My last night in Tripoli, I had my first Internet connection in 44 days and was able to listen to a speech Tom Durkin gave for me at the Marquette vigil. To a church full of friends, alums, priests, students and faculty, I watched the best speech a brother could give for another. It felt like a best man speech and a eulogy in one. It showed tremendous heart and was just a glimpse of the efforts and prayers people were pouring forth. If nothing else, prayer was the glue that enabled my freedom, an inner freedom first and later the miracle of being released during a war in which the regime had no real incentive to free us. It didn’t make sense, but faith did.

(source: Phone call home | Features| Marquette Magazine)

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Requiem aeternam…in hora mortis nostrae.  All of us.

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“I wish I had more time. I wish I could have the hope for freedom to see my family once again,” he can be heard saying in the video.

(source: ISIS beheading U.S. journalist James Foley, posts video – CNN.com)

Obama was briefed about the video, and “he will continue to receive regular updates,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.

(source: ISIS beheading U.S. journalist James Foley, posts video – CNN.com)

“James was an innocent civilian who was bravely performing his job as a journalist,” Ayotte said. “This barbaric and heinous act shocks the conscience and highlights the truly evil nature of the terrorists we confront, who must be defeated.”

(source: ISIS beheading U.S. journalist James Foley, posts video – CNN.com)

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Compare and note well:

I applaud for the Academy for wanting to honor the life and work of Robin Williams. By all accounts, this comedic genius was also an incredibly gentle and giving soul, and will be missed immensely.

But consciously or not, that image of a freed Genie calls to mind these pessimistic and ultimately dangerous conclusions – not only that suicide can be a valid escape, but that the world itself may be an invalid snare.

(source: Gnostics in the Bottle | Word On Fire)

The difference is clear.