Your Presence Is Requested

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

“I and mine do not convince by arguments, smiles, rhymes;
We convince by our presence.” (Walt Whitman: “Song of the Open Road” 1900)

A major distinctive of Project C.U.R.E. is that we never send anything anywhere unless we have gone personally to that particular requesting hospital or clinic in that country and completed a comprehensive “Needs Assessment Study.” That’s the way we determined the appropriate medical goods to be donated.

Occasionally, we will have a requesting organization give us a little “push back” by saying, “Well, you don’t have to travel to our hospital. We can tell you what we need and you can simply send it.” But, over the years, our policy has proven to be a part of wisdom. Even though it has cost us in commitment, risk of danger, and extreme inconvenience, yet, the investment has yielded great benefit in return.

My answer to the nay-sayers has been very simple. “We are not here to simply take orders for medical goods or to distribute inventory, we are in business to build lasting relationships. The most successful way to accomplish that is to come, meet you face-to-face, walk the hallways of your institution, develop a relationship, and together discover how we can all become better off.”

Many times in the past 25 years, the hospital directors, the department heads, the nurses and upon occasion the Ministers of Health, hugged me and wept, saying, “Why would you come all the way from America to meet with us personally and help us with our desperate needs? No one has ever before cared that much.” Our presence validates their dignity and self worth. Our visit is symbolic and bears witness to our kind, nonjudgmental acceptance. Even though our new partners often feel embarrassed, inferior, and almost ashamed about the condition of their hospital, yet, we come there with love and a demonstrated desire to help. Our presence becomes almost like we are holding their hearts in safe-keeping.

I have met so many doctors and nurses in the hospitals and clinics in developing countries that are worn to a frazzle and discouraged to the core because they are forced to watch their patients die for the lack of simple supplies and pieces of medical equipment. There seems to be no answer. With our presence we claim a space to join them in their struggles, and suddenly their eyes become alive and they are emboldened to take a new grip with their tired hands.

There is a sense of joy and humility that comes when given the opportunity to share your own presence, and also share the symbolic presence of goodness. Presence is the immediate proximity of a person, an invisible spirit that can be felt, shared, and appreciated. It’s just a whole lot easier to accomplish that when you are close by and not halfway around the world. Our presence validates the reason why we have come. And during the time we spend together, our presence allows for the evaluation of our intentions and our attitudes as well as our behavior. Every time I travel to a foreign venue, I pray that those with whom I meet will be influenced by my presence and affected by a sense of peace.

Yes, I believe that Walt Whitman was on to something when he wrote, “I and mine do not convince by arguments, smiles, rhymes; we convince by our presence.” But I also know that the concept did not originate with Walt Whitman. In the Scriptures, millennia before, God gave us a powerful insight into his wisdom and personality. He gave us eleven names that he ascribed to himself and indicated that he would like to be referred to by the same. Each name starts with “Jehovah” and describes a certain attribute. One of those names is “Jehovah Shammah,” which means “the Presence of the Lord.” I suppose that has something to do with willingness to go, being near, convincing, intention, and validation. If that’s true, then it seems good enough reason to build company policy on the same. “YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED”

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

Ebb and Flow of History

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Truth is marching on and will probably run right over your detour sign.

There seems to be a curious cadence to the ebb and flow of history. The sands on the beach just keep shifting. Sometimes the cultural charlatans and tyrants move in waves upon the shore and completely desecrate the beach. But after a while, another tide returns, sometimes in tsunami force, and washes out to sea the unsightly debris and restores the breathtaking beauty of the beach.

In 1999, I traveled to the devastated and culturally unglued country of Cambodia where their infamous leader Pol Pot had just died. Formerly, Cambodia had been called “the land of smiles,” but I didn’t see too many smiles. I had been invited to go and see if Project C.U.R.E. could help rebuild a health care delivery system that had been left in total shambles. Pol Pot, who took his presumptuous name from abbreviating the narcissistic phrase “politique potentielle,” had cheated the firing squad by dying before he could be brought to justice for his crimes against humanity.

