With my newly acquired title as a journalist, I decided to strike a high note.

"Come in," God said to me, "so, you would like to interview Me?"

"If you have the time," I said.

He smiled through His beard and said: "My time is called eternity and is
enough to do everything; what questions do you have in mind to ask me?"

"None that are new to you. What's the one thing that surprises you most
about mankind?"

He answered: "That they get bored of being children, are in a rush to
grow up, and then long to be children again.

That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to
restore their health.

That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present,
such that they live neither for the present nor the future.

That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they never
had never lived..."

His hands took mine and we were silent.

After a long period, I said, "May I ask you another question?"

He replied with a smile.

"As a Father, what would you ask your children to do for the new year?"

"To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is to
let themselves be loved.

To learn that it takes years to build trust, and a few seconds to
destroy it.

To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have in their
lives, but who they have in their lives.

To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. There will
be others better or worse than they are.

To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who
needs the least.

To learn that they should control their attitudes, otherwise their
attitudes will control them.

To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in
persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them.

To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.

To learn that there are persons that love them dearly, but simply do not
know how to show their feelings.

To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.

To learn that while at times they may be entitled to be upset, that does
not give them the right to upset those around them.

To learn that great dreams do not require great wings, but a landing
gear to achieve.

To learn that true friends are scarce, he/she who has found one has
found a true treasure.

To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by others,
but that they forgive themselves.

To learn that they are masters of what they keep to themselves and
slaves of what they say.

To learn that they shall reap what they plant; if they plant gossip they
will harvest intrigues, if they plant love they will harvest happiness.

To learn that true happiness is not to achieve their goals but to learn
to be satisfied with what they already achieved.

To learn that happiness is a decision. They decide to be happy with what
they are and have, or die from envy and jealousy of what they lack.

To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see something
totally different.

To learn that those who are honest with themselves without considering
the consequences go far in life.

To learn that even though they may think they have nothing to give, when
a friend cries with them, they find the strength to appease the pain.

To learn that by trying to hold on to love ones, they very quickly push
them away; and by letting go of those they love, they will be side by
side forever.

To learn that even though the word "love" has many different meanings,
it loses value when it is overstated.

To learn that they can never do something extraordinary for Me to love
them; I simply do.

To learn that the shortest distance they could be from Me is the
distance of a prayer."