Reflecting the Light in the Dark Places

I get a lot of questions about why I write.

Let me tell you a story and maybe that’ll help provide some context.

The Institute for Peace

During the Second World War, German paratroopers invaded the island of Crete.

When they landed at Maleme, the islanders met them, bearing nothing other than kitchen knives and hay scythes.

The consequences of resistance were devastating. The residents of entire villages were lined up and shot.

Alexander Papaderous was just six years old when the war started. His home village was destroyed and he was imprisoned in a concentration camp. When the war ended, he became convinced his people needed to let go of the hatred the war had unleashed.

To help the process, he founded the Institute for Peace at this place that embodied the horrors and hatreds unleashed by the war.

One day, while taking questions at the end of a lecture, Papaderous was asked, “What’s the meaning of life?” There was nervous laughter in the room.

He opened his wallet, took out a small, round mirror and held it up for everyone to see.

During the war he was just a small boy when he came across a motorcycle wreck. The motorcycle had…