What Makes People Tick?

I believe. I believe in a Higher Power, in a Creator of all and of everything. I believe that it does not matter whether we call that Power by the name/title Adonai or God or Allah, what matters is that we believe. I believe in intelligent design and also in evolution, in what I sense and feel and know in my heart yet also in what I see and hear and know in my brain. I believe that the Creator sent down prophets to guide humanity on the right path - not the "close your mind to reason and believe what this particular book says or else..." path, but the path of love, of compassion, of empathy, of kindness, of justice, of righteousness, of mercy, of peace, of tolerance, of equality... I believe that the Creator (aka The One / God / Adonai / Allah) gave me a brain and wants me to use that brain. I believe that the Creator gave me a mouth and wants me to use that mouth not just to eat but to speak. I believe that the Creator made me as He chose to make me (Nope, I don't...

I would like to tell you the story of a girl who was one of my best friends when I was a teenager. I'll call her Anon (anonymous) and keep the details vague to protect her privacy. Anon was born in the part of Kurdistan that lies in Iraq in the days when Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq. After several family members and friends were taken captive and/or murdered by Hussein's regime, Anon and her family fled Kurdistan before they too would be murdered. The initial flight to safety took several weeks if not months while it would take years before they found a new home in the city where we met. My friend was a young girl when she left Kurdistan, yet when she talked about her childhood it was clear to see that the memories still haunted her. She'd get this far-away look in her eyes, as if she was looking at a movie of her own life, replaying images from her childhood on a screen only she could see. Anon is one of the kindest and gentlest people I've ever met, someone always ther...