Surely you know the picture of the good shepherd. Jesus is depicted as the good shepherd who lovingly cares for the sheep. A very harmonious image. For many, however, it is perhaps inaccessible because they either have no connection to sheep and shepherds or are not religious. Or they find it too soft, too rapturous, perhaps too out of touch with reality. Regardless of how well this image fits into our time. In any case, what strikes me in this picture and makes me think is that the shepherd is not of the same kind as the sheep. By this I mean: the sheep as animals with their instinct, the shepherd as a human being with quite different traits and abilities. So often we form an image of God and somewhere we imagine him to be like us in a certain sense. How could we do otherwise? But I believe that this image also expresses his essential otherness. And so the image fits very well.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

A convertible doesn't have it. Or not always: a car roof. It protects the occupants of the car from external influences, especially from rain or, in summer, from strong sunlight. In addition, the roof allows the car interior to be cooled in summer with an appropriate installation and warmed in winter by means of a heating system. The car roof is also an advantage in the event of a lightning strike: it helps to turn the vehicle into a so-called Faraday cage. This means that a lightning strike to the vehicle cannot harm the occupants. A statement from a prayer in the Old Testament, from the Book of Psalms, comes to mind. It says "He who lives in the shelter of the Most High finds rest in the shadow of the Almighty. He saith unto the LORD, Thou art my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust." To me, that fits as a description like being sheltered under the roof of a car.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

I see in front of me a picture of a landscape with the typical houses of Tuscany... and immediately not only the pictures of it are awakened in my memory, but I also feel the matching smells of Italian cuisine or the fresh herbs that grow there, remember the blowing wind and feel the warmth of the sun. The sound of singing birds is also there and much more. I think this is what memory actually means. The German word "Erinnerung" also contains a hint of the term "innen" (inside). As if there were a certain substance in memory that one could fall back on. I assume that this is exactly what the prayer leader meant when he said: "Praise God, my soul, and do not forget what he has done for you. So put yourself back in that state of gratitude for perhaps unexpected or undeserved good things you have experienced. Sometimes it takes a conscious decision.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

When we speak of the opposite, we often mean the exact opposite of something. Yet it is not at all clear what the opposite really is. Assuming the opposite - literally - is everything except that which defines the opposite, then the opposite would be the remainder. So if I have a black and white picture, the opposite of the white area is the black area. Obvious. And if the picture is multicoloured? Is the opposite of the white area only the black or everything that is not white, i.e. the rest except the white? Or in other words: what is the opposite of a short morning? a long morning or a long evening or a short evening? What does the term opposite refer to here? The duration of time or the point in time or both? Wordplay? I don't think only. I challenge you to consider what is the opposite of good: only the obvious evil or also the omitted good?

I wish you an extraordinary day!

In the cooler season, soup is something wonderful. If it weren't for... the famous hair in the soup from time to time. The appropriate proverb means to find and emphasise something negative in something that is actually very good. Why do we actually do that? Why do we do this to ourselves? We could simply - if it happens at all - remove the hair and continue to enjoy. But we dwell on the hair. We see behind it perhaps a lack of hygiene in the preparation or intention, or it spoils our entire enjoyment, etc. Is that still proportionate? And we do the same in many other areas and situations of life. Something small and disturbing tempts us to make a general statement of rejection and badmouthing. We do ourselves no favours by doing so. We can choose to give so much disproportionate space to the negative or consciously choose the good. What do you do?

I wish you an extraordinary day!

Perhaps you know the term black box. In this context, it is about something going into a box, something happening inside it and something coming out at the end. So you don't know exactly what happens in the box, but something happens to what you put in and so something else comes out. A simple example is a drinks machine: Money in and desired drink out. But it can also be much more complex processes with data that are processed and then provide valuable information. Sometimes it is also life circumstances. You experience something, it does something to you and somehow it has an effect on us that we sometimes don't really understand. It can be spiritual or emotional. In a prayer, King David therefore formulates: "Search me, God, and know My heart. Know how I mean it." I find this a beautiful prayer of trust when I don't understand myself.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

I think about how the way we communicate - purely technically - has changed enormously in the past decades. In the past, there was almost only the spoken word between one another, then of course also the written word in the form of letters, later electronic transmission as telegrams or even for listening via telephone using land lines. Today, many things are completely digital and people "phone" via the internet or communicate a lot via social media. To me, these developments show two things: on the one hand, that we have a strong need for exchange, communication, despite all our occupation, distraction, entertainment, etc. On the other hand, we have a strong need to communicate with each other. Yet, no matter what the transmission or form, misunderstandings can occur, we look for forms of expression, we have a strong need to be understood and that in the end the most valuable way is still the one that happens from heart to heart. That is what I wish for you today.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

Spokes in a wheel transfer the load of the wheel rim to the hub located in the centre. This relieves the rim and the hub takes over all the pressure. If a spoke is broken, the wheel can deform. On a bicycle, one speaks of a wheel having a figure eight and then one no longer rides smoothly. If one of the spokes in a wheel is impaired, for example broken or bent, this affects the others and their stability. However, the more spokes a wheel has, the more likely it is to tolerate a defective spoke. This is also the case in our social structures. The better we are embedded in good and stable social relationships, the better off we are and the better the everyday pressures can be shared and absorbed. For me, in this image, the central hub that ultimately absorbs all the pressure is Jesus, with whom I am connected.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

In nature, there are supposedly two alternatives for a reaction to a threatening situation: fight or flight. I imagine that animals assess: can I cope with this threat or do I leave the situation as quickly as possible? They then instinctively decide. As humans, we often do the same. We might ask ourselves: am I up to the challenge and do I accept it or do I retreat, leave this situation? This can be in conflicts or external threats. And often we react accordingly. But I think there is a third possibility: instead of just fight or flight, there is still love. Especially in relationships and conflicts. God is said to make it rain on the just and the unjust and to make the sun shine. So he does not remove evil immediately. Remarkable. With his love, situations can be handled differently.

I wish you an extraordinary day!

I was recently in a technology-focused and experimental exhibition where you could try out many things. One's own perception was challenged. It was impressively shown how easily they can be deceived. It is so easy to pretend a reality that does not exist at all. On the one hand it was fascinating, on the other hand it made me think. My senses are my main organs of perception and I act on the basis of their information - but they are obviously very easy to deceive. Then I am subject to the risk of making wrong decisions. This happens not infrequently with false information from the media or in gossip. Opinions are deliberately manipulated in this way. But is there really an objective standpoint of truth? Perhaps. In any case, my advice is not to trust only your own perception and experience, but also to take into account the views and wisdom of others in forming your opinion.

I wish you an extraordinary day!