This week we had the unique opportunity to learn about a most extraordinary person, Mrs. Irena Sendler. Until recently she was a little known Polish women who didnt quite seem to be much different from the rest of society. The film 'The Courageous Life of Irene Sendler' describes a woman who risked her life and suffered unspeakable torture in order to save the lives of the innocent children of the Warsaw Ghetto. She would smuggle out infants in toolboxes, wheelbarrrows, bread baskets and whatever other methods should could think of. Her heartbreaking arguements with the grief stricken parents eventually led to the smuggling o f 2500 Jewish children out of the ghetto to Christian homes where they were raised.
It was only after the war, that Irene unearthed a jar full of sraps of paper which she had buried underground. upon those scraps were the real and fake names and addresses of the hidden children that she saved. She then had the mammoth task of reuniting the little children with their parents, if they had indeed survived the war.
It was a movie worth watching. If you have not had the chance to see it, see it.
What electrified our experience was what happened next. As soon as the lights were turned on, one of the ladies in our audience was crying uncontrollably. Though she declined to be mentioned by name, this woman, a warm and devoted member of our community then disclosed a secret. That she was one of these little children who saw her father for the last time when she was just five years old. She remembers how her parents gave her away to a gentile family to save her from the Nazis. Though she was reunited with her mother again after the war, tragically, that was the last time she would ever see her father.
A wise man once said: 'We don't realise what we have until we don't have it any more.'
As a father myself, I was shaken to the core as I realised how real this story was. Right here in our community, we have a lady who endured this tragedy. I am inspired to hold my children a little closer and to kiss them just a little longer as I ponder the great gift of freedom that we have in this great country.
I was inspired to count my blessings and not to take anything for granted. I hope that you will be inspired to do the same and to learn to like the people that you love. Realising that each day we have them with them is a gift and should be cherished.
Yesterday is but a dream and Tomorrow is just a vision. But today well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Today is a gift and that's why it's called the present!