I have a habit of reading biographies and autobiographies. These books really helped me survive adversity and trials. One of my best examples is Darlene Deibler Rose.
Darlene Deibler Rose, author of “Evidence Not Seen – A Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II” was one of my mentors and role models.
I had read her book before some of my greatest trials. The book was an autobiographical story of her missionary life as a survivor of Japanese internment, torture, sickness, great family loss, and slavery during World War II. Hers was a hard book to read, because it was filled with so much suffering and disappointment. I did not know that her lessons would be my guideposts in the dark days that would soon envelop me, like a hurricane covers over a city.
Darlene taught me several key lessons that helped me survive. The first lesson, and most important, was to strive to keep bitterness from one’s heart. So vividly she described how a fellow missionary took bitterness, anger, and hatred into her heart during their internment. Ms. S. had a much easier time in the concentration camp, while Darlene’s life was much more difficult. Nevertheless, Ms. S. gave into her dark feelings, while Darlene fought to forgive, stay at peace, and love. After years of ordeals the day came when they were both set free by the allies. However, Ms. S. was never truly free. She had lost her mind during her internment. Bitterness, anger, and hatred can put one into a deeper darker dungeon than man can ever devise. I remembered this poignant story over and over and strove to imitate Darlene.
I also learned the power of hope. While Ms. S. had lost her hope, keeping hoping hope alive was a common battle. Darlene was honest about how she kept herself going and battled not to give up. She learned to believe beyond her situation, and she turned her feelings towards her captors to seek to help them see a better way. This fortified my own life lessons of looking at the needs of those around me and strengthening them in the darkness. This gave me a sense of purpose and a way to justify that some good could come amidst my trials.
Later I was to teach a small group on the power of hope. Some had asked me to consider writing and sharing on how to survive suffering. I was to come to realize that the antithesis of hope is hopelessness. When hopelessness reigns, all kinds of turmoil enter in: depression, sickness, apathy, and downward spiral towards a quest for death. In the end, honest hope is like a lifeline. It is a lifeline of which I could not afford to let slip away.
The book also taught me to leave room for the miraculous. Darlene had yearned for healthy food when she was locked in her cell. She had intestinal problems of a grave magnitude. One day while looking out her window, she sighted a man sneaking a banana through the fence to one of her fellow prisoners. She thought to herself that God would never provide her something as simple as a banana. She lamented in her soul for the fruit that would never come that way. Sometime later, and quite unexpectedly, her prison door was to clank open and someone threw in not one banana, but an entire bunch of nearly 100! She was ashamed that she did not have faith for the one, and instead she had a multitude to eat and help cure her ailment. In my sorrows, I remembered her story, and I learned to hope and believe that small miracles could and would come.
I remember one man asked me to put my feelings to song and find one positive thing in my hardships. I used to write simple songs, but sadness kept me far from it during the hardest years. I pondered his request, and then finally it came to me, heaven gives light in the darkness. If I could say one thing about enduring hardship, it was that Darlene had taught me to look for the little lights of hope and goodness that shine through the darkness. I filled a page with all the ways that heaven gives light in the darkness and related the heavenly lights to the kind souls who had helped me along my own journey.
This led to a deeper insight. I truly needed to learn to be thankful for all things, both great and small that came my way during distress. Darlene’s banana story taught me that. The song made me bring it to the forefront. I learned this simple truth about happiness: To find happiness in life, one must find joy in the little things and only be offended over the big things. Too often we rejoice over the big things alone and find offense in the everyday little things. Any easily offended spirit spells misery.
I can now voice more systematically how I survived. I can look deeper into the lessons of Darlene Deibler Rose and offer her my gratitude. I learned the value of keeping bitterness, anger, and hatred out of my heart. I learned to leave room for the miraculous and to hold onto the lifeline of hope. She taught me to find joy in the little things and let go of all the small offenses. The book “Evidence Not Seen a Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II” was indeed one of the brightest lights that heaven gave me in the darkness.
“Lightning bolt and moonbeam;
Falling star and rainbow;
Don’t you know?
Heaven gives light in the darkness.” (copyrighted: Alina Patterson)
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