Marko is the young Egyptian who mans the register at the little corner grocery store Millie and I stop into every day (the store is owned by a Korean family who bought it from a Puerto Rican family some years ago—I love the fact that New York really is a melting pot on full boil). Marko gets a huge kick out of making Millie sit and give him a high five (Millie digs it too, especially if treats are involved, which Marko keeps behind the counter). “We don’t have dogs like this in Egypt,” claims Marko. In Cairo Marko was trained as an accountant. Currently he’s studying nursing because health care is one of the few sectors growing in this economy. “I know if I work hard something good will happen,” he says.
Last night I tried to explain to him what I do for a living. He definitely got the concept of inspiration. “You should write about Egypt,” he urged me. “Long ago the pharaohs and priests were inspired by the sun because it gave life, and the moon because it watched over them while they slept, and the river because it made the soil good for growing. Everything inspired them. Of course this was pre-Jesus.”
Marko is a Coptic Christian, one of the most ancient forms of Christian worship. It always impresses me that long before my ancestors were building the great cathedrals of Europe Marko’s were raising churches in the desert where Christ actually walked.
Millie was getting itchy to go now that the treats had been put away and the humans were talking so we had to take our leave. But not before I was happy to direct Marko to our web site, Guideposts.com. “It’s brand new,” I said, “so there might still be a few bugs but you can find out everything you want to know about GUIDEPOSTS and inspiration and maybe even post a comment of your own.”
That goes for you too, dear user. The exciting new web site I’ve been promising you launches this week on the 12th. It is full of things that will lift you up every day of the week, all the things you love about GUIDEPOSTS plus videos and podcasts, blogs and articles, games, recipes and tons of daily web extras, and most of all people who will inspire you. Maybe you’ll even get to meet Marko.
Edward Grinnan is Editor-in-Chief and Vice President of GUIDEPOSTS Publications.
