"Do you think God made the stars, Phil?" Louie asks.
"Yes, I do," Phil replied.
"So you think there’s some kind of grand plan? Why did we live and the others didn’t? Why are we here now?" Louie asks.
"Here’s the plan," Phil replies. "Go on living the best you can. And try to have some fun along the way. And then one day it’s over."
This is what was going on inside their minds after weeks of suffering in the middle of the Pacific Ocean during World War II. They were exhausted and barely surviving at this point.
Their plane malfunctioned, crashed, killed most of the crew, and left them with only two rafts and a few emergency supplies. They were constantly tested by sharks, dehydration, hunger, enemy gunfire, and a blistering sun.
After unbelievable amounts of suffering, torture, and inhumane living conditions in the ocean and in Japanese prisoner camps, Louis Zamperini and Russell Allen Phillips kept doing the best they could. They survived the war and went back home to keep living their life. It is an unbelievable story of resilience, belief, courage, and determination.
Sometimes, you can’t comprehend why some people live and others die. Why some are good and others are bad. Why some are living comfortably and others experience terrible suffering.
But there is a grand plan. There is a God, although the Yogis prefer using a different term. The Absolute or just that. Life itself. A mighty intelligence. One that manifests in everything and everyone.
It was manifesting in Louie and Phil, in their fallen comrades, in the sharks, and in their enemies, the Japanese. All these beings were playing their allotted parts in the game of life. And you must do the same.
All you can do is play the game of life as best you can. Whether you are placed in favorable conditions or thrust into misery like these World War II veterans.
"Live, friend, one day at a time, doing the best you know how, sowing a word here and a deed there," Yogi Ramacharaka writes. "Do your best, but give every other person the same privilege. Mind your own business. Cease to persecute. Be filled with love, tolerance, and compassion. See all as part of the All."
