Few captives in war ever suffered more than Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, a heroic survivor of 2,714 days as a POW in Vietnam. On one occasion, the North Vietnamese handcuffed Stockdale's hands behind his back, locked his legs in heavy irons, and dragged him from his dark prison cell to sit in an unshaded courtyard so other prisoners could see what happened to anybody who refused to cooperate.

According to the Navy's official report of the episode, Stockdale remained in that position for three days. Since he had not been in the sun for a long time, he soon felt weak, but the guards would not let him sleep. He was beaten repeatedly. After one beating, Stockdale heard a sweet sound. It was the sound of a towel snapping. But this towel wasn't making a random noise. In every episode of captivity in recent American history, POWs and hostages have been sustained by ingeniously improvised lifelines of communication. In Vietnam, a clever tap code, in which the number of sequence of taps spelled out letters of the alphabet, became the prisoners' chief means of communication. What James Stockdale heard sitting out in that prison courtyard that day was a towel snapping out in prison code the letters GBUJS. It was a message he would never forget: "God Bless You Jim Stockdale." He will tell you today that it was that simple act of communication that kept him going.

In quiet, subtle, almost indiscernible ways, Christ is speaking to each of us. "God bless you," he is saying. "You can make it." Or he may be counseling us to make a change in our lives. The important thing is that we listen--listen to Christ. "This is my Son," said the voice from the cloud, "My Chosen; listen to him!"

Ron Newhouse