Audiostretto 59/4/24 English Hans-Jörg Stark

I woke up the other night because my eye was itching. I had a severe irritation in my eye and couldn't sleep because of it. I rubbed my eye and tried to get rid of the itching. To no avail. I realised that it was probably a small speck of dust in my eye that was affecting my whole body and preventing me from sleeping. How annoying! I had to get up, go to the bathroom, wash out my eye and after a while I was able to go back to bed and thankfully sleep. The incident reminded me of what Paul once wrote to the church in Corinth: if one member of the body suffers, all suffer with it. How true. It is the same with groups of people: if one member of the group is not well, everyone feels it - at least in a healthy relational organism. If the healthy parts help the affected person, things can get better. Perhaps you can help someone around you in this way.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

In Greek mythology, Poseidon is worshipped as the god of the sea. He was a brother of Zeus. He is famously depicted with a trident, which he could apparently use to trigger earthquakes when he was in a bad mood. At that time, sailors apparently prayed to Poseidon for safe passage and even sank horses in the sea for him. When he was in a good mood, Poseidon created new islands and made the sea calm and navigable. When he was angry, he stabbed the earth with his trident, causing earthquakes, floods and even ships to sink. This clearly shows how fatalistically the people of the time who went to sea perceived their fate. Despite all the modernisation in both spiritual and technical terms since then, we are faced with situations that we cannot influence and yet which can have a very strong impact on our lives. How do you deal with this?

I wish you an extraordinary day!

"One moment please!" - by this we mean: please wait a moment. We all understand what is meant: just wait a moment. But what exactly is a moment? A second? or a minute? or less than a second? In German, for example, we don't always say "one moment please" as we do in English, but "a wink please". This makes an exact definition even more difficult: what is the duration of a wink? Nobody usually asks this question and nobody would probably be interested in an answer. Nevertheless, it is striking how imprecise our language very often is - and yet how clear it is to those involved in the communication what is meant. And then there is the opposite: everything that is said is precisely defined and formulated down to the last detail - and yet there are still misunderstandings. Either way, active listening is certainly one of the best ways to avoid or prevent misunderstandings and helps for clear communication.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

Our visual organ, the eye, is something marvellous. Be it the sensitivity to light, which protects us from too much radiation and brightness to our detriment, or the high resolution, which allows us to see small things clearly. Provided, of course, that the eye is healthy. However, the eye is also receptive to altered information - in the best case for our benefit: magnifying glasses or other lenses and lens combinations can help our eyes to recognise small things. However, such systems can also deceive our eyes and, in the worst case, the misinformation can lead us to misbehaviour or wrong decisions. How do we protect ourselves from this? It's not always easy, especially in times of artificial intelligence, which can make so many false things seem real. Thankfully, we also have a memory and therefore a store of experiences that can help us here if we take them seriously.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

In language, we distinguish between three time periods: past, present and future. We conjugate verbs accordingly to make it clear whether something has already happened, is happening or will happen. So what concerns our lives? Isn't it the case that we are often already living in the future - in what we are planning and must not forget to organise? In grammar, the term 'present tense' is used for the present tense. This is the Latin term for our German concept of the present. I like it - analogous to the English 'present' - because it expresses that it is about presence, presence. And that is the challenge for many of us today: are we present? Here, now? In this moment? Not already there, but right here. Do you realise and live the fact that every single moment, every day is unique and has never been and will never be again? Are you living it and in the present?

I wish you an extraordinary day!

A rifle usually has a kind of aiming aid when aiming at the target - the front sight. This helps the shooter to align the rifle barrel more precisely with the target before the shot is fired. This gives the shooter an extended view from the nearer part of the rifle over the front sight to the target. This line of sight is intended to increase accuracy. This also works very well and is a good idea - but only if the front sight and the rifle barrel are well adjusted. If this is not the case, no matter how perfect the line of sight over the front sight is, the shot will not hit the target because the front sight and barrel are not aligned correctly. This analogy can be applied metaphorically to many things - for example, to what you think and then say - does this apply to you or are you aiming at a different target with your words than you hit with your thoughts?

I wish you an extraordinary day!