"HOW CAN I SAY "THANKS"?
by Pastor Rick Sams
Leopold "Paul" Page was an obscure seller of leather goods in
a small shop in Beverly Hills. He was also a real survivor, not a
pseudo-survivor like those in the long-running TV show.
For four
decades, he relentlessly told his survivor story to anyone who would listen, the
story of the man who had saved his life and the lives of 1200 others during
WWII. Can we ever say enough about our savior?
No one showed much
interest until author Thomas Keneally came in buy a briefcase. Keneally
dedicated his 1982 book to the hero of the story, the savior, and to Page's zeal
in getting his story told.
Using his Beverly Hills connections Page got
the story to one of Hollywood�s top producers: "Stop playing around with
dinosaurs ["Jurassic Park"]. I promise you, you'll get an Oscar for
Oskar," Mr. Spielberg.
Rounded up during the war Page was sent to
the concentration camp at Plaszow run by SS commander Amon Goeth, who supplied
German industrialist Oskar Schindler with Jewish slave laborers. For this
"service" Goeth was paid well by Schindler.
Schindler convinced Goeth
these laborers were "absolutely essential" for the German war effort.
Schindler's list of 1200 people were given jobs, hope, and life itself.
Before Page died on March 9, 2001 at 87, he said, "I promised Oskar
Schindler I would make him a household name." The movie "Schindler's List" won
seven Oscars and exceeded Page�s promise.
Can we ever say enough about
our savior?
The book of Acts gives us a glimpse at some other grateful
survivors, those first disciples, who said: "For we cannot help speaking about
what we have seen and heard [about Jesus, Acts 4:20].
Paul Page
was passionate in his pursuit to preserve the memory of his savior, the man who
gave him 60 more years of life. What will you do to say, or show, your
thanks to the One who offers you abundant and eternal life, Jesus
Christ?
"Jesus said to her, �I am the resurrection and the life. He
who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and
believes in me will never die. Do you believe this� (John
11:25)?