I recently saw this movie on Direct TV called “Rescue Dawn” with Christian Bale and was inspired by the story of this man as well as the actors who play these very unromantic but realistic roles.
The film is based on a true story about a man, an American fighter pilot, Dieter Dengler, who is struggling to survive after his plane is shot down during the war. He was found, tortured and sent to a prison camp run by peasants. The film is not easy to watch, but the meaning is powerful because he is the only one of the other five prisoners of war/men (some of whom have been in the camp for more than two years) who demands that he leave. Dieter said, “We must find a way to escape, no matter what the cost, because I will not die here.”
I couldn’t help but think: this is the amount of use feel sometimes: Trapped by our own “peasant” attitude, those little defeated and fearful thoughts and feelings that keep us imprisoned in our minds and therefore in our lives.
“Just stay alive, just survive and try to make ends meet, that’s all I ask” We found ourselves saying. But that is not inspiring or reveals any HEART or Passion!
This man, Dieter he was passionate about his freedom and unwilling to sit back and let his freedom be taken away from him, especially when commitment meant a slow death! Am I starting to make the hairs on your head stand up? I hope so.
Through a series of events, including torture, starvation, etc., he eventually escapes into the jungle and barely makes it out on his own, finally being spotted by an American plane. When he returns home (there’s more to the story so you’ll have to see for yourself) they ask him what he has to say and this is what he says:
“Fill what is empty, empty what is full and scratch where it itches.”
I found this statement to be hysterical and yet significant because it is simple. Also because this man had just been through what many of us will NEVER experience, thank goodness! And he came out alive, much thinner but alive with his mind intact. He knew the value of LIFE!
Dieter understood that life is worth something, it is worth living! Dieter was German/American and fought as a pilot because he loved his country, and because of the freedom he was given to choose his profession and what he wanted to dedicate his mind to!
But how many of us forget this truth? How many of us still go through the day claiming that we are victims of our situation? Do you ever find yourself saying these things out loud or out loud to others?
– It’s not my fault,”
– I can not do this,
– They won’t let me do that
– I wish I could but I’m too old
– I’m too young to do that…
– I wasn’t born in the right family
– I don’t have the money!
And so on. You understand. These excuses are created by ourselves and it is up to us to choose something different. If Dieter Dengler can RESCUE himself, so can we! —