Few countries in history had experienced the diabolical devastation and genocide that Cambodia had witnessed in such a short period of time. Over 25% of their population had been tortured and then slaughtered. Anyone who could read or write or held any cultural position was killed, and that included doctors and medical personnel. The official motto of the Khmer Rouge forces was “It is of no benefit to save you, it is no loss to kill you.” Pol Pot would say, “This is ‘Year Zero’ and society will be purged. Capitalism, Western culture, city life, religion, and all foreign influences will be extinguished in favor of peasant Communism. There is no further need for money or an economy. What is rotten must be removed. Whether you live or die is not of great significance.”

Pol Pot and his gang of thugs wanted to show China, Russia, North Korea, and the other communist-controlled countries of the world just how a purist Marxist-Leninist country ought to be run. He had watched the brutality of Stalin, and learned from the bloody Cultural Revolution of China where millions and millions of people were purged. Pol Pot decided to outdo them all and go down in communist history as having perfected the purist form of communism in the shortest amount of time. Only those who were farmers and willing to cooperate in a commune, or those who were serving as his brainwashed, deficient soldiers, were spared. Within four years, Pol Pot had murdered over two million of his own people. Eventually, over 4 million would die.

By the time I arrived, the onslaught was over. It was time to rebuild. Truth was marching on.

I had personally observed in my lifetime the cultural charlatans of this world briefly having full sway to carry out their godless experiments of cultural re-engineering with unchecked freedom to slaughter hundreds and millions of innocent lives in an effort to raise men to a level of God and lower decency to the level of dung. Hitler, Pol Pot, and Idi Amin had killed their millions, Stalin and Mao had killed their tens of millions, Kim Il Sung and other despots had drained the blood and talents of their countries in the name of cultural re-engineering. But, also in my lifetime, I had lived to see all of their experiments carried out to their fullest extents, and they had still miserably and utterly failed. The leaders were all dead . . . but Truth just kept marching on. Now, once again, I had been invited to a hurting country to help bring relief to a society that was continuing to pay the fiddler long after the dance had ended.

Today, Cambodia is again becoming “the land of smiles.” The virtues of kindness, justice and righteousness have not been eradicated from civilization. Today, many of the world’s countries are facing political challenges, yet others are blossoming with opportunity, potential, and success. That’s the good news!

There seems to be a curious cadence to the ebb and flow of history. The sands on the beach just keep shifting. Sometimes the cultural charlatans and tyrants move in waves upon the shore and completely desecrate the beach. But after a while, another tide returns, sometimes in tsunami force, and washes out to sea the unsightly debris and restores the breathtaking beauty of the beach.

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

Correction Burns

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Change your direction . . . change your world!

NASA’s “Mission News” reported on February 8, 2011 that its Stardust spacecraft marked its 12th anniversary in space with a rocket burn to further refine its path in space. The half-minute trajectory correction maneuver adjusted the path with a blast that consumed 2.4 ounces of fuel and altered the spacecraft’s speed by 1.3 miles per hour. The spacecraft had already traveled 3.5 billion miles since its launch. That’s just amazing!

Even when they send a rocket to the moon, NASA knows the rocket will eventually get a little off course because of the extenuating space factors. The first set of guidance instructions will need to be enhanced and reaffirmed. Journeys just don’t always go as planned. There will always be need for mid-flight correction burns in order to reach the ultimate destination. The tricky part comes in the recalculating the correction burn from your incorrect position. No one will argue the necessity of getting back on track, but how many ounces of fuel will it take, what new angle will be required, and what new speed will be necessary?

As a cultural economist, I concern myself with the flight path of cultures and civilizations. Guess what! Cultures and civilizations spend a lot of time traveling off course. Likewise, the tricky part comes in recognizing and recalculating the correction burn from the acquired incorrect position. First, there must be the recognition that the flight is off course. Next, there must be the decision to do something about the problem. Then, someone has to make a volitional choice to set a correctional plan into action.

I find it an interesting phenomenon, when dealing with the flight path of cultures and civilizations, that humans have a unique capacity. They can choose to invite and develop excellence of character into their own personal lives. Then, based on that character they can become involved in initiating attitudes and actions of kindness, generosity, fairness, sympathy, personal responsibility, virtue, justice, and wisdom through their conduct. The genuine initiating and promoting of those attitudes and actions is what we call “goodness.”

