independence day

Alan Johnston is free, after three months held captive by the so-called Army of Islam (top marks for originality there - we're sure to remember that brand). Opening the headlines this morning I was greeted by this picture - imagine! What a glorious wake-up!

I read the articles in the Guardian, and then started my morning blog perusal. The first blog I turned to - maybe, in fact, chosen because of the topicality of the morning's news - showed me a different picture (thanks to my guest-blogger Jura Watchmaker).

I do remember the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit and his two colleagues last summer - a summer of constant bad news and sadness, much of it concerning the very young conscripted people who seem to make up Israel's armed forces. And you know what? I had forgotten. And the reason for that is beause, unlike Alan Johnston who had the BBC behind him,* they haven't been in the news. Looking around a bit this morning I discovered that Gilad (who is only 19 even now) is still in captivity. He looks like a lovely boy. He is in fact a French citizen (as if that made a difference).

There are concerns over the wellbeing of the other two, Eldad Regev and Edud (Udi, for short) Goldwasser, both of whom also look jolly nice; Udi had only recently got married.

So, sadly, I will be replacing the Alan Johnston sticker in my sidebar with this:







I know that all these concerns appear relatively remote from the busy, singleminded politicking of Ben Franklin et al. (much as one loves to ponder on Thomas Jefferson's peculiar icy brand of rationalism and all that...) but then - now more than ever - we are all swimming in the same soup. America may have got its freedom from England, but I don't think any of us can really call ourselves free while all this is going on.** We should, however, now more than ever remember what we got from our Enlightenment forebears.*** I for one always find Tom Paine refreshing:

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself."

As for the other two Israeli captives, in the absence of any security that they are even alive, all we can do (though I know Francis won't like it! call it early training) is pray for them.

(And if you think that even the idea of ecumenical praying is dangerously close to dancing with the devil, I'll refer you to this lovely story I read on normblog.)

* And lest I sound at all cynical, I'm not. I was moved to tears by his acocunt of hearing about the worldwide vigils on his birthday.

** In my own case I am painfully aware on a daily basis that I don't know enough to be able to interpret the news properly - how could anyone keep up?? Spinoza, as my E-Verse Radio newsletter this week tells me, had something to say about this:

"The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free."

Something to aim for, then.

** Not long now till the election...