Imagine opening the news one morning to see an announcement of your death.
Seems unlikely, but that’s exactly what happened to a gentleman in 1888. While surprised to read of his own passing, it was the content of the article that truly unnerved him. The scathing obituary was titled “The Merchant of Death is Dead” because Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, was the subject of the article.
This unusual happenstance altered the course of Nobel’s life as it forced him to ponder the question: “What legacy do I want to leave behind?” Subsequently, he dedicated over 94% of his fortune to the creation of the Nobel Foundation, devoted to the spread of peace. Today, the Nobel Peace Prize remains the most prestigious honor and highest recognition for excellence in literary, political, economic, and social advancements.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and many of us are already grumbling. We dread the cooking, the traveling, the cleaning. We are bracing ourselves to encounter “that person” we struggle to get along with, the looming tension building our anxiety.
However, we have a choice regarding how to walk into this Thanksgiving. We can choose to approach it in the spirit it was intended – with gratitude. We can choose peace. We only get to live each day, each moment, once. Do we want to be known for the dynamite we recklessly explode over the mashed potatoes? Or, do we want to be known for celebrating others at our table and spreading peace?
We have a choice, just as Alfred Nobel did. We don’t have the pressure of trying to alter the course of history, but we can control the legacy we leave behind. Let’s choose peace, just as Jesus modeled.
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