"What else can I do?"

The sentiment behind the statement on the marquee of the Lutheran church I drive by on the way to work is true enough: Witnessing is indeed something to be lived and not just mouthed. And that statement is true in a secular sense as well: whenever you speak in defense of (and live in accordance with) something in which you place a great deal of importance and value, you are witnessing to it.

But that "something to be lived" part seemed, just at that moment the other day when I read it, a bit fuzzy, for just that morning I had heard this interview on NPR with a member of Christian Peacemakers, a group who works on behalf of non-violent solutions to conflict in war zones and other volatile areas. Back in November, four members of this group were kidnapped in Iraq and were last heard from in December. In Baghdad, they live outside the Green Zone, unprotected and unarmed. They do not proselytize--the sort of witnessing that comes to the mind of most people, Christian or not. They witness through their actions: seeking information about detainees, working to obtain reparations from the military for civilians affected by military operations, etc.

The point of this post is not to make anyone feel guilty about his/her commitment to anyone or anything. It's simply to remind myself, if no one else, that the answer to the question, "What else can I do?" is "There is always more."