The Power of Prayer

In today's world, there are those who no longer pray. Everyone's a skeptic. So was I. But one day, one of my co-workers had to undergo surgery. During the surgery, she started to bleed. The doctors could not figure out why this was happening, nor could they stop it. They felt that she would not live. But everyone who knew her started to pray for her. I did too. Surprisingly, the bleeding stopped. The surgery was a success, and she fully recovered. The doctors could not explain how or why she survived. I guess it doesn't really matter how or why it happened. What mattered to us is that our prayers were answered. On that day, I was certainly convinced that prayer is indeed powerful. How about you? Have you prayed lately? Give it a try. It may surprise you.

How do You Want to Be Remembered?

I attended the funeral of an acquaintance a long time ago. At the funeral, people were asked to say something about the deceased. One after the other, people said they recalled that this person loved to go shopping. I said to myself "there must be something else to say about this person." Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anything else to say. I started to ask myself, "What have I done with my life so far?" Maybe we all need to start thinking about this and ask ourselves, "How do we want to be remembered when we're gone?"

Consequences of Being Motivated by Greed

I heard on TV this morning that a boy died from a tooth infection which spread to his brain. Dentists had refused to treat him because he was poor. Contrast this with my distant cousin, who is also a dentist. He works with an organization that provides medical and dental care to the poor in the Third World. I wish that all medical professionals were motivated by the desire to heal and save lives, like my cousin, instead of being motivated primarily by greed. Then that boy's life could have, or should have, been saved.

Want to Change the World? Then Change Yourself.

I work in a very diverse office. People there came from countries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, & the Middle East. They all lament the corruption that exists in their home countries. This brings to mind a story which my aunt told me about my uncle, who also lived in another country where corruption is common. He was an officer in the military. One day, he took a wrong turn and was cited by a cop for some traffic violation. Usually, when the offender is a military officer, the cop would let you go. If you were not an officer, then you get a ticket. When the cop checked my uncle's ID and discovered he was an army officer, he tried to let my uncle go without a citation. But my uncle was a man with integrity. He told the cop "I broke a traffic rule, so give me the ticket and I'll pay the fine." Imagine what would happen if each individual changed his/her behavior & acted with honesty and integrity. Want to change the world? Then start with yourself.

A Short Life Lived Well

I read about the untimely death of the St. Louis Cardinal's baseball pitcher Josh Hancock yesterday. It reminds me of a relative who died in her early twenties in a car accident. Like everyone else, I wondered why she had to go at such a young age. But at her funeral, I found out how she lived her short life. She was concerned about others, epsecially those who were poor or oppressed. She dedicated her life to helping people, when other college graduates were pursuing money instead. In my opinion, her life was a life lived well.