McCain's Faith

Must-read. I was touched by his recollection of a Christmas service they attended:

McCain also recalls a Christmas service he orchestrated. A week before the holiday, McCain's guards let him out of his cell and gave him a pencil, a piece of paper and a King James Bible. He copied sections of Matthew, Mark and John describing the birth of Christ so he could read them aloud while other POWs sang "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and "Silent Night."

"I recall it as if it happened an hour ago," said McCain, sitting in a chair in a suite overlooking the Susquehanna River near the end of a day. "It was cold, the guards were looking through the windows at us, the room was dimly lit because of the light bulbs [that] were in each corner. These guys had beautiful voices, I'm telling you. One was a bass, one was a tenor. It was one of the most beautiful experiences I ever had."

The men became tearful. "It wasn't because they were sad," McCain added. "It was because they were so happy to be able to celebrate Christmas with fellow Americans."