- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 99
A Journey to Healing: The inspiring story of a man who healed lives and bettered the world
'And so, with great care, he planted his hundred acorns'
He was called Elzéard Bouffier, a shepherd in Provence…
Then, years later, Jean Giono, so brilliantly, puts the shepherd’s story into words in an inspiring book: The Man Who Planted Trees
Plant a Tree: Healing ourselves and bettering our world
Photo:ekostories.com
‘When I reflect that one man, armed only with his own physical and moral resources, was able to cause this land of Canaan to spring from the wasteland, I am convinced that in spite of everything, humanity is admirable. But when I compute the unfailing greatness of spirit and the tenacity of benevolence that it must have taken to achieve this result, I am taken with an immense respect for that old and unlearned peasant who was able to complete a work worthy of God.’- Jean Giono
‘Jean Giono, the only son of a cobbler and a laundress, was one of France’s greatest writers. His prodigious literary output included stories, essays, poetry, plays, film scripts, translations and over thirty novels, many of which have been translated into English. Giono was a pacifist, and was twice imprisoned in France at the outset and conclusion of World War II. He remained tied to Provence and Manosque, the little city where he was born in 1895 and, in 1970, died. Giono was awarded the Prix Bretano, the Prix de Monaco (for the most outstanding collected work by a French writer), the Légion d’Honneur, and he was a member of the Académie Goncourt.’
‘In planting a tree, we plant a friend who will grow into a silent protector.’
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 9755
First posted on 20 March 2013, updated on 16 April 2024
Let the Cyrus Cylinder Shine Light and Hope in the Darkness Again
The Cyrus the Great Cylinder is the first charter of right of nations in the world. It is a baked-clay cyliner in Akkadian language with cuneiform script. This cylinder was excavated in 1879 by the Assyro-British archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in the foundations of the Esagila (the Marduk temple of Babylon) and is kept today in the British Museum in London.
The Cyrus Cylinder: Ancient Persia’s Gift to the World
There can be no Peace without Justice, Human Dignity, Humility and the life-affirming Reverence for Life.
In Civilization and Ethics, Albert Schweitzer has reminded us that: Ethics is nothing other than Reverence for Life. Reverence for Life affords us our fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, assisting and enhancing life, and to destroy, to harm or to hinder life is evil.
by Kamran Mofid, Ph.D. (ECON)
It is with horror and absolute sadness that we are all witnessing the children of Abraham tearing each other apart in the Middle East. This is an untold tragedy with immeasurable tragic consequences for all. Many sages and saints have reminded us that war is not the answer. There will be no winners, only losers. Bombs, missiles, rockets, and drones; destruction of bridges, buildings, roads, houses, schools and hospitals, killing of the innocents on all sides, will not bring peace. If these actions were instruments of peacebuilding and peacemaking, then, by now, we should have created paradise on earth, given the number of wars and the consequent destruction that we have had in the past. Indeed, the twentieth century was the bloodiest in human history, with holocausts, genocides, ethnic cleansings, two world wars, and hundreds of inter and intra-national wars.
Now, if war is not the answer, then what is?
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 1214
Loneliness: The Silent Pandemic
All Together. All Connected. But All Isolated, Separated and Alone
The message is clear: We must create a path to human connection and interaction, if we care about humanity, civility, health and wellbeing.
Lest it has been forgotten, artificial/virtual relationships aren’t the cure for loneliness - they’re a symptom of it.
Illustration by Chloe Cushman. Photo credit:NBC News
Preface
From time immemorial the yearning for meaningful and shared togetherness has always been powerful. This is what makes us human.
But, today, in this digital/virtual world, I am worried about lonely educators and students, lonely politicians and lonely economists, lonely technology/ IT/computer games designers and developers, lonely children and lonely youth, lonely nurses and doctors, lonely artists and filmmakers, lonely parents and grandparents,...lonely people everywhere…beautifully summed up by the Beatles in Eleanor Rigby:
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
The loneliness epidemic is the blight on our humanity
Rethinking Loneliness: Harnessing New Approaches
A retired academic economist trying to explain how modern life is making us so lonely.
- A moment that changed me: The day I discovered that simplicity is my path to a rewarding and meaningful life
- A Must-read Book: A Book that resonates with me in my search for belonging
- A moment that changed me: The day I discovered that indeed small is beautiful
- A moment that changed me: The day I saw the ruins of Coventry Cathedral
- Reimagining trust and trustworthiness at Davos Forum