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Good morning. A terrible accident led to Alfred Nobel inventing dynamite. In his father’s armaments factory in Sweden, an explosion killed five people, including Alfred’s own brother. Determined to invent a safer explosive, Alfred, trained in chemistry, developed what was to become known as dynamite. Many years later, on the death of another of his brothers, Ludwig, a very critical obituary of Alfred was published in error by a French newspaper. His most memorable achievement was his invention of an agent of destruction. Appalled by what he read, Alfred decided to arrange his estate so that posthumously his money would be used to honour those who had made achievements each year in the sciences, in literature and in peace-building.Ìý

Alfred Nobel was born on this day in 1833 and since his death in 1896 his wishes have been carried out. A Nobel prize is a thing to be treasured, an honour to be given, something to celebrate on a personal and national level. Seamus Heaney called it ‘an awesome dimension of a thing to have happened’ when he heard the news that he had won the prize for literature.Ìý

Few of us can emulate the scale of Nobel’s far-reaching achievements which arose out of personal challenges and tragedies. But his creative response to these events might inspire us all to believe that out of darkness may come light.

Living God, as we react to the events of today, hold out the hope to us of awesome new possibilities. Amen.

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