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Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. 1st Corinthians 16:13-14
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j 1 year ago
@Saifedean Ammous I subscribe to your email list. Your recent eulogy of your father, Dr. Hisham Ammous is absolutely beautiful! It’s no wonder why you are so passionate about your work. You may not remember me but my wife and our children had the privilege of meeting you in 2024 at bitcoin beach on your last day in El Salvador. You went out to take a quick swim before your flight. You were gracious and kind to my family. Thanks again for all your hard work. My condolences to you and your family during this time of your Father’s recent passing. Peace and Love “Dr. Hisham Ammous: Life as Clinical Surgery ​ Sept 1, 1944 - June 6, 2025 Hisham Saifedean Rashid Ammous was born in the village of Atteel in Palestine on September 1, 1944. After finishing high school in nearby Fadiliya school in Tulkarem, he moved to Saudi Arabia to work as a school teacher, then to Kuwait to work in the electric company. Unsatisfied with his career, he decided to become a doctor, and applied for a scholarship from the Jordanian government to the University of Madrid in Spain, through the Spanish embassy in Jordan. He moved to Madrid without speaking a word of Spanish, but graduated as a surgeon with distinction in 1976. After that scholarship, he practically never needed, asked for, or took anything from anyone until his last day. In his five decades as a surgeon, Dr. Ammous must have performed over 20,000 surgeries across Spain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Palestine, Brazil, Lebanon, and Libya. He relished his work as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. To his profession and mission, he was the most devoutly dedicated man. He lived for surgery. Come rain, shine, snow, checkpoints, military invasions, cranky kids, genocide, or regional war, he found a way to make it to Al Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem almost every day, braving countless Israeli occupation checkpoints and dealing with the young criminals manning them and getting all of their life's meaning from the impunity they have to make the lives of innocent Palestinians hell. He became a regular traveler to wars and refugee camps to perform surgeries. He worked nonstop all day for days on end in warzones. He went to Gaza for surgeries after every Israeli mass slaughter over the years, and was desperate for the current genocide to end so he could return. His favorite 'vacation' was to visit me in Lebanon and perform dozens of free surgeries for destitute refugees. His discipline was supernatural. He was never late for anything in his life, and was never disorganized. No matter what life threw at him, he relentlessly pursued his mission and was always prepared. His doggedness, determination, focus, and obsession will sound insane to most people, which is why most people will never perform 20,000 surgeries or do anything remotely as important with their lives. In his wake, hundreds of messages have poured in from people remembering how he helped them with his kind generosity, healed them with his skilled hands, and made them laugh with his legendary searing wit. Among the most amazing stories I heard was that he gave his patients’ families the keys to his hospital office so they could sleep in it and not have to drive through hours of checkpoints every day. His supreme motivation in life, and the thing that gave life meaning for him, was to give his children a life better than the one he had, and he dedicated himself to it until the very end. He never ceased repeating this lesson to me, and he exemplified it every day. All his time, attention, and interests revolved around improving the lives of his children. He understood the whole of our human civilization rests on the foundation of people investing in giving their children a better life, and this was also the most profound lesson I learned from years of studying economics, and the central theme and most important lesson of my third and best book, Principles of Economics. For teaching me this lesson before I could read, that book was dedicated to him. He is survived by his two sons, Ahmad and me, his daughter Dana, and three loving grandchildren who lit up his last ten years. Nothing can compare with the joy his grandchildren brought him. No money or accomplishment by him or me could have made him happier than my 2 year old making ever more outrageous demands for gifts as she tries to discover if there is anything he won't get her. His joy around her convinced me that the best thing you can do for your parents is to give them grandchildren. It seems offensive that life could be this simple and banal, that mere reproduction is the secret to its satisfaction, but he showed me it was true, and far from banal. We humans are wired to spend our lives seeking reproduction, and having it shape our happiness and satisfaction, because we wouldn't exist otherwise. In my 44 years of life, I never recall seeing him bedridden with illness, and after five decades of caring for patients and children, he must have dreaded the thought of being on the receiving end of the care of others. Dr. Ammous passed on the first day of Eid Al Adha, while taking a nap, after having called his friends and family to exchange Eid greetings. He died suddenly and immediately, and almost certainly felt nothing, and never had to suffer any serious illness or confront his impending mortality. He lived blissfully immersed in his life's mission until its very last second. And he succeeded in it completely and perfectly. He gave his children everything they needed until they needed nothing more from him. The only consolation in his passing is that until his last minute he was strong, cheerful, healthy, sharply-dressed, and eagerly looking forward to seeing his grandchildren in a few days and giving them the many gifts he bought for them, and looking forward to vacationing this summer with his family in his beloved Madrid. In his passing, he deprived his loving children of the chance to provide him a tiny fraction of the love and care he provided them for decades. This was a man determined to contribute more to this world than take from it, and to give his children everything. And he accomplished his life's mission clinically, like his surgeries.”
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j 1 year ago
We have to teach our children how to critically think and formulate independent ideas in a world where everyone is following and being controlled by “whatever goes”, “everything goes” and “whatever is trending” in popular culture. We have to be intentional about showing and teaching our children how to be independent, critical thinkers. Adults, young adults, and children are not thinking these days. They are “Googleing” and using their findings as the foundation/core and or starting point of their talking points and ideology/philosophy on life. This is pathetic and dangerous!
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j 1 year ago
You’ve been misled You been had. You been took. —MALCOLM X
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j 1 year ago
Allow healthy nutritious food to be your medicine, or else medicine will become your food.
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j 2 years ago
Though it’s important to remember that as followers of Jesus, we are not responsible for “converting” others to our beliefs. We are only responsible for sowing the seed by pointing others gently toward Jesus. The rest is up to the Holy Spirit to work on their hearts. Our actions should attract people into the love of Christ as they experience Christ-like purity, love, and unity from His very own followers. Godly actions that put others interests ahead of our own can be criticized by people who might misinterpret unselfish acts as a weakness. Don’t give up though—this world needs more kind people like you! Some people think Christians should behave better than non-christians. While that seems logical, the only way a Christian can “level up” to a higher standard of behavior is by remaining close to Jesus and surrendering our lives to Him. We must remember that every human being is a sinner and only God’s presence in our lives can make us anything more than what our fallen nature dictates. Adventists believe it’s not enough to just call ourselves Christians. The way we behave in all areas of our lives, both inside the church and out, should reflect the behavior of Jesus. Everything we watch, read, eat, do, think and say should be for God’s glory and not our own (1 Corinthians 10:31). https://www.adventist.org/christian-behavior/
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