Someone just sent me an e-mail containing a link to the following article from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/STRIKES_saddam011023_email.html

I know some people may take that article different ways, but for me it is an inspiration. As one who has received some rather amazing results and reactions to letters written directly from the heart, I can imagine what it must have felt like to receive an e-mail from Saddam Hussein. I can picture that software engineer (from the East Coast, no less) mindlessly opening his e-mail program, glancing through the new messages, and then stopping at the one from Hussein. I'm sure his heart began to race, and maybe he got goosebumps.

Things like this make me realize even more how powerful the written word really is. It not only becomes a historical legacy, but it can even cause leaders referred to as "the enemy" to think, and to respond with compassion. Words are so much more than scribbles on paper; they can have profound effects on the world.

"I was really upset and I was desperate to do something," said the man who wrote to Hussein. When words are written honestly and sincerely from the heart, amazing things happen. Life-changing things have happened to me in part because, in the midst of desperation, I sat down and wrote out my thoughts and feelings. This article proved once again that writing can make a difference. And it inspires me to continue on in my quest to write honestly, openly and from the heart.

Ellmyruh