Audiostretto 59/4/24 English

Everything has an end. On this earth, in this world, that is true. I know of no exception. This podcast began in the summer of 2021, and since then, over 1350 episodes have been released daily in German and over 1250 in English, without interruption. Now I feel that this time is coming to an end. So this episode is the last one for now. I don't know yet what will happen next, if there will be a follow-up format or if the podcast will be continued at a later date. But for now I say goodbye. Thank you for your loyalty in listening and sharing the link. I hope and believe that on some days these episodes have given some people exactly what they needed. I wish you all the very best for the future, and end - as I have every day for the past few years - with the wish that this day will also be extraordinary. Goodbye. God be with you. I wish you an extraordinary day!

A sickle in use today is used to cut small amounts of grain and grass. It consists of a concave blade tapering towards the front and a wooden handle. It differs from the scythe in that it has a smaller blade and a shorter handle. Harvesting with a scythe or sickle cuts off as much of the crop as possible - but the cut leaves the root of the plant in the ground, and with it the potential for new growth. A kind of clear-cutting without destroying the core. Clear-cutting is necessary from time to time in life. Extreme decisions in some people's eyes, perhaps, but necessary in order to put an end to what has gone before in the form of a harvest and to make room for something new. The fruitfulness of the old can serve the new and bring forth something new or related as the next step. Harvest is joy and sorrow at the same time: joy for what has been harvested, sorrow for what has grown so far. I wish you an extraordinary day!

In ice hockey, each player has a stick to move, guide and pass the puck. The goal of the game is to get the puck into the opposing team's goal. The hockey stick has a part at the end of the shaft called the blade, which is used to guide the puck. The player should only use the blade to guide the puck, not the skate or any other part of the body. Someone can be very good with the stick and the puck and be a slow skater, and vice versa, someone can be a rocket on the ice but clumsy with the stick. A good player is a combination of both, as well as being able to read the game and know where to put the puck, even before his team-mate is there. Such a player is called complete. I hope you achieve that completeness in your life's work and that you make significant progress today. I wish you an extraordinary day!

The German proverb goes: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. This means that it is better to settle for what you can get than to aim for something uncertain. That way you know what you've got and don't get caught up in the uncertain surplus that you could potentially have. I think this is also based on the idea that I would rather make my own choices than be dependent on something that is completely out of my control. And that is the primal nature of human beings. That's why, in my interpretation, people always struggle with the Christian faith. It requires trust in a good God, who remains good, even if not everything in life goes your way. I would rather have a self-made mixture from the cold buffet of religions than something that I get involved in without being able to control it. It is not for nothing that the dove is the image of the Holy Spirit. I wish you an extraordinary day!

When light hits the sloping surface of a prism, it is refracted because the speed of light changes as it passes from one medium, such as air, to another, such as the glass of which the prism is made. This means that white light, which is made up of light waves of different wavelengths, can be refracted into its constituent parts. It can then be seen that white light is made up of different coloured components which together produce white light. I think that a good parent or other person in charge of people, a carer or a boss, is a good prism if on the one hand they recognise and promote the characteristics of the individuals in a group and yet have the ability to hold everyone together and thus form a common strength. They recognise which character is given to whom and how this can serve the whole community. Do you have such prismatic skills? I wish you an extraordinary day!

We all know the feeling of tiredness. It takes us significantly more effort to get up and do something than usual. Tiredness paralyses us. Tiredness can be the result of too little rest and sleep. In this case, the problem is quickly solved with one or two longer periods of sleep. But it can also go deeper. A general tiredness and the associated lack of motivation. Sleep and rest alone will not help with this. There is often a pathological background and the therapy can be much more complex. In this context, tiredness of life is also a bad thing - when you are tired of life, no longer feel any joy and wish it was all over. This is also linked to a lack of perspective. It is interesting to note that even people with limited vision and perspective can be very alert while healthy people succumb to fatigue. Do you have a vision that keeps you awake? I wish you an extraordinary day!

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has coined the term ‘turning point’. It became a kind of winged term and was mentioned repeatedly in many places. A powerful word, in my opinion - a turning point. But who is virtually authorised to use such a term at a particular time or situation? Who defines when times change, when they change so significantly that we can really speak of a turning point - and furthermore: a turning point towards and away from what? Sometimes, in our powerlessness and helplessness, we have a tendency to use big words instead of remaining humbly silent. Our own inability to take influential action is thus glossed over and we turn away from our powerlessness towards the impressive power of language. But this does not change anything: words can be very powerful and impressive - but without authority they are also ineffective and ultimately nothing more than empty words. Good for those who have the wisdom not to be blinded by this. I wish you an extraordinary day!

Sometimes there are chain carousels at the fair. These rotate on their own axis and have chains attached to the circumference of their round roof, with chairs on which you can sit and then be thrown through the air by the rapid rotation. Because the chain is flexible, the end of the chain always lags slightly behind the anchor point on the roof. If you looked at it from above in 2 dimensions, the anchor point would always be further than the end point of the chain in relation to the angle of rotation. Nevertheless, they belong together. In the broadest sense, this can be described as a chain reaction - that is, a delayed motion of the same object. We are familiar with this in everyday life: we are enthusiastic about something, but others take longer to follow, to join in, to get excited. Perhaps the image of the chain helps us not to give up, but to make sure that everyone is still involved so that the chain doesn't break. I wish you an extraordinary day!

Rice is one of our staple foods. But Europe has the lowest rice production in the world. So we are dependent on imports. We have Asian neighbours where the rice cooker is always on - just as we go to the bakery every day and consume bread, they do the same with rice. It's there as a matter of course - even if it's not grown here. Recent political and armed conflicts have reminded us that even this supply can quickly be put at risk. What happens then? Shortages, skyrocketing prices, or even supply cut-offs. So peace is more than just a state or a feeling without conflict. It is also the basis for functioning economic cooperation. But sometimes peace can only be received, not created. Jesus left peace as his last legacy to his friends. He was thinking of more than just rice. I wish you an extraordinary day!

Some people are described as perfectionists. This is not always understood or meant in a positive way. Sometimes it means that such people are pedantic and never satisfied with what they achieve or receive. Perfect, when translated literally, means accomplished. It means that there is nothing more that can be done to improve what you have and that your development is complete. We humans, as we all know, are far from perfect. We have our faults, our weaknesses, and we suffer from them all the time. However, it is not only we who suffer, but also our environment. So striving for perfection is actually a good thing. In the sense that you want to improve yourself and not just the environment. However, I think that such perfection in ourselves is not possible without our Creator. We need help from outside. I wish you an extraordinary day!