A Missed Anniversary... She Loved Them So Much She Gave Her Own Life

So, a few days ago I missed an anniversary that I typically recognize each year. With all of the field trips and other things going on, I totally spaced out on the anniversary marking the day that Rachel Corrie died in Gaza.

March 16, 2003 Rachel was intentionally run over by a bulldozer driven by an Israeli soldier intent on demolishing homes. Although the dozer operator and the IDF claimed that he was unaware that she was there, every eyewitness agrees that it would have been impossible to miss the young woman, clad in a fluorescent orange vest.

Rachel is an inspiration to me. She held her love for people and her conviction that Israel was doing evil so tightly that she put herself in harm's way. Sadly, harm did come to her. In these days when the Middle East has gone crazy and Japan suffers a crippling triple blow, Israel is able to take advantage of the distraction of the world to take any heinous action they want. After all, how bad would it have to be to make the front page?

And so, I mourn for Rachel. I mourn with her family who has spent 8 years without their daughter, their sister, their heart. And I keep the faith that eventually the world will see that any country that is systematically racist, that degrades more than half of its population, and that is so hurtful to people that they create the first woman suicide bombers - that the world ill see that this country does not deserve our support. It does not deserve my American tax dollars. It will NOT hasten the second coming and using Christ as a reason for this unconscionable support is something that will come back to haunt them.

So, pray with me, for Rachel's family. Pray with me for a softening of the hard-hearts in Israel. Pray with me for peace and for each of acting from our best, rather than worst, instincts.

Happy Reminders!