“Goodness” is the correction mechanism for cultures and civilizations. Goodness is an individual as well as a collective decision. When individuals choose to become involved in “goodness,” they become change agents. Change agents are the human mechanisms assigned to cultures to effectively alter the trajectory path and help maneuver the culture back on course.

I have observed that “goodness” is contagious, and in fact, becomes exponential in growth. Over the past 25 years individuals have been gathering around the humanitarian organization called Project C.U.R.E. There are now about 15,000 volunteers who have discovered the organization as an encouraging avenue for them to express their attitudes and actions of “goodness.” There, they can get involved in delivering help and hope into some 125 needy countries around the world. Their efforts have saved the lives of literally thousands of moms, dads and kids in foreign venues.

Those Project C.U.R.E. volunteers are verifiable “change agents” who are helping to alter the flight path of civility. They recognized that the global flight of culture was off course. Next, they made a monumental decision to do something about the problem. Then, they made a volitional choice to set into action a correctional plan of “goodness.”

Project C.U.R.E. endeavored to figure out how many ounces of fuel it would take, what new angle would be required, and what new speed would be necessary to alter the trajectory by implementing a planned correction burn of “goodness.” And now, along with the small army of dedicated volunteers, Project C.U.R.E. has changed the health care delivery practices of thousands of hospitals in over 100 countries.

Our present world urgently needs a correction burn of goodness right now! We can be a part of an exciting cultural transformation. We can change our direction . . . we can change our world!

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

More Lessons From the Bears

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Lesson #3: The Chain Saw Rule.

I respectfully stand in awe at the talent of the wood sculptors. They are dealing with quite a different commodity than clay, marble, bronze, or steel. Don Rutledge, the artist we had commissioned to sculpt the 12-foot tall grizzly bear and the 6-foot tall cub, had to be extremely mindful of the temperament of the wood.
 
Since the wood was still “green” and still attached to the 450 year old roots in the ground, he had to continuously spray the sculpture with water so that it did not dry out unevenly and crack in Colorado’s low humidity and high elevation. In fact, each night, Don wrapped the bears in wet packing blankets to keep them evenly moist. I was made mindful of the many times God had wrapped me in his packing blankets of mercy and grace while I was being chopped.

I stand I awe of the talent of the artist, but my amazement is in regard to the chain saw. That’s a mean machine! Don never touched the wood one time with a chisel and hammer. He performed every requirement with the gas powered chain saw, even to the carving of the “fur.”

While I watched the sculpting process I could not help but think of the obvious life lesson involved. “With the roughest of tools can be sculpted a thing of beauty.” I have watched the remarkable talents of those who sculpt marble in Italy, Romania, Africa, and especially in Vietnam. I can sometimes identify myself with the marble as the sculptors of real life have chiseled the rough edges from the slab of my own identity. I have experienced that the process of being shaped and chipped and hammered is not pleasant, at best, but painful and hurtful. But the crude harshness of a chain saw is pretty radical. And yet, I can tell you of times when I could swear that it was definitely a chain saw at work on my attitudes, hopes, and behaviors. It wasn’t a “peck, peck, tap, tap . . . it was varooooom, varoooom!” And the only retort I could come up with was an infantile, “would you at least sharpen the chain?” But even with the roughest of tools can be sculpted a thing of beauty.

I recall from one of my favorite authors, Oswald Chambers, who wrote, “The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, nobler men and women, or they are making us more captious and fault finding, more insistent on our own way. The things that happen either make us fiends, or they make us saints; it depends entirely upon the relationship we are in to God.”

LESSON #4: Addition vs. Subtraction.

All the time Don was sculpting the two bears he never went out and brought something back to the creek site to add to the project. He never screwed on something over here or nailed on something over there.

I watched with curiosity. The only function utilized by the artist was to systematically pare away the parts of the tree that were unnecessary. He had told me at the beginning, “I see a bear in that tree and I have to help him come out.” The only pieces of the tree that were cut away were the pieces that were restraining the magnificent bear from coming out.

It is not necessarily what we add, but sometimes what we subtract, that brings about perfection and beauty. For example, we usually think happiness will be achieved by adding something to our lives. We say, “I would be happy if . . . I had a different house . . . a new job that paid more money . . . I could win the lottery . . . had a new husband . . . .” I had a friend that once told me, “I believe that happiness is determined by the things we have successfully learned to live without.”

