Unbroken

I just finished reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.  It is an outstanding book and I highly recommend it to anyone.  It is the story of Louie Zamperini, an Olympic runner, Army Air Corps bombardier in WWII and POW in Japan.    It is absolutely amazing what he went through after his plane crashed in the Pacific and then was picked up by the Japanese as a POW.  At times it was hard to read the horrific abuses that he suffered.  That made the joy all the more intense when he was finally liberated at the end of the war.  It was not very long, though, before his life nose-dived again as he dealt with the mental/emotional aftermath of his abuse as a POW.  As great as the joy was when he was physically liberated, it was even greater when he was spiritually set free by giving his life to Christ. 
It was interesting to note how his story followed a similar pattern to the nation of Israel.  He was set free from physical captivity by a great deliverance.  It was wonderful to be out of prison but he wasn't really free.  He was still oppressed in his mind and in his spirit.  It wasn't until Jesus Christ came into his life that he became truly free - free of sin and guilt and shame.  Ironically, the title is Unbroken, and appropriately so since he never broke mentally/emotionally under all the abuses as a POW.  But, it wasn't until he recognized his spiritual brokenness and trusted in Christ to put him together again that he was truly healed.