Yesterday I witnessed a miracle.
A box arrived at my front door.
Inside the box were three metal cans. Each of these cans contained twenty ounces of delicious jackfruit - a fruit that doesn’t taste, look or feel like a fruit. Native to India, it’s often used as a meat substitute by vegans and vegetarians, and has the amazing quality of perfectly absorbing any flavor it’s cooked with.
I ordered it as the request of my lovely wife, who has been experimenting with new recipes and, being the amazing husband that I strive to be, went about seeking it out. As it turns out, jackfruit is not grown in this region of the world, nor is it in season. Whole Foods and other “health” food type grocery stores that would normally carry this type of item were completely out of stock.
And then I remembered the magic machine that I keep in my pocket.
I opened my phone, pulled up the Amazon app, quickly found some reasonably priced cans of jackfruit, and clicked “Buy Now.”
Within twenty-four hours the box containing cans of this delicious fruit was at my house.
Let’s imagine that time travel were possible for a moment. You travel back exactly one hundred years to February, 1921 in Los Angeles, California. You encounter a local citizen and tell him the tale of acquiring this jackfruit one hundred years in the future.
You explain that, despite the fact that this fruit is grown nowhere near here and is generally not even grown this time of year, you were able to acquire it within less time than it takes the sun to rotate around the Earth.
You show him this magical device that you keep in your pocket, and explain how you can simply open it, ask it for anything you desire, and it will simply arrive at your house.
And you did all of this for the equivalent of $1.28 in 1921 dollars.
Mr. 1921 Los Angeles is in awe. What you have just told him sounds impossible.
In order for this 1921 Los Angeles Local to acquire Jackfruit, he would have to find a way to travel to INDIA. As international commercial aviation was in no way commonplace at this time, he would likely have to spend several months at sea seeking out this mystical fruit. This journey would likely cost his life’s fortune, and quite possibly his life.
One hundred years later, I was able to acquire it with no more effort than a push of a button, no more money that it takes me to earn in about twenty minutes, and without a single risk to my physical well being.
If that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is.
If you stay glued to CNN or Twitter all day long, you might feel like we live in nightmare dystopia. And maybe we do, in some ways.
But there are miracles all around us, and we’ll all be better off if we take a moment to appreciate them each and every day.
And besides that, jackfruit is fucking amazing.
Check out all of my projects below:
Lions of Liberty, where I facilitate conversations with the hopes of inspiring others to achieve more liberty in their lives.
Second Print Comics podcast, where myself and Remso Martinez take a weekly look at the comic book characters, storylines and events that shaped our fandom.
Book a Podcast Consulting call with me on Clarity.FM if you’re thinking about launching your own podcast!
The Expat Money Show - This isn’t my project, but I’m thrilled that I’ve gotten to work directly with my friend Mikkel Thorup to help grow this show over the past few months. I believe greatly in what Mikkel is doing - helping others to achieve greater liberty in their lives by living and investing abroad - and helping grow this program has been a true joy. I also get to help moderate The Expat Money Forum on Facebook - check it out!