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Go See The Passion Of The Christ
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Posted by: ninababy73
Dearest Friends,
This story of Mel Gibson's life was forwarded to me from my dear friend, Charlie. This is such a beautiful true story. When I first read this tears were streaming down my face. God has used Mel Gibson in such a mighty way. I am forwarding this story on to everyone that I know so that we can all encourage everyone we know to go and see this movie. It is so important to support it. What a great Christ movement can come out of this. This world needs to know and see the goodness and pure love that God has for us that He would come down from heaven in human form to die carrying all of our sins. What love is that, what a pure sacrifice. God's love is the reason for this movie. It must be told, so that the world can realize the complete unselfishness of our Father. Please read and pass this on to everyone that you know. Mel Gibson is a mighty warrior of God!!!
Be Blessed Today
Love,
Nina
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Forwarded Message:
Subj: The Man Without a Face
Date: 2/25/04 6:13:56 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Clockmans777wife
To: Clockman7503
BCC: Ninababy73
"THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE"
(A True Story by Paul Harvey )
Years ago a hardworking man took his family from New York State to Australia to take advantage of a work opportunity there. Part of this man's family was a handsome young son who had aspirations of joining the circus as a trapeze artist or an actor.
This young fellow, biding his time until a circus job or even one as a stagehand came along, worked at the local shipyards which bordered on the worst section of town. Walking home from work one evening this young man was attacked by five thieves who wanted to rob him. Instead of just giving up his money the young fellow resisted. Unfortunately they 'bested him' easily and proceeded to beat him to a pulp.
They smashed his face with their boots and kicked and beat his body brutally with clubs, leaving him for dead.
When the police found him lying in the road they assumed he was dead and called for the Morgue Wagon. On the way to the morgue a policeman heard him gasp for air. They immediately took him to the emergency unit at the hospital. When he was placed on a gurney a nurse remarked, to her horror, that this young man no longer had a face. Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all his teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull.
Although his life was spared he spent over a year in the hospital. When he finally left, his body may have healed but his face was 'disgusting' to look at. He was no longer the handsome youth who everyone admired.
When the young man started to look for work again he was turned down by everyone just on account of the way he looked. One potential employer suggested to him that he join the freak show at the circus as The Man Who Had No Face. And he did this for a while. He was still rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company. He had thoughts of suicide. This went on for five years ('Oh, can you imagine his heartache and despair??')
One day he passed a church and sought some solace there. Entering the church he encountered a priest who had seen him sobbing while kneeling in a pew. The priest took pity on him and took him to the rectory where they talked at length.
The priest was impressed with him to such a degree that he said that he would do everything possible for him that could be done to restore his dignity and life, if the young man would promise to be the best Catholic he could be and trust in God's mercy to free him from his torturous life.
The young man went to mass and communion every day, and after thanking God for saving his life, asked God to give him peace of mind and the grace to be the best man he could ever be in His eyes.
The priest, through his personal contacts, was able to secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in Australia. There would be no cost to the young man, as the doctor was the priest's best friend. The doctor too was so impressed by the young man, whose outlook now on life, even though he had experienced the worst, was filled with good humor and love. The surgery was a miraculous success. All the best dental work was also done for him.
The young man became everything he promised God he would be. He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife, and many children, and success in an industry which would have been the furthest thing from his mind as a career if not for the goodness of God and the love of the people who cared for him. This he acknowledges publicly.
Who was this man? Mel Gibson.
His life was the inspiration for his production of the movie "The Man Without A Face". He is to be admired by all of us as a God fearing man, a political conservative, and an example to all as a survivor and a true man of courage.
And to think I admired him before I knew any of this! He is quite a man!
-Paul Harvey
Posted by: akabezalel
Hi Nina,
I hate to burst your bubble but this story of Mel Gibson's life is just that, a story.
Someone decided to write this in the style of Paul Harvey and it has swept the net for several years.
Paul Harvey did not write it.
Mel Gibson did not live it.
This story is a fraud and a web myth!
I will go see if I can find the article and will place it in this post.
Posted by: akabezalel
You can find this story on a website called TruthorFiction.com... I check out almost every story I hear on this site, it keeps mistakes to a minimum.
Summary of eRumor
This email provides a narrative of a handsome young aspiring actor whose parents moved from the United States to Australia when he was young. He was attacked by thugs one night and left for dead, his face gruesomely disfigured by kicks and blows with clubs. His life became a misery of unemployment until someone suggested he become part of a circus freak show as "The Man Who Had No Face." He turned to God and was befriended by a priest who made connections for the best of surgeons...and the young man was given a life again and even became a famous actor...Mel Gibson. The email closes by saying it's a true story from radio commentator Paul Harvey.
The Truth:
This is not from Paul Harvey and is not a true story. There is a bit of weaving of Mel Gibson's story and the book THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE, however. According to his biography, Mel Gibson was born in the United States, but raised in Australia from the age of 12. He got into acting as a teenager and did once get into a fight that left him with swollen wounds and stitches to his face. It was nothing like the severity of what is described in THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE, however, a book which later became a movie that Mel Gibson directed. In the movie, the disfigurement of the main character is the result of an automobile accident and fire, not a beating