Perhaps God does not want you to learn something from the situation in which you find yourself today. Just maybe . . . he wants you to unlearn something. Anyone can become complicated, but it takes real wisdom to become simple. “Simple” includes paring away the unnecessary, the distractions, the addictions, and the impediments that would keep us from becoming the resplendent individuals of beauty and usefulness for which we were imagined and designed.

I’m extremely pleased that we had Don Rutledge transform our spruce tree. I’m even more pleased that I was able to be an observer and learn the “Lessons from the Bears.”

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

Another Lesson from the Bears

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

LESSON # 2: Visualize, Maximize . . . Dare to Dream.

Don Rutledge, the man we had hired to sculpt the 12 foot tall grizzly bear and the 6 foot tall cub out of our massive blue spruce tree, was totally enraptured by his project.

I came out of the house one morning to find Don just sitting on top of the picnic table staring at the fifteen foot tall stump. He was smiling, but totally ignoring me. I thought to myself, “If I were going to get started on sculpting a giant bear out of a 450 year old tree, I would be there with a measuring tape, a French curve and a can of spray paint to give me some direction. But, not Don, he just sat there on top of the picnic table, smiling, with his eyes glued to the tree. He finally acknowledged me by saying, “I see a bear in there and I have the chance to help him come out of that tree.” He must have heard my old dad saying what he used to say to me, “No one accomplishes a thing in fact that he or she does not first accomplish in the mind.”

In our home our parents helped us to understand that there were steps to goal setting and achievement. Those steps, they said, were to Fantasize, Crystallize, Visualize, Verbalize, and Materialize. “If you don’t know how to get where you are going, you had better dream a way to get there.” Fantasizing isn’t something weird. We have the freedom to be creative in our imagining, and literally kick the sideboards out of the mental box into which we are sometimes placed by circumstances. Creativity walks through the unlocked door of the dedicated imagination.

Don inherently knew that before he started his assignment a vivid mental image had to be projected on the screen of his mind. He was seeing the bear clearly enough to be able to say to me that he was going to “help the bear get out of that tree.” Likewise, he had to be able to see himself as having already accomplished what he was setting out to do. Now, he was verbalizing it to me.

I can recall in the early days of Project C.U.R.E. I could see in my mind’s eye the loading of medical equipment and medical supplies into ocean-going cargo containers and their arrival in ports I had never seen. I knew before it happened that God would enable us to take help and hope to people we had never met. We dared to dream . . . and then we had the thrill of watching the dream come true.

Don had to live within the limits of the spruce tree stump, but he also recognized that he could push his possibilities to the maximum edge of those limits. It was necessary for Don to Dare to Dream.

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

Lessons from the Bears: Lesson #1

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

LESSON # 1: Take the lemons life has given to you and make some lemonade.

When we purchased our home on Upper Bear Creek Road in Evergreen, Colorado, the real estate agent was careful to point out the magnificent Colorado blue spruce trees along the creek in our front yard. “This tree,” he bragged, “could well be the oldest and tallest tree in the county.” A couple of years later, however, I came home from a trip and looked up to the very tippy top of the tree and noticed that it was turning red. We summoned a tree doctor who gave us the sad news that our glorious tree was dying and there was nothing we could do to save it. 

While growing up I had been trained to “take what you have and make it into what you want . . . if life gives you lemons, make them into lemonade!” Life had just given us the largest dead blue spruce tree in the county. Now, what to do? I called Don Rutledge, the finest chain saw sculptor I knew, and invited him to my house. “Don, I want you to sculpt for me the most resplendent, 12 foot tall grizzly bear you can imagine. Don took it as a challenge and began studying the tree. “We will have to dismantle the tree from the top down because there is no room to fell the monstrous tree.”

“Alright,” I countered, “if you are going to take it down in sections, make the final section you cut just above the big bear, large enough to also sculpt a handsome bear cub.” The deal was made. But the following morning when Don arrived to work he almost reneged on the deal. “Yesterday, I didn’t fully realize just how tall this tree is . . . I have to climb clear to the top and I can hardly even see the top!”

