WEBVTT

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(Soft Melodious Music)

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Hi everyone this is chaplain Bursan

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and today's thought is on wounds.

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One of my favorite Holiday classic movies

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is "It's a Wonderful Life".

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I never grew tired of
watching it this time of year

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and nearly every time that
I see it I get emotional.

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Especially during the
scene's with Jimmy Stewart

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as he struggles with the
dark times in his life.

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What you many not know though is that

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the pain and anguish that Jimmy Stewart

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demonstrated in those
scenes came from a very

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real place of personal pain for him.

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In 1941 he enlisted in the army

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and later became a pilot
on the B-24 liberator

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in the army air corp.

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Stuart eventually made it to Europe

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where he flew 20 combat missions
over France and Germany.

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During his 15 months in combat
he became a wing commander

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he faced several near death experiences

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and he lost many of his men.

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Including one mission where he
lost 130 of them all at once.

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After enduring all of that he was grounded

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in February of 1945 because of

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what we would now call
post traumatic stress.

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And he returned home that August.

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Like many others who
came back from the war

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he struggled privately with his pain

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and he refused to talk about
any of his experiences.

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He had trouble getting movie roles

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and was even considering
quitting acting all together.

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Until Frank Capra convinced
him to play George Bailey

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in "It's a Wonderful Life".

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In Robert Matzens book

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"Mission Jimmy Stewart
and the Fight for Europe"

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he describes how Stewart
channeled that anguish

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and raw emotion into George Bailey.

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Which is one of the reasons

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that his performance is so powerful.

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The movie not only gave him an outlet

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to deal with his pain but
it also revived his career.

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This time of year many of us have our

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own struggles and pain that haunt us.

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The story of Jimmy Stewart is a reminder

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that we don't have to be
defined by our wounds.

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Instead even in this
darkest time of the year

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we can find what Rumi once said

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that "our wounds are the place
where the light enters us".

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Blessings this week

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(Soft Melodious Music)