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The Greek word for “witness” is “martyrion”. In our use of the word over all these centuries of Christian history, we have emphasized those who shed their blood for the faith. However, there is also a tradition of “white martyrs”, those who live sacrificial lives that change the world. That is what Terri did...

While I admire the family of Terri and their attempts to retain their beloved daughter and sister, I regretfully cannot agree to the above statement in the article. Please correct me if I am wrong, but Terri was bulimic and had heart failure as a result of insufficient potassium levels. I find it difficult to categorize these facts as “shedding their blood for the faith” or “living a sacrificial life that changed the world”. How can one possibly compare that to someone, like the apostle Paul, who lived a sacrificial live that changed the world? Sorry folks, but that’s just not reality. Unfortunately, had she not suffered the severe brain damage she did she'd be as well know as you or me walking down a crowded NY street going home from work. Further, and I'm only speculating here, but its unlikely that prior to her heart failure and ensuing physical state, that Terri was living the definition listed above. Of course I don’t know her and can’t say with any certainty, but how many martyrs does one really know? Don't get me wrong, this entire episode was sad and truly unfortunate, but let's try and keep the big picture in mind and always remember that God works in mysterious ways...In the grand scheme of it all Terri, in this case, was simply the instrument chosen by our Maker to redirect us all back to Him.