Today, I won't talk much. You see, I've been struck by a rather sobering thought and I just want to share it with you very quickly this morning. First, let's do some simple mathematics.
At this very moment, as we speak, the World Clock website estimates that there are 7,760,258,540 people on earth. Make that 542… 543… The number keeps growing. And you are one of these 7.7 billion people.
Now get this: every second, two people die. ; Two people. Just like that. Since I started reading this message 110 people have died. While you were sleeping, 57,600 died. Death ran its hand over the world while you lay defenceless in your bed, and snatched the breath away from almost 60,000 bodies.
You made it through the night. You survived where almost 60,000 people didn't.
I want you to think about it for a minute because it's even deeper than that. Not only did you escape death last night, but you have escaped death every single night and every single day since you were born.
How old are you? I turned 40 last June, so that means I have successfully survived 14,820 nights through no real effort from me. While I have been snoring my life away for over 40 years, 853,632,000 people have lost their lives. That's enough people to fill Ghana 28 times over! All these people have failed to make it through the night, but I have made it every single night, and so have you.
But it gets even better. Look at it this way. Every night you go to bed, there are two possible outcomes: you will either wake up in the morning, or you won't. Just like when you toss a coin. You can either get heads or tails. So every night you wake up alive, it's like getting heads in a coin toss. So in my case, the fact that I woke up alive and safe this morning is pretty much like tossing a coin 14,820 times and coming up with heads each time.
What are the odds of that? How many times has YOUR coin come up heads? And when will it finally come up tails?
If you don't believe in miracles, you'd better start now, because guess what: the fact that you're awake today, and even alive to doubt miracles, is the biggest miracle of all.
I won't talk much, because you clearly have a lot of praying and thanksgiving to do.
My name is Kojo Yankson, and just like you, I beat impossible odds to be here this morning. So we’d better make our presence felt.
GOOD MORNING, GHANAFO
Latest Stories
-
Town council in Canada at standstill over refusal to take King’s oath
28 mins -
Trump picks Pam Bondi as attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws
40 mins -
Providing quality seeds to farmers is first step towards achieving food security in Ghana
51 mins -
Kenya’s president cancels major deals with Adani Group
2 hours -
COP29: Africa urged to invest in youth to lead fight against climate change
2 hours -
How Kenya’s evangelical president has fallen out with churches
2 hours -
‘Restoring forests or ravaging Ghana’s green heritage?’ – Coalition questions Akufo-Addo’s COP 29 claims
2 hours -
Ensuring peaceful elections: A call for justice and fairness in Ghana
3 hours -
Inside South Africa’s ‘ruthless’ gang-controlled gold mines
4 hours -
Give direct access to Global Health Fund – Civil Society calls allocations
4 hours -
Trudeau plays Santa with seasonal tax break
4 hours -
Prince Harry jokes in tattoo sketch for Invictus
4 hours -
Akufo-Addo commissions 200MW plant to boost economic growth
5 hours -
Smallholder farmers to make use of Ghana Commodity Exchange
5 hours -
I want to focus more on my education – Chidimma Adetshina quits pageantry
5 hours