Creating coincidence
You can create coincidence. This is Paul Liekens' intriguing message. Anyone can make any wish come true. You just need to understand the laws of the universe. Jurriaan Kamp talked with him about allergies, phobias, rain and ... happiness.
Jurriaan Kamp

Growing appeal
The resurgence of timber in European building Luke Disney

Alternatives to war
Peace is possible, but is must be constantly won anew. Anita Roddick's last column for Ode. Anita Roddick

Rural revival
In developing countries urbanisation is the source of a variety of common problems. Villagers take their poverty to already overpopulated cities. The solution lies in strengthening rural economies. Microcredit, small loans for poor entrepreneurs, can play an important role in this process. Marco Visscher travelled through Ecuador and Peru and saw for himself how microcredit can be used to bolster the position of local communities and put a stop to urbanisation... Marco Visscher

The joy of what's fleeting
Truth and authenticity are relative terms in Japan. Imitation and reality intermingle. Are they in danger of losing sight of 'the truth'? Not as far as Pico Iyer is concerned. In fact, you appreciate your surroundings more once you grasp their transitory nature. Everything changes, except the truth. Pico Iyer

Becoming We
'We'-thinkers maintain their hard-won intellectual and emotional freedoms while connecting with the greater whole. Tijn Touber's column. Tijn Touber

Dare to love
From an evolutionary perspective sex is a relatively new phenomenon, which may be why we haven't quite yet mastered it. But the so loudly applauded advent of free sex appears to be undermining Western society. It is possible to bring together spirituality and love. Ode went in search of the love behind the lust. Jurriaan Kamp and Tijn Touber

Desire and love
Desire is the wish to consume. To imbibe, devour, ingest and digest -- annihilate. Desire needs no other prompt but the presence of alterity. Zygmunt Bauman

Liquid love
Modern individuals continually yearn for the security of a relationship. At the same time they fear the accompanying obligations and impingements on their freedom. A philosophical look at an all too familiar paradox. Zygmunt Bauman

A tidy mind
Is your house full of junk? Never enough time to clean it all up? Don't kid yourself any longer. A tidy house is a tidy mind. Elbrich Fennema

Bending it unlike Beckham
Devinder Sharma asks how can a 'protein-rich' potato really stop malnourishment in India. Devinder Sharma

Only tomorrow's God can deliver us from today's evil
Religion has caused a lot of misery in the world, says Neale Donald Walsch. We need a modern Martin Luther to free us from the tyrannical bonds of our churches. It is time for a new spirituality to emerge on earth. Neale Donald Walsch

Radio Okapi eases chaos
African radio stations serve democracy Elbrich Fennema

Reveal and forgive
'Working on reconciliation is realising God's dream for humanity' Tijn Touber

'Tea is the new elixir of life'
Kiran Tawadey sells healthy, restorative and delectable organic tea Jurriaan Kamp

Those pesky conductors...
An orchestra can flourish if it's open to creativity and input from its members Marco Visscher

What makes us human
Matt Ridley's new book moves humanists beyond the nature vs. nurture debate Luke Disney