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 Every year the media tells us about this year's Nobel Prize winners. Such people are admired, of course, for their contributions to humanity. But have you ever heard the story behind the prizes? It is a true story and one that carries a very importan less for us all.
One morning in 1888 Alfred Nobel, a Norwegian businessman, was reading his paper, flipping idly through the pages, when he received the shock of his life: he read his own obituary!
It was a terrible mistake, of course. Alfred‟s brother had died and a careless reporter had mixed up the two brothers and pulled the biographical information on the wrong man.
As a result of this mistake, Nobel gained a rare insight. He had the uncommon experience of glimpsing at what the world would say about him after he had died. Alfred Nobel was disap-pointed at what he read.
The facts of his life were accurate enough, his impressive achievements listed, his wealth described, but there was nothing in the obituary of his principles, values, beliefs, and goals in life. As a result, Nobel determined to change his life so that his legacy would reflect what he really believed to be important.
Few will recall that decades before, Nobel had discovered how to convert nitroglycerin into a powder. He called his discovery “dynamite.” This made him a wealthy man, but one deeply distressed at how others came to use his discovery. He felt the need to do something to reverse what he saw as a very sad story.
This is when he decided to do something which would establish his name as one fostering im-provement, advancement, courage, peace—rather than destruction and death.
We have all heard of his prizes; most of us don‟t remember his chemical discovery. Alfred
Nobel finally did die, of course, and he had managed to accomplish his goal: he had written his own obituary.
The Apostle Paul points out to the Corinthian believers in II Cor. 3:2 that our lives are written testimonies to God‟s grace: “...not written with ink but by the Spirit of God, not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.”
May we remember and strive for that goal.
R.A.W.
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