a delayed mother's day post...

Today is Mother's Day. And Madeleine McCann was kidnapped over a week ago, producing a devastating, heartrending story that has captivated the world. My whole being, inside and out, has empathetically felt the weight, the burden on the family which the father has described as a 'tidal wave of mass destruction' for them.

I've watched, read, as her mother begs her captors, "Please don't hurt her; please don't scare her." - and my heart breaks in two. I've seen images of the devastated mother, looking like she is one step from lifelong insanity, possibly caught between the temptation of suicide and the guilt of leaving/neglecting the remaining children. I've imagined the worst as speculations on the reason for her abduction surfaced. I've listened as the parents are excoriated for leaving the children alone while they dined nearby, within sight of their front door. They are suffering enough. They only did what others did in that supposedly safe resort -- and not for sake of saving the cost of a nanny, but for the welfare of their three in vitro created children who they wanted to have a regular, peaceful, uninterrupted night's sleep.

There has been unbelievable response from the worldwide community, with millions offered for her return and celebrities begging for her release. The unprecedented focus on Madeleine in the news might cause us to ask why she gets so much attention. There are un-tolled numbers of children who have suffered such dreadful, such evil, and likely unthinkable suffering that never make it into the news. She is from a comfortable, upper class family, with resources, after all.

This reminds me of when Christopher Reeve suffered a life-as-he-knew-it destroying spinal cord injury and some thought his press and treatment were as 'favored' as his life had been. However, celebrities - yes, Madeleine is one right now - captivate our minds and hearts, prompting us to awareness and action that benefit all, down to the penniless, if we remain dedicated to eradicating evil.

But if not, precious Madeleine is still worth all the efforts, all the money and all the empathetic heartbreak that she inspires in us...as much as king or a fallen mourning dove. So, this Mother's Day, I don't feel guilty following this story as if she were my own. She is. She is all of ours.

Right now, I am too far away to hug my own grown children. But I hug them ever so much more deeply in my heart this day, humbled by our years of lives together, which, by McCann standards, are far more precious than we even know.