An extraordinary novel I’m currently hooked reading is Laura Hillenbrand’s “Unbroken,” a World War II true story of survival, resilience and redemption. Agonizingly tortuous yet inspiring.
From this rare book of flawless storytelling, I cannot resist sharing these most profound and deeply stirring lines:
“Dignity…This self-respect and sense of self-worth, the innermost armament of the soul, lies at the heart of humanness, to be deprived of it is to be dehumanized…without dignity, identity is erased.”
“Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food and oxygen. The stubborn retention of it, even in the face of extreme physical hardship, can hold a man’s soul in his body long past the point at which the body should have surrendered it…degradation could be as lethal as a bullet.”
My reflection: In my current life of constant diminishment from my oppressors, preserving my dignity is my foremost goal.
Apart from hope, dignity is all I have… It’s one thing I cannot do without, one thing I will hold on to, no matter what…
Have a grace-filled Sunday! ###