Lightning is caused by an electrical charge, which builds up between a cloud and an elevated object on the ground.  Since there is a strong attractive force between positive and negative charges, lightning is very energetic, but unpredictable in its timing and effect.

Lightning can be attracted to the same object repeatedly, either during a single storm, or at another time.  There are reports that a man was struck by lightning four times over a thirty year period!  Tall buildings like the CN Tower in Toronto, or the Empire State Building in New York, are often struck by lightning.  However, because they're equipped with very large lightning conductors, the electrical charge is carried harmlessly into the ground.

The chances that a tree will receive a lightning strike depend mainly on its height.  All trees attract lightning because they are tall and contain a lot of moisture, which provides good electrical conduction for the lightning.  The belief that oak trees attract lightning more than other trees arises because they tend to be taller than surrounding trees, and they have a higher moisture content.  A tree hit by lightning is more likely to survive if it's soaked by rain, because much of the electrical charge is able to move safely down the outside surface moisture, instead of inside the tree.

So next time you're out in a thunder storm lie low, avoid trees, and try to go inside a building.

MOVING BEYOND MATTER
by Christopher Shennan 

