What is your favorite story? The power of a well-told parable can change a life, for those who understand.

Have you ever had one of those moments where "the lights come on?" Maybe there is a source of true understanding that you just haven't found yet.

Many have experienced what is popularly called an “aha! moment” when we suddenly understand something for the first time.

…is still a natural disaster for the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands whose lives have been affected by it. If you’ve been watching the news, over the past few weeks, this is what you have seen unfold in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and its surrounding areas in the southern United States: thousands without power, entire towns flooded, and droves of homeless people facing uncertain futures—or have you?

On Thanksgiving Day in 1987 I was barely able to walk into the hospital emergency room. My fever was 105 F. and rising. After an exam and a lung x-ray I was admitted to the hospital. The diagnosis was viral pneumonia, which is usually brought on by stress, and which has a long recovery period. Within the past year or so I had experienced a series of very stressful circumstances, including the death of my father. And, during these stressful events, I also had maintained a full-time job.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye as I perused the daily news. It was a detailed account of the exodus from Turkey of numerous intellectuals—and the fears of those who remain behind—in the wake of Recep Erdogan’s recent national purges. As I read the article, I wondered about how history repeats itself—and will again very soon, in a big way.