After a couple of scary days the tree was down to workable size. We counted the rings and found that the tree that was going to become our prize bears was well over 450 years old.

 

While I watched Don engineer and manage his piece of art I was impressed with how confident and gentle he remained. He acted as if he loved that tree. He knew that inside that area of the yard he provisionally had everything he would ever need to sculpt the perfect bear. He was satisfied that he could take the “lemons” of a dead tree and fashion an object of beauty.

I knew that I needed to learn that lesson. There had been times in my life that I had been given lemons and I had fretted and thrashed around without the confidence that already I provisionally had everything I would ever need to fulfill God’s plan for my life. But, somewhere along the way I would always be faced with the final determining question, “What’cha gonna do with what’cha got?” What would I do with my sack of lemons? How Don handled his assignment would determine the outcome of the bears. What I determine to do with my “sack of lemons” will always determine the outcome of my life.

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

Learn the Pattern

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

It’s hoped that your accumulated education would enhance your cultural value.

The hierarchy of education seems to be (1) expose yourself to vast amounts of facts and knowledge, (2) process that knowledge into some level of understanding, and (3) endeavor to transform that knowledge and understanding into practical wisdom before you die.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed, “By nature all people are alike, but by education become different.” Except for DNA, and a handful of other abstruse factors, he’s no doubt right. Never before have we had the ease of access to such a vast accumulation of information. Many colleges and universities have far more enrolled in their adult education and extended education programs than in their regular on-campus classes. And one of the reasons most often given by the students is the fact that unless they enhance their formal education, they are stuck in the “lower salary box.” They are made painfully aware of the presumption that your level of education enhances your cultural value.

In the last decade I have spent considerable time in Asia and along the old Silk Road. On one of my trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan I was hosted by a medical doctor named Malik Kasi, who lived in the border town of Quetta. Dr. Kasi was in charge of the large Pediatrics Department of the main hospital, and a major professor at the Bolan Medical School. He invited me to his historic home to have dinner and meet other leaders of the Baluchistan tribes.

A fireplace was smoldering in the reception area, taking the chill from the old building. All the floors were covered with gorgeous Persian carpets, and the room walls were lined with pillows constructed from small woven Persian rugs about 36 inches by 20 inches, sewn together and stuffed with raw cotton. Tea and condiments were quickly served on the floor, and each man of the welcoming families took a pillow and pulled it up close to the fire. Some, including me, sat on the pillows, and some sat on the carpets and leaned back against the pillows.

As we were all getting acquainted, I commented to Dr. Kasi about the spectacular oriental carpets. Some looked like they had gold fibers woven into the fabric. He was very pleased that I had asked. I explained that I would consider it a great honor if he would teach me how to assess the value of Persian carpets. That led to a complete tour of the home, and a university education on how to buy Persian carpets. Some of his carpets dated back to the 1500’s. He said I could determine value by the number and quality of knots on the reverse side, the designs, styles, weights, quality of either the silk or the wool, and by the different geographical areas where the carpet had been woven. He then asked if I would like to go with him to one of the rural villages were the family made carpets.

At the village home there was a large horizontal loom set up off the floor about eight inches. When the family understood that Dr. Kasi had brought me to see them do a little carpet weaving, one of the daughters jumped right over to the apparatus. She pushed the shuttle mechanism forward and began stringing, through the lateral base strings, woolen threads that had been wrapped around sticks of wood.. She was very confident and quick. Then, with some wooden tools she beat the new strings compactly into place before she pulled the shuttle handles back to align everything. It would take months for the completion of one carpet.

“Dr. Kasi,” I said, as I watched the daughter work, “I see her work so fast and so confidently, but I do not see anywhere a pattern from which she is working. The design in the carpet is very complex and intricate. How does she know what she is doing?”

“Good question, Dr. Jackson,” Dr. Kasi replied. “There is no written down design. The pattern has to be memorized. The instructions are handed down from generation to generation. You see, the grandmother and the mother choose a particular girl in the family, and that girl is allowed to memorize the design and instructions. Because she has been chosen and the secrets have been shared with her, she is considered very valuable, and is honored and respected within the tribe with the assurance that she will marry well. There is a great incentive for her to learn and perform well.”

