ANOTHER PLEA FOR KAYLA.....

I particularly like this photo of Kayla because it shows her bending down.....a golden metaphor.

As a semi observant member of our society…it is hard not to reflect on just what and who our society rewards…..our money and our adulation and focus goes somewhere…and it rewards someone(s). We make multimillionaires out of girls and boys who sing songs on a stage, we give professional athletes, even the mediocre ones, hordes of millions of dollars…at very young ages…..money that can buy the moon…and they often try…and they often spend money on amazingly self indulgent and frivolous affairs…..20 bedroom houses….or incredible opulence, entourages, drugs.... on lawyers to sidestep a DUI….some end up in jail (of all places)…I thought jail was only for people who were trying to get rich.…….

I am not against this----by our country‘s free enterprise construct people are entitled to make money through any means that our society values (and rewards) but, how many of these people are doing anything compassionate with their anointed power and wealth? How many are doing something for humanity with all of the exorbitance that has been heaped upon them….? These are fair questions….though they are never asked…..the facts are that we, as a society, don’t really care at all….if someone is in the news…making headlines….then that is celebrity itself….that has huge cache. It is enough to swoon us. It is blinding.

I contrast that narrative with the life of one Kayla Mueller….the 26 year old girl from Arizona who was recently killed by ISIS….on the surface she appears as a normal girl from Prescott Arizona…went to prom, had friends, listened to music, etc…but somewhere near her beginning she realized that what mattered to her was to help children who were being victimized in war torn countries…she traveled all over the world in her effort to make a difference in the lives of these children….she eventually put her life and safety at great risk for what she felt was of utmost important…It’s called courage and conviction. She justified her entire existence by helping those who had NO voice……sadly, she didn’t make it out alive. Only 26 yrs. old....she ascended (her) stairway to Heaven.

Wouldn’t it make sense that Kayla would be rewarded with millions and millions of dollars for her self sacrifice ..for having qualities (and an ear) that almost no one on the planet possesses…especially for someone so young….shouldn’t she be earning more than Ariana Grande, for example, or Justin Bieber…? But, here is the follow up question…if she was heaped upon with tens of millions of dollars as a reward for her selfless deeds (just imagine a world so crazy)……is there any doubt that she would spend most of it…or maybe all of it….on others? She might give some money to her parents or siblings...or she might buy a car for when she gets back home (she will never get back home)…but anyone who is willing to risk their life on a regular basis….a very humble life spent in huts and cold ramshackle dwellings with minimal comforts…just to help kids she doesn’t even know….during her prime, entitled, hedonistic years……(would) most certainly spend the money on others whom she feels need it more than herself….I have no doubt about that--- in the same way that I have no doubt that Pope Francis would give it to others……No need to build a 6 car garage for Kayla.

Yet, when Kayla Mueller died…at the hands of heinous ISIS terrorists…most likely tortured, raped, and savagely abused throughout her captivity, before she was killed ruthlessly and mercilessly….she made the news cycle--- for about 2 or 3 days….mainly because she was connected to the Hot topic of the time…ISIS….Now, she is totally forgotten by all but her closest friends and relatives…her life was never properly chronicled or celebrated; the depth of her heart and compassion was never explored…..certainly not the way we celebrate Selena Gomez ….or Miley Cyrus, or even the Women’s Soccer National team. Kayla can only get a headline if she is killed by ISIS…Miley Cyrus can get one when she breaks up with her boyfriend…….In our world…a sex tape will not only get you a headline…but it might get you a career…..and a reality show….and an endless pot of gold…..some can build an empire around a properly released sex tape….you can become near Royalty. This should make us cringe.

Kayla will not make it to the Grammys, or the MTV music awards,, nor even to her own birthday this August 14. She won’t be signing autographs for running with a football or dunking basketballs. She won’t be climbing out of a limo in a sequined “see through” gown as she makes her way to the Red Carpet. She won’t be strategically exposing her nipple during a half time show at the Super Bowl. She was never a part of that human race, though she was on a ”race” of her own. Her baton has been dropped...and no one is there to pick it up.

I have a hunch that the thing that would bother her most about losing her life is that she can no longer help others who needed her, desperately. There were many losers when Kayla was taken. It wasn’t just her dream that was extinguished when she took her last breath. I only wish they could have salvaged her heart and put it in a jar and then a museum for all to see. Her heart should be in a museum...under ”rare anomalies”.

In a just world, Kayla Mueller would be making more money than almost anyone….and her celebrity peers who are running around acting incredibly boorish and juvenile and narcissistic and above the law would be living on much less.

I wonder if there is a world out there somewhere….. in a different galaxy…one that makes more sense…..

Below is a partial list of activities that Kayla Mueller experienced before her 27th birthday.

• African Refugee Development Center, for whom she volunteered at a summer camp in Israel.
• America’s Promise, an organization which facilitates volunteer action for children and youth
• Amnesty International, for whom she founded a student chapter at Northern Arizona University.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a one-on-one youth mentorship organization in the United States.
• Contact Magazine, a Tibetan publication for whom she served as a journalist and an editor.
• Danish Refugee Council, for whom she worked to help Syrian refugees in Turkey.
• Food For Life Vrindavan, a local branch of Food For Life, which provides free food, education, and medical care for those in need in the region, for whom she taught English and kindergarten students.[4][5]
• Food Not Bombs, during college.[6]
• International Solidarity Movement, with whom she accompanied Palestinian families and children going to school.
• Just Peace, a social justice project of United Campus Ministries at Northern Arizona University, with whom she went on a humanitarian aid trip to Guatemala and with whom she advocated against torture and Guantanamo Bay.
• LHA Charitable Trust in Dharamsala, India, for whom she volunteered as an English teacher.
• New Day Peace Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, for whom she helped to establish services for veteran students at Northern Arizona University and at Coconino Community College.
• Northern Arizona University Center for Intercultural Education, which provides services to international students at Northern Arizona University.
• Plum Village, the French monastery of Thích Nhất Hạnh, for whom she volunteered in the center.
• Prescott Area Women’s Shelter, where she worked during the nights to help meet the needs of homeless women, children, and families.
• Save Darfur Coalition, with whom she volunteered for three years, for whom she conducted multiple letter-writing campaigns and led two silent walks.
• STAND, for whom she served as the President of STAND:NAU, a local chapter at Northern Arizona University, as well as the Southwest Regional Outreach Coordinator of the parent organization.
• Support to Life, an international aid organization, for whom she worked to help Syrian refugees in Turkey
• Tibetan Hope Center, an organization that helps Tibetan refugees to gain life skills to live independently in India, for whom she taught English and compiled a monthly newsletter.
• Youth Count, where she volunteered in Prescott, Arizona participating in multiple environmental and inter-generational projects.