Szechuan*

NPR was doing a story on the recovery of Sichuan a year after the earthquakes in 2008. He Wong, 31, was interviewed on his role as city planner to rebuild the area. I was struck by the voice on the other end of the broadcast; his syncopated English sentences were focused and efficient.

He's young, especially for his responsibility. He graduated from the top university in China and was hired in by the city to replace leaders killed in the disaster. Among other things he explained he was responsible to build around a vision of seven values: honor, harmony, identity, safety, livability, and others...

Then he laughed, just as he was explaining the pressures he felt on all sides. It reminded me of other charismatic leaders I've known. Their laughter and ease don't compromise their strength and accomplishment but enhance it. Even the Chinese, who are principally driven to accomplishment, can see sincere laughter as a strength - it's a way of saying stress and sobriety have their effective limits.

I see God's irony in many places. Prayer is sometimes better than action, giving is almost always better thang recieving, laughter sometimes more effective than work, resting scores higher than cramming and thus less is sometimes more.