amazing young people

recently i read an article in mother jones magazine about ava lowery, a 16 year old christian homeschooler and peace activist from alabama. ava has a website and blog called peace takes courage, where she writes mostly about the iraq war, politics and peacemaking. she is also gaining renown for her short "animations"--mini films that deal with issues mostly related to the war. i watched one, "WWJD," which was very simple but very moving. mostly it is just images of wounded iraqi children, set to the soundtrack of children singing "jesus loves me," and at the end she adds the text from the beatitudes. it was hard to watch. which probably means it was really important to watch.

i felt so moved reading about this articulate, passionate, talented, fearless, christ-like young girl. it gives me hope for our future. i'm also so impressed by her parents' ability to let her follow her own path, both in education and in life. i hope that aaron and i can figure out both how to let noah grow most fully into his own unique character and also how to best nurture in him christ-like qualities.

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and on sunday evening aaron and i met another passionate young person, evan knappenberger. evan is a 21 year old iraq war veteran from bellingham who is staging a week-long vigil downtown to protest the military's stop-loss policy. here's a quote from his statement:

I am spending one entire week on a scaffold in downtown Bellingham in protest of the US military’s STOP-LOSS and INACTIVE RESERVE (READY RESERVE) policies, which are being used as a substitute for conscription in a political war, under the pretense of a non-existent national emergency, and destroying our military readiness as well as the lives of our young men and women.

aaron and i talked with evan for a few minutes and were impressed with his calm, peaceful and articulate manner. i kept thinking that this boy has experienced things that i never will--and hopefully that noah never will. and yet he is using his experiences toward positive ends, to help his friends be allowed to come home and live normal lives, and to help US citizens reverse their loss of freedoms.

i'd heard the term "stop-loss" before but didn't really understand it. basically, it seems to be a way to legitimize a sort of draft for people already in the military, preventing them from resigning and/or coming home. it's crazy. and it's crazy that our country is doing this in the name of "freedom." it makes me feel crazy that i live in a place where this sort of thing can happen--and the only explanation i can come up with is that everyone must be going crazy! sane people can't justify these things and truly believe they're okay.

i just keep thinking there are so many other beautiful young boys who are dying or being wounded physically or emotionally, and i grieve for them and their mothers.

evan's vigil will end on friday in connection with bellingham's regular peace vigil downtown, and i think noah and i will go. maybe i will take a picture and put it in noah's "conscientious objector file," tucked away in the event of more craziness in the future.