We are admonished, “If given the opportunity . . . learn the pattern. What you know increases your intrinsic worth, so determine within yourself to become an aggressive ‘Life-long Learner.’” 

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

The Sun Was Shining in Beijing

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

“Man who says it can’t be done should not interrupt man doing it.”

Project C.U.R.E.’s first donations of medical equipment and supplies had entered China in 1989, and even though Project C.U.R.E. wanted to cooperate and send even more medical goods into China, the government had introduced new restrictions that blocked our efforts. China did not have any law or written policies regarding outside humanitarian groups wanting to enter their country. They simply said, “No.”

Traveling with me on my trip from Denver to Beijing was Joshua Zhong, founder of Chinese Children Adoption International and a native of Fushun, China. He had made contact with a very high government official in Beijing, named Yan Ming Fu. Mr. Yan had recently been appointed to Minister of Civil Affairs and head of China Charity Federation. Everyone had advised me that our attempt to travel to Beijing and receive any concessions would be absolutely futile. No one was receiving permission to work in China.

The Federation had been established in 1994 with the sole purpose of being in total control of all humanitarian efforts throughout the country. They were in charge of all disaster relief, social relief, poverty issues and any other charitable functions. If Project C.U.R.E. would ever hope to find favor within China for their humanitarian work, that favor would have to come through that one man. I realized that all of Project C.U.R.E.’s involvement in China in the future was dependent on finding a way to be accepted by the Federation and given special favor and recognition.

Friday morning was very cold and stormy in Beijing. Our small taxi took us through the rain to a large government office building not too far from Tiananmen Square and “Forbidden City,” where we were to meet with Mr. Yan. I felt the excitement of the occasion as I walked into the room. This meeting would determine Project C.U.R.E.’s effectiveness, or even existence, in China. The time had come.

I thanked the officials deeply for the meeting and began to share with them about Project C.U.R.E. and our work around the world. I told them that I had visited many of the Chinese hospitals and had performed “Needs Assessment Studies.” I showed Mr. Yan many pictures of their own needy hospitals. I had seen their healthcare system with my own eyes. Mr. Yan jumped right in and began asking me many questions. I showed him pictures of our warehouses and volunteers in the United States. Finally, I felt the time was right and went for the main point.

“Mr. Yan, I have fallen in love with your country and your people, and I want to be a friend and come along side you. But it is too difficult to work with you. Everyone has told me that I am foolish to come directly to you, but I sincerely want to help. The problem is that your system does not allow me to be successful. I cannot ship my donations into China like I can the other nearly 100 countries around the world. That makes me very sad. So, I have come all the way to Beijing to ask you to help me.”

Mr. Yan looked at me and with a quick wink said, “So, they tell you that you are foolish to come and talk to me directly because I will say, ‘No’. Well, in our country we have an old Chinese proverb, ‘Man who says it can’t be done should not interrupt man who is doing it!’”

“Who has given you the trouble?” Mr. Yan rumbled, “Because you and I are going to work together in China for a long time in the future.” “I don’t believe that it is any ‘person’,” I answered, “it is just that your laws do not allow for it. I need your help to guide me around that problem,”

“Well,” Mr. Yan said emphatically, “you have come to the right place. I am the right man to help you. From this day forward you will not again have a problem getting any of your shipments or programs into China, and they will be tax-exempted. I will see to it personally. As you have shown me, our big city hospitals are functioning quite well, but our smaller hospitals and our rural areas in China need everything. We must work together for a long time. Dr. Jackson, do you want to sign an agreement to guarantee your status?”

“Yes,” I answered emphatically, “I would like that!” I was astounded at the complete acceptance. When the proper paperwork was completed, Mr. Yan entered the room again and came to the table and sat down beside me. He took out his pen and we both signed the agreements as the flashing lights from the cameras lighted up the room. It was done. Everything I could have hoped for was on an official document and signed by one of the most influential men in all China. I stepped outside the big gray concrete government building. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining in Beijing.

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

Miracles

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

“Difficulty is a miracle in the first stage. If it is to be a great miracle, the condition is not difficulty, but impossibility.”
S.D. Gordon

Since its inception, Project C.U.R.E. has been characterized by a culture of consecutive miracles. There has grown up around the organization an expectation that the difficulties that face us on a regular basis are there as challenges, and those challenges are interpreted as opportunities for God to show his mighty faithfulness through our consistent endeavors. 

