 22, 2017
[2] Kimberley A. Strassel, Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2017, A15.
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I received this Devotional from Dr. Harold Sala and Guidelines International in my e-mails today. I have been reading and hearing Dr. Sala's devotionals and messages for many years, and I highly recommend them to you. You can connect with Guidelines and read Dr. Sala's timely messages by visiting: https://www.guidelines.org/devotionals/
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
For the first time, we saw many instances of war played out on our television. And then we went on with our daily lives. Here at home, our Vietnam War was marked by the constant protest marches, hippie flower power, and our daily dose of a television war in a faraway place.
But, when we saw that famous photo of a young Vietnamese girl, clothing burned off and her body badly burned by napalm dropped on her small village - that image was seared into our minds. Yet, we went on with our lives and soon relegated that image to the back of our minds.
For those too young to remember, on June 8, 1972, Associated Press photographer Nick Ut took a photo of children running from a botched napalm attack. "I thought she was going to die," he said in a later interview about the photo of Kim Phuc, the naked girl in the center of that dramatic photo.
That is why I am happy that Dr. Harold Sala, in his "5 Minute Guidelines For Living Devotional" - has reminded us of this young girl and has introduced us to the Christian lady she has become. Today Kim Phuc is a Christian woman, who although living with a lifetime of pain and treatments, has forgiven those who caused her pain - and is now a living and wonderful testimony of the love and forgiveness found only in Jesus Christ.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
NAPALM GIRL: THE UNTOLD STORY
Dr. Harold J. Sala, Guidelines For Living, January 31, 2018
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/napalm-girl-untold-story/ (with audio)
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34
If you ever saw her picture, you surely would remember it for the rest of your life. It gained notoriety in the 1970s as an antiwar icon when a photographer took her picture as she was running naked from a napalm attack in Vietnam.[1] The 9-year old girl whose picture was so riveting became known as the “Napalm Girl,” and the picture appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. As an adult, writing of the horrible and devastating event, Kim Phuc said, “I had not been targeted. I had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Some 45 years after that dark, hideous day, Kim has recorded the story of her life - the pain, the fear, the hatred, as well as the transformation that eventually purged the anger, bitterness, and resentment toward those who caused her suffering - in a recently published book entitled, “Fire Road: The Napalm Girl’s Journey Through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace,” published by Tyndale.
In a Wall Street Journal article featuring the book, she explained her transformation saying:
“My salvation experience occurred on Christmas Eve. It was 1982. I was attending a special worship service at a small church in Vietnam. The pastor, Ho Hieu Ha, delivered a message many Christians would find familiar: Christmas is not about the gifts we carefully wrap and place under a tree. Rather it is about the gift of Jesus Christ, who was wrapped in human flesh and given to us by God. As the pastor spoke, I knew in my heart that something was shifting inside of me.
A decade removed from the defining tragedy of my life, I still desperately needed peace. I had so much hatred and bitterness in my heart. Yet I was ready for love and joy. I wanted to let go of my pain. I wanted to pursue life instead of holding fast to fantasies of death. When Pastor Ho finished speaking, I stood up, stepped out into the aisle, and made my way to the front of the sanctuary to say 'yes' to Jesus Christ.
When I woke up that Christmas morning, I experienced my first-ever heartfelt celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. I know what it is like to experience terror, to feel despondent, to live in fear. I know how wearying and hopeless life can be sometimes. After years in the spiritual wilderness, I felt the kind of healing that can only come from God." [2]
Bill Gray Note: I have added an additional portion of Kim Phuc's testimony just to emphasize her first meeting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. (Kimberley A. Strassel, Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2017, A15.)
As Kim grew in her faith, she realized that just as Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” she also had to forgive those who were responsible for her hideous suffering and give up the “crippling weight of anger, bitterness, and resentment,” in her own words.
For the rest of her life she will require treatment for the burns that covered her arms, back, and neck - a constant reminder that we live in an imperfect, broken, world. If ever an individual has reason to hate those who caused her suffering, Kim would be among them.
On one occasion I was in a home where a woman lived who had been imprisoned by the Russians in World War 2 - beaten and abused. She survived by eating garbage, warmed over a small fire in the middle of the night. “Do you hate them,” I asked her, “for what they did to you?”
Pausing for a moment she reflected and replied, “I do not hate them but we must never forget!”
If you struggle with the issue of forgiveness, strive to remember that forgiveness never means, “What you did was OK, because it was not OK. It simply means, I give up my right to hurt you because you hurt me.” It means you put (your) anger, hatred, and revenge in God’s hand, who is very capable of righting the score - and if it is not here on earth, there is a day of judgment and a hell where there is eternal separation from God.
Resource reading: Romans 14:10-12
[1] Publishers Weekly.com, Dec. 22, 2017
[2] Kimberley A. Strassel, Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2017, A15.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I received this Devotional from Dr. Harold Sala and Guidelines International in my e-mails today. I have been reading and hearing Dr. Sala's devotionals and messages for many years, and I highly recommend them to you. You can connect with Guidelines and read Dr. Sala's timely messages by visiting: https://www.guidelines.org/devotionals/
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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