Trees and other plants keep soil from eroding during heavy rains, floods, and windstorms. Plants provide shade – natural cooling that helps keep the ground retain cool life-giving water during hot days. What would happen if the trees on the hills were cut down? The mountains would be in ruin as the land erodes whenever there's a winter storm or becomes barren during the hot summer months.

Preparation is essential in life. Since the future is uncertain, we must always be prepared for unexpected events that may occur in the days ahead. We can never be sure what happened yesterday will be the same today or tomorrow. Perhaps you have known or at least heard about, someone who left to go to work but never returned home. Even though they repeated the same routine, we wish they could have known what would happen in advance. Yet, life itself is mysterious.

Those who had the privilege to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem know that millions of Christian pilgrims flock to this most sacred site each year. When I was there a few years ago, each pilgrim had only ten seconds to pass through the tomb where Jesus was buried and resurrected. While waiting for nearly one hour and a half, many thoughts popped into my mind: Do I have time to pray, take a picture, or the like? In other words, how much can I manage my ten seconds?