Some of you may have read the short story “Genesis and Catastrophe” written by Roald Dahl. It’s about the birth of a boy. After he is born, a conversation takes place between the mother and the doctor. She is so worried! She tells the doctor this is her fourth baby in four years and that she had lost the other three one by one in such a short time. She tells him what their names were, how beautiful they were, but all so small and weak. She recalls how they got sick, and she relives the whole experience as she tells the story. By now she cries broken-heartedly. This baby looks just as small. She is so anxious. This is so horrible for a young mother to go through! She wants this one to live so badly – she prays and pleads with God.

As you read on, your emotions get stirred in you and your empathy for the mother just grows. You almost feel her pain, and you too want the baby to live. And then comes the shock, like a cold shower. As the doctor fills out the birth certificate, he asks the question: “what will be the name of the baby?” She answers, his name is Adolf – Adolf Hitler.

One single piece of information, and your outlook changes right away! One single piece of information, and your emotions turn the opposite way. How that one sentence in the story changed the big picture! Had it been left out, you would think differently and you would have had a whole other view on the issue. Do you ever wonder what might be the one thing you’re not being told as you read or listen to something? If you want to be in the know, you must dig deeper. It could mean a 180 degree change in your search for the truth…

What is that one sentence your news media channel left out?

What is that one piece of information the scientist hasn’t shared?

What is that one thing you have never heard about God?

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio