When I was in Secondary School there was one subject in which I was very good (but only one) – I was an A+ grade student in that subject. But to be clear about it – this was the only subject where one could detect my cleverness. Then came the last exam in martric. I got a C. What happened? I mixed the content of four different 80-points questions. With disasterous consequences. There...
Nature never stops to amaze me. I still have to find, for instance, birds that function exactly the same. Even within the many species, each different bird, like sparrows and within that the different types of sparrows. There is, for example, something unique in every species of trees – also the many varieties within species. But the following story has more than one “life...
In 1993, a bank in Abbotsford, Canada, hired a twenty-three-year stock broker named Trent Dyrsmid. Abbotsford was a relatively small suburb, tucked away in the shadow of nearby Vancouver, where most of the big business deals were being made. Given the location and the fact that Dyrsmid was a rookie, nobody, expected too much of him. But he made brisk progress thanks to a simple daily habit...
What has the world come to when a 12-year-old boy walked on the stage and said to the panel: “I want to ask you a question. It is a serious question. Please listen carefully, because it is important to me. I have already tried to commit suicide a few times. Tell me: What is the meaning of life?” Life without understanding the meaning of life is not worth living. And meaning comes only through...
Wars are terrible. They bring out the worst and the best in people. There are many lessons to be learned from wars. Take for instance the following two incidents. There are two famous incidents where armies crossed the Alps. The first one was Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps in 218 BC. It was one of the major events of the Second Punic War, and one of the most celebrated achievements...
I read somewhere: Let’s get one thing straight, if something catastrophic hasn’t happened to your organization yet, trust me, it will. This means that we need to understand that sooner or later in our increasingly fast-changing world, where even the way things change is changing – your organisation or business will be affected by sudden and dramatic changes in society. Take the...
Ever felt that you were working and working on something and then one day everything simply stops and you know it was much ado about nothing. Perhaps a book you were writing, investing time into a project, trying to establish an NGO. Nothing will come from it. It was a waste of time. Maybe the fillowing story will encourage you as it encouraged me. I visited a country where Christian missionaries...
The evolution theory: because of this theory, which many wrongly believe has been proven by science as a fact, people find it easy to move to a position of atheism. They believe that, since the universe developed through a process of evolution, there is no need for God and therefore He doesn’t exist. Sexuality and gender: The moment society began to accept that we cannot just have two...
As humans, we think quite highly of our intelligence and how “far above” we are in comparison to plants and other living creatures. But more often than not, other living creatures come along and simply say: “Can you do this?” Take the tent caterpillars as an example. They are constantly hungry and can strip a tree in a day or two. To sustain their voracious appetites, they have developed a...
As Westerners, we have a specific way of thinking: we first take care of ourselves and what is “left” – and usually very little is left after we have our fill – we will share with others. This is the right way – isn’t it? But maybe not. When a Fijian fisherman goes out to fish, the mothers from the village wish him well. He usually returns from his trip to find the mothers waiting on the shore...