Jean, thank you for these links. I had read Rachel's original diary on the BBC website shortly after the July blasts, and found it extraordinarily moving. I look forward to following her blog and reading the STimes article.
 

Thank you for dropping by and leaving your comment,

and hello mary!

it is lovely when people who read the origial blog on the BBC come and visit again! and I can say thank you to the people who were there reading my story which helped me so much in the beginning and still helps to this day
 

An extraordinary story, Jean, thanks. I also had read a little of Rachel's blog previously. I felt very grateful to read that she feels hopeful.
 

Thanks for the link to Rachel's article. Not only was her story very moving, but her thinking is first-rate. I particularly liked this: "Resentment and anger are the breeding ground for the pitiless narcissism that I believe lies at the heart of human evil, where you choose to deaden your empathy towards others and elevate your personal beliefs over any concern for the human consequences of your actions."
 

Though Rachel is an angel's voice in the madness of the psychotic violence of rapists and terrorists, her story has left me depressed, angry, and feeling extremely helpless. No-one should have to live through such terror, not once, not twice. She has a powerful voice, yes, and is a beautiful person, but, but... I feel like I'm pushing up against a huge granite mountain that isn't going to slide open with any beautific and miraculous death-defying resurrections. Since reading her Times article, oh, it's not been easy... but, yes, I believe we should all know, feel the pain, the horror, for how else are we to battle these dark forces of despair and violence, of killing and maiming? I keep seeing her in the courtroom, her bravery, her strength, like a saint, and she is luminescent and a beacon to us all. xo
 

Oh, Jean, no, of course it wasn't your post, only your post gave me an opportunity to express what I've been feeling all week since reading Rachel's account last Sunday... and, I'm appreciative, it's better to get it out than keep it all in. Rachel is incredible and a survivor and very, very healthy in her approach to what's she's undergone, a deeply loving woman who I am in awe of. But, damn, no-one should have to suffer like that! It's an eternal existential question, and irresolvable.

For the same reasons as you, I don't watch the news, preferring to read it in a newspaper or online.

Rachel's account wasn't like that, it was very real and struck me in my heart. And everything's she done has been extraordinary, from the trial where she confronted her vicious rapist, to the group she created for London bomb survivors, to her moving and powerful writing of what it felt like and her compassionate reaching out to others, as well as her practical forgiveness of those who harmed her.

The world needs more Rachels.