A captor's gift

Just when I was despairing of ever coming across the report of any kindness shown to hostages in Iraq, I came across Norman Kember's account on the web site of The Forgiveness Project.

Norman Kember said:

"We also experienced small acts of kindness from our captors. After a month we were given toothbrushes, and then a notebook and pen. Just after, at Christmas, we were shown a DVD of the Life of Jesus in Arabic, and one of them brought us a fragrant rose from the garden."

I hope, when the four surviving hostages, from the group kidnapped from the Iraqi Ministry in 2007, are released, that they will also be able to draw on a memory of even one fleeting act of kindness too, from their hardened captors. Given reports of the suicide of Jason, and what we know of man's brutality to man out there, this seems a wish so childish that I can feel my reader's scorn, and hear an exasperated "Get real!"

I hoped, when Jill Carroll was released, that her account of her kidnapping would mention some act of kindness. At one point, I seem to recall, word came out that she was "preparing food with the women of the house", yet her subsequent accounts showed that the women were particularly unfriendly towards her.

Whenever I consider the appalling atrocities carried out in zones of conflict across the globe, I realise how, increasingly, I expect less and less of humanity.

Yet, amongst it all, we can acknowledge a Quaker's crumb of comfort, for Norman Kember experienced kindness during his ordeal - and that kindness registered.