Real Heroes and Heroines.....

The headlines of the world news reads: "another suicide bomber (age 11) blows up 6 people", or "bombs destroy this one and that one".  These aren't heroes.

Then one has the pleasure of hearing of REAL heroes and heroines - people who have saved lives, not taken lives.  One such heroine was a Polish woman in WWII who saved over 2,500 Jewish children from certain death.  She was not Jewish herself; she just felt that children should not be harmed.  With the help of a few friends, she took over 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto and adopted them out into Polish families with falsified "Christian" identities.  Yet her goal was not to convert these children.  She wrote each child's family names on a paper buried in a jar in a back yard so that after the War was over, the children could be reunited with their families (alas, many of the children's parents perished in the concentration camps) and their Jewish heritage.  Her name was Irena Sendler and this is an excellent website to learn more about her heroism:
http://richards-creations.net/Pages/8/_Irena-s_Children.html

Sadly, the Nazis found out about her and broke her arms and legs because she refused to reveal the names of those who helped her or the identities or whereabouts of the children that were hidden.  But God put a ring of protection around her - she was helped to escape the day before facing a German firing squad and listed as "already executed". 

Perhaps there will be MANY out there who will immediately label me a "pro-Zionist", not that I care.  But I am not a "pro-ANYTHING".....I am an "anti-killing" person who believes that all beings have the right to live their lives free from pain, hunger or suffering.  If I am "pro-ANYTHING" at all - I am "pro-AHIMSA" - "ahimsa" is a Sanskrit word meaning a vow of NOT doing harm to any living being - human, animal or plant.

We had a little neighbour boy who delighted in breaking branches on a tree in our yard.  "I am so disappointed in you" I told him "that instead of trying to make something grow, you are trying to kill this poor tree that has done no harm to you".  "Kill it?" - "yes, it will surely die if you keep breaking it's branches".  He thought about it a long time.  He isn't a bad boy, really - he just hadn't given it much thought.  "How can I make the branch whole again?" he asked, very sincerely.  "Go and bring my Scotch tape" I said.  He did as he was told.  We taped the branch back to the tree.  Several days later he came back and said "Aunty, the branch is still dead".  I said, "Well, it's a very important lesson we've learned isn't it?  Once killed, one cannot bring a thing back to life".  He looked so sad.  "But Aunty, what can I do to make things better?" (he is a good boy and didn't want to hurt my feelings).  I said "Well, number one - you can stop breaking off the branches on this poor tree - agreed?  Secondly, you and I will plant a little seedling together; you'll come help me water it and it will grow tall and strong".  So we did. 

For me, the heroes and heroines of this world are not the ones who kill living things, but the ones who SAVE living things.