What if Nobel had never existed?

    I grew up in New England. When-ever life leads me back there, I buy a copy of the daily Boston Globe newspaper. While back in my home town, the front cover of a Boston Globe caught my eye. There were five graphic headlines. One of the articles was entitled "Nobel Peace Prize Goes To: Banker to the Poor".
    What if Nobel had never existed? Our world might be a totally different place today. Do you know where the word Nobel comes from? Could it be a place, a person's name or a term for some kind of action? If the truth be told, this singular word is all three. The Nobel Peace Prize is named for Alfred Bernard Nobel, born 1933 in Stockholm, Sweden. A shy pacific introvert, Nobel was a chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer AND the inventor of dynamite. In 1888, a French newspaper erroneously published a premature obituary. That column stated, "The merchant of death is dead, Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday". Those shocking words goaded him to leave a better legacy to the world after his actual death. He endowed a $9,000,000 dollar fund in his will, giving the yearly interest as awards for individuals whose work benefited humanity. He wanted the profit from his invention to be used to honor human ingenuity. First awarded in 1901, five years after he passed away in Italy, the Nobel Peace Prize is still the most honored in the world.
    The Globe's article began with these words: "Bangladesh economist Muhammad Yanus and the Grameen Bank he created, received the Nobel Prize for leveraging small loans into major social change for impoverished families. The Grameen Bank's pioneering use of micro credit has been duplicated across the globe since Yunas, known as the 'banker of the poor', started the project in his home village four decades ago. Loans as low as $9 have helped beggars start small businesses and poor women buy cell phones and basket-weaving materials."
    My point? Good  realities can come out of bad ones. The Nobel Peace Prize is known the world over. But the reason it exists, is because of an ill-timed and vindictive obituary. It reminds me of a lesson from Genesis, the first book in the Bible. There was a fellow by the name of Joseph, whose brothers were jealous of him. So they conspired together, ganged up on him and sold him to and Egyptian slaver owner. Amazingly many years later, Joseph had become the Egyptian pharaoh's chief magistrate during a devastating famine, affecting much of the Middle East. His brothers came from afar, east of Egypt, to buy grain. They had to deal directly with Joseph, whom they did not recognize. But Joseph recognized them, and could barely keep his joy in check, while in the presence of family. Eventually he reveals his identity, reminding them of them selling him to an Egyptian years before. He says to them: "don't be angry with yourselves, that you did this to me - for God meant it for good." (Genesis 45:5)
    Your life's condition right now might not be very heathy. You may have made a number of blunders with money, your employer, your spouse, your children, or a sibling - like Joseph's brothers to him. But you need not wallow in water already over the dam and down the stream. You may view yourself as stuck in your ways, have broken bridges and created a general mess for yourself. God is ever available to receive you for the first or the umpteenth time - just as He eventually  reunited Joseph's whole family in Egypt, redeeming years of regret, separation, sorrow and loss. All you need do is ask for His help and follow what comes to you.

Be Well.