Many times we have faced the “impossible” and others around us were certain that the time had come for us to quietly fold our tents and sneak off into the dark shadows of defeat and mediocrity. But, those times of “impossibility” have simply become occasions for God to not just work a miracle, but, rather, to perform a “great miracle” before our eyes. It seems to me that our very existence, after 25 years of delivering health and hope to a needy world, is proof certain that God is still in the “great miracle” business.

I loved to return to Denver from my international trips and sense the excitement of our volunteers and staff at Project C.U.R.E. They would line up at my office door or catch me out in the warehouse. In almost breathless recitation they would tell me of the most recent miracles that had taken place while I had been away. In fact, many would tell me, “I come to work at Project C.U.R.E. every day because I know if I miss a day of being here I will miss out on one of the miracles.”

One such report came to me from one of our Denver warehouse directors, named Justin. While I had been in Nagorno Karabakh I had witnessed the sad devastation of the country and the maiming and crippling of many of the victims. The constant bombing and the hidden land mines had left so many of the victims without arms or legs. Many others needed physical rehabilitation in order to be restored to health. I had promised the doctors and nurses, as well as Baroness Caroline Cox, that Project C.U.R.E. would help them in establishing a physical rehabilitation facility to be located in the city of Stepanakert.

When I returned to Denver from Nagorno Karabakh, I had found out that we had sent all the rehabilitation equipment that we had collected in our warehouse inventory to a hospital in Turkey. What would we do? The time was quickly approaching when we had to ship the ocean going cargo container into Yerevan, Armenia to be transported by land to Stepanakert. Justin and his crew began to pray for the people in Nagorno Karabakh, and that a miracle would take place allowing us to receive the needed rehabilitation equipment and prosthesis pieces. They kept the list of needed things for Karabakh right on their desk in the warehouse.

Then, one day our warehouse was notified that a large truck would soon be arriving at our docks. The truck was loaded with medical goods that had been donated to Project C.U.R.E. by a prominent medical company. But, Justin did not know what would be on the arriving truck. When the truck backed into the dock space, the driver hopped out and handed to Justin a manifest of all the donated contents in the truck.

“Jim, it was a miracle, an absolute miracle,” Justin said to me with tears welling up in his expressive eyes. “Jerry and I stood there, and I had the manifest of the new load from the truck that had just arrived in one hand and the list of needed equipment and prosthesis pieces for the Nagorno Karabakh load in my other hand. The two lists were almost identical. Jim, it was a miracle,” he told me. “When we arrived at the warehouse that morning we didn’t have what we needed. Then within the next hour we had everything we needed to send. Now they will have almost everything they requested to complete the rehabilitation center, plus lots and lots more medical supplies than they even expected! We have just been a part of a miracle.”

When was the last time you were directly involved in a “great miracle?” Or, have you ever experienced such a thing in your life? I dare you, today, to look at the difficulties that are facing you right now and view them not as impediments or enemies. See them as “miracles in the first stage.” And remember, if your situation is going to require a great miracle, the condition will probably not just be difficult, but impossible!

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

Compassion in Vietnam

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

We define ourselves by our own response to human need. We become engaged through the perception of our own obligation and opportunity.

War didn’t call me into Vietnam . . . but human need did! My first trip into Saigon was in early 1996. As a result of that trip I was introduced to a precious lady named Binh Rybacki. Binh was a native of Vietnam and was one of the last to be plucked off the roof of the American Embassy by helicopter in Saigon as the Americans were in hot retreat from the city in 1975. She and her family had tied their wrists together so that none could be left behind.

Binh’s father was a professor at the prestigious University of Saigon and the family was well off financially. Binh was a student. Vietnam was just coming out of one war and was presently engaged in a vicious civil war with the Communists from the North. One day the students found a large notice posted on the bulletin board. It stated that all the students of the English Department would be killed very soon. They all laughed at the incredulous impossibility. But the officials of the school told them that the notice was serious and that they needed to go away to find their own protection. The priest of the school even gave them their last rites just in case he would not be around to do it later. The Communists entered Saigon and began randomly killing the students at the University, as well as thousands in the city. Binh and her friend escaped from an upstairs window and onto a roof and down into a dumpster, thinking that the killing would stop and the Communists would leave. But they didn’t.

