Suddenly, my problems seem like they're not even worthy of mention. There's been one casualty so far. That's one casualty too many. It's not just a body count you know. It's a life. Ask the victim's family and they'll tell you. They'll tell you what a good person he/she was (I don't know if the civilian who died was male or female), what a devoted husband/wife/father/mother he/she was. Behind that life is, or should we say, was a story of precious uniqueness, of relationships with people, of good times and of bad. All this has now been reduced to a heap of ashes; memories that will forever sting with the pain of loss and grief. Such a waste. That person needn't have died. I'm really not happy about this.

And what about us? Is this the time to ponder the human life? To take stock of the relationships we share with people? Why is it we only say good things about people when they're gone? We seem to appreciate them more when they're not there anymore. Why? Because we take things for granted. We take the people around us for granted. And we most definitely take God for granted. It's only when Sept 11 happened that people started talking about God and going to church. Before that, America was rife with the disease of the world. Suddenly, people are turning to God. Why? Because they've realised that He's the only one they can run to now. That He really IS the Shield, Strength, Deliverer, Shelter.

I don't know who the bad guy is in the Iraqi crisis. And maybe it doesn't matter. But personally, I think that sending your troops on a mission to kill Saddam, without even a proper trial, is essentially murder. Assassination. And I don't think that's right. Not even on the pretext of keeping the world safe. You can bomb his bases, destroy his military equipment, totally and utterly disarm him. But to hunt him down to kill him, that I cannot swallow.

I've always maintained that whatever I do in life, as long as I'm able to sleep at night, I'm happy. To go to bed with a clear conscience is important to me. I hope that Bush and Saddam are able to do that. And no, there was no sarcasm in that comment.

To every soldier in the battlefield, whichever side you're on, I'm praying for you. To every civilian in Baghdad, Kuwait and surrounding areas, I'm praying for you. President George W. Bush, I'm praying for you. President Saddam Hussein, I'm praying for you too. Before we get too judgemental, let's remember that the same God who created you and I, created President Bush and President Hussein. Finger-pointing gets us nowhere. Let's just really pray earnestly for all involved and for a quick resolution to the crisis.

God bless each and every one.