Every year before the anniversary of Tiannamen tragedy on June 4th, one of my Jewish friends calls me to express her support. When I reminded her that this year would be the 18th anniversary of the June 4th massacre, she paused a moment, and then, in a quiet voice asked if I knew that in Hebrew the word "life" has a numeric value of 18. On this anniversary, let us choose life.
June supposedly represents the season of rejuvenation, of growth; the joy of new life... and yet, there is also an agitation in the air and in the hearts of those who remember the massacre and the aftermath of June 4th at Tiannamen, in China. So many young lives, so many lives cut short; faces never to be seen again in this world... names erased from the roster of the living... How many vibrant lives silently ended 18 years ago for the cause of democracy in China? ... How many gave the ultimate gift and sacrifice for the chance to create freedom? Do we know the number? 18 years ago, let us choose life, today.
 (Right picture, Harry Wu, Publisher of the China Information Center and Founder of the Laogai Research Foundation was giving his speech on the Memorial Concert.)
50 years ago, the ˇ°anti-rightistˇ± movement began in our China. Our thinkers, our artists and scholars... destroyed; our architects, our philosophers, the life of the mind punished and humiliated, tortured to an agonizing death. And these are the victims we can remember. But, what of those whose names will never be spoken again. 50 years ago, a whirlwind hit our China, let us choose life, today.
We must remember those whose life stories have been gathered as monuments to their courage; as monuments to their frail mortality; and as a sign of their life. We must remember the unbearable truth that many, many stories have been lost to history; each unknown person once breathed and walked in our China. Perhaps the stories of the greatest compassion, humanity and faith have been lost in the memories of those who can no longer speak. They are forever silent. BUT, we can act to renew their lives by remembering. We can choose life, today.
May God's grace return the meaning of life in its best and most golden form to our beloved homeland. May He help us to rebuild the continuity of that great culture that was our China; and may we choose life today to work alongside the spirit of those who gave so much...
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