Binh’s sister worked for the US Embassy in Saigon, so their whole family was targeted for death by the Communists. As the Embassy loudspeakers played Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas,” the last helicopter lifted from the Embassy roof and Binh and her family were on that chopper! They were flown to Fort Chafee, Arkansas, and eventually resettled with a host family in Loveland, Colorado. Binh started her career with Hewlett Packard, married her husband, Jack, and together they had three boys. When her mother died in America, Binh felt compelled to return to Vietnam for the first time to find her Mother’s closest friend, a nun, and inform her of the death.

Binh eventually found the friend hiding in the countryside, illegally harboring 27 orphaned children. Binh discovered that the set of circumstances in which you find yourself will determine where you can start, but will not determine where you can go in order to change things. She made a vow to get involved. She told me, “The message was very clear even if the way was not!”

By 1998, the orphanage that started with 27 hidden children grew under the leadership of Binh to four remarkable orphanages with 1600 abandoned kids.. Binh and her husband, Jack, pledged Binh’s entire salary from Hewlett Packard to personally underwrite the orphanage work. With her traveling back and forth from USA to Vietnam, the orphanage project experienced remarkable blessing and grew rapidly.

Project C.U.R.E. was privileged to get involved with Binh’s venture and deliver over $2 million worth of donated medical goods to the Children of Peace organization and surrounding hospitals in Vietnam. The Vietnamese children were “better off,” the Children of Peace organization was “better off,” but, undeniably, Project C.U.R.E. experienced the greatest benefit, from being associated with such a great lady as Binh Rybacki. We became first-hand witnesses of a miracle that took place in the heart and life of a lady who defined her own life by her response to human need. She became engaged through the perception of her own obligation and a ready opportunity.

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson. 

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com

Stolen Goods

by Dr. James W. Jackson

Founder, Project C.U.R.E.
Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist

Martin Luther once quipped that, “If our goods are not available to the community, they are stolen goods.” 

This past Christmas our family had the exquisite opportunity to open our Colorado mountain home and our hearts to a lovely family we had met in our travels to Brazil. The husband and wife are each medical doctors, and at one time or another four members of our immediate family had been guests in their Brazilian home. They brought with them their three sons, plus another Brazilian teen- aged boy. In addition to our two sons and their kiddos, our younger son brought his new wife and their two teen-aged sons. And that, indeed, made a houseful!

As the festivities of the Christmas day rolled on, I found a quiet spot by the blazing fireplace and for a few moments I became an observer, rather than an engaged participant. I watched the mingling of the families and the love that flowed through their conversations, jokes and hugs. I allowed my mind to revisit the country of Brazil and the dramatic needs there and the rampant poverty of the favelas. I was at peace knowing that we, as a family, not only were concerned on a daily basis with the hurts, trauma and destitution of the needy people around the world, but that in the simplicity of our own home we were willing to open up ourselves and share with others those goods that had been allowed to us. The goods that we had were not being hoarded but, rather, they were being made available to others of the community. They were not “stolen goods.”

Somewhere along the line we had been allowed to discover that our greatest fulfillment in living was being realized through our giving of ourselves and the things we possessed. The things that we would hoard in life would only be left and fought over by others, but the things that we would share with others around us would continue to keep on giving forever.

The culture around us has drummed into our heads that we must accumulate for ourselves and ardently hold fast to those collected things with the tenacious belief that if we fail in hanging on we will always somehow be without quite enough. The sad result of that thinking is an anxiety about today and a fear of not having quite enough for tomorrow. It squelches the simple belief that God is in control and is eager to graciously supply all that is needed to those who resist dealing in stolen goods. That simplicity of life escapes those who refuse to relinquish and share with those in need that which has been given to them in the first place.

While sitting by the warm hearth and glowing fire, I reaffirmed that I enjoy the simple life of love and sharing. I want my family to see and also enjoy that kind of life. I desire a personal life free of anxiety and determine to cling to the belief that all of my needs will continue to be met as I make certain that enough of those people around me are being made “better off.”

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson.

To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com



photos: myinteriordesign.us and Jimmy Dozer