Chaplain Taylor, captured with thousands of troops in the Phillipines, survived the Death March to Manilla Bay and endured a WWII Japanese POW camp. Between adversities such as seeing thousands of men die, spending time in solitary confinement, a heat box, and near starvation, his greatest desire was to give hope to others.
He lived out Colonel Oliver’s words spoken to the imprisoned men.
“Now, men, I want to talk to you for a while about forgiveness. There are two kinds, you know–when God forgives us, and when we forgive others. If we are to find true peace with God we must forgive, even as we are forgiven.”
“If we fail to forgive, then hatred can become a poison in our veins that will mark us until the day of judgment and bring spiritual death an inch at a time. But if we learn to forgive, we can find peace with God. May God help us all to learn to forgive.”
If Chaplain Taylor, who experienced these kind of hardships, can forgive, why can’t we?
Taken from Days of Anguish, Days of Hope by Billy Keith