An Iraqi Hero? Perhaps you think me un-American? But wait until you read the story from CNN:

It's the story of a guy named Sheik Jamal al-Sudani. The shiek leads a group of volunteers with one of the most solemn tasks in Iraq: Collecting and burying the hundreds of unclaimed dead every month and giving them a proper burial.

"I only think about one thing: That one day, I will face the same fate as these people have faced, and will there be someone to take care of me and bury me, too?" the sheik told CNN.
The discovery of slain bodies in bustling, war-torn Baghdad is a daily fact of life, as ever-present as the lively markets, the solemn mosques, the blinding sunrise and the soft sunset. Many of the bodies of the slain men, women, and children -- found on the streets, in the sewers and in the ruins of bombings -- have never been claimed because some are so mangled and charred, they're unidentifiable.

"When I enter the morgue, I don't see these human beings as Christian, Shiite or Sunni because I see them in death, embracing each other," said al-Sudani, a cleric from a small charity in Baghdad's Sadr City. "

He says that they buried about 2,000 corpses one month. Nowadays, the count is closer to 250 per month. What a thankless task! How unappreciated it must feel to do the thing that no one else will do. And at the risk of losing his own life. And forgive me for saying so (if you are offended by this remark), but what a reflection of Jesus! I know, I know. This guy is Muslim. I know that he is not a believer. But still I can't get away from the fact that Mr. al-Sudani is doing what so many Christians would never consider. Could it be that a Muslim better reflects the character of Christ than Christians? Would Jesus see to it that dead persons were given a burial? I think so. Such was the heart of Christ in respecting human dignity.

And for me personally, it is a tremendous motivation to spend my days looking for the least noticed & unimportant task that needs to be done, and then doing it.

This information came from: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/10/iraq.deadbodies/index.html