Grace in the midst of sh*t

Many thanks to J&J for bringing this to my attention. Powerful, grace-ful story.

the value of life

John Simpson, World Affairs Editor for the BBC, wrote yesterday of his changing views regarding suffering, especially that of the victim of war or terrorism. He doesn’t say anything particularly new, so yesterday must have been a relatively slow news day at the Beeb. What amazes me most is that its taken a man of his education, confidence and presence of mind the life experience of 62 years and reporting through 2 gulf wars to realise that all human life is valuable, regardless of status, colour wealth, faith or any other barrier we care to mention.

He ends his piece:

The fact is, my time reporting on violence and bombings in places like Baghdad and Kabul has shown me one essential thing: that the lives of the poor, the stupid, the old, the ugly, are no less precious to them and to the people around them, than the life of my little son Rafe is precious to me.

Maybe if he didnt label people as old, stupid, ugly or poor, jamming them into stereotypes from which there is no escape, he may have learned to value them much sooner.