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Even advocates for more responsible, environmentally benign ways of life harbor misunderstandings of what “sustainability” is all about, By Michael D. Lemonick
The Michael Phelps saga is yet another example of our addiction to feigned outrage. By David Sirota
Many years ago, there lived a man who was
capable of loving and forgiving everyone he
came across. Because of this, God sent an angel
to talk to him.
‘God asked me to come and visit you and
tell you that he wishes to reward you for your
goodness,’ said the angel. ‘You may have any
gift you wish for. Would you like the gift of healing?’
‘Certainly not,’ said the man. ‘I would prefer
God to choose those who should be healed.’
‘And what about leading sinners back to the path of Truth?’
‘That’s a job for angels like you. I don’t
want to be venerated by anyone or to serve as a
permanent example.’
‘Look, I can’t go back to Heaven without
having given you a miracle. If you don’t choose,
I’ll have to choose one for you.’
The man thought for a moment and then said:
‘All right, I would like good to be done
through me, but without anyone noticing, not
even me, in case I should commit the sin of vanity.’
So the angel arranged for the man’s shadow
to have the power of healing, but only when the
sun was shining on the man’s face. In this way,
wherever he went, the sick were healed, the
earth grew fertile again, and sad people
rediscovered happiness.
The man traveled the Earth for many
years, oblivious of the miracles he was working
because when he was facing the sun, his shadow
was always behind him. In this way, he was able
to live and die unaware of his own holiness.
A father was trying to read the newspaper,
but his little son kept pestering him. Finally, the
father grew tired of this and, tearing a page
from the newspaper – one that bore a map of
the world – he cut it into several pieces and
handed them to his son.
‘Right, now you’ve got something to do.
I’ve given you a map of the world and I want to
see if you can put it back together correctly.’
He resumed his reading, knowing that the
task would keep the child occupied for the rest
of the day. However, a quarter of an hour later,
the boy returned with the map.
‘Has your mother been teaching you
geography?’ asked his father in astonishment.
‘I don’t even know what that is,’ replied the
boy. ‘But there was a photo of a man on the
other side of the page, so I put the man back
together and found I’d put the world back
together too.’
By Rob Stein, Friday, December 2008
Happiness is contagious, spreading among friends, neighbours, siblings and spouses like the flu, according to a large study that for the first time shows how emotion can ripple through clusters of people who may not even know each other.
