An adoption story, out of Iraq

I found this story while web-wandering after inhaling over a bowl of steaming eucalyptus ...

I needed this.
I lose hope when I see the reality of the fence going up between Israel and Palestine, seeing the prison being built around a country with inmates trapped inside and so few standing up to stop the 21st century's equivalent, or worse, of the Berlin Wall.

Or when I read of the FBI's ongoing attempts to alienate their country from ordinary travelers like me who have no desire to have their body searched for scars that will be photographed ... sure, go ahead and photograph my ass Mr Government Official.

How do people imagine scars are going to be searched for, found and photographed on entering the States? Think about where your identifying scars are ...

And then along comes Capt. Scott Southworth of the American military, and he adopts an Iraqi orphan with cerebal palsy ... Southworth's decision was cemented in spring 2004, while he and his comrades watched Mel Gibson's film, "The Passion of the Christ."

Jesus Christ's sacrifice moved him. He imagined meeting Christ and Ala'a in heaven, where Ala'a asked: "Baba, why didn't you ever come back to get me?"

"Everything that I came up with as a response I felt ashamed. I wouldn't want to stand in the presence of Jesus and Ala'a and say those things to him."