His father was a munitions developer of the 1830’s and Alfred joined him in the business at an early age. At the time, explosives were highly unstable because it was literally black gun powder ignited by a fuse. By the time he was an adult, he was fluent in five languages and well on his way to success. As an adult, Alfred opened his own munitions factory and began experimenting with the then recently discovered liquid nitroglycerin. He invented dynamite, which provided a greater ability to control and direct the explosions, while also revolutionizing the mining and road manufacturing industries, military battle and more. As a brilliant inventor, he had 355 patents. As a businessman, he built a fortune. As a person, he was introverted, lonely, and suffered from migraines, heart trouble and depression. He wrote poetry and drama, and held radical political views.
Alfred Nobel – via Wikimedia Commons
While there is no evidence that Alfred was a Christian or that he even believed in God, his story is one of profound significance, and one that is very fitting for concluding the Greater Desires series. You see, a deadly explosion killed Alfred’s younger brother, Ludvig, and newspapers mistakenly reported it was Alfred. There, in 1888, Alfred read his obituary headlined with the statement that “The merchant of death is dead.” It called him the man who made it possible to kill more people more quickly than anyone who ever lived.
In re-evaluating his life and priorities, Alfred set out for establishing a new legacy. He revised his will one year before his death, leaving 31 million SEK (today, the equivalent of about 265 million dollars) and directed that the money be used for honoring men and women for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for work in peace. That prize is known today as the Nobel Prize.
If you were to see your obituary…
in tomorrow’s newspaper or on the Internet, how do you think it would read? How would the world remember you – and do you like what it says? The legacy you leave shall be guided largely in the way you live your life and serve others.
Let your life be not in vain, rather may it be for the Greater Desires of God’s glory.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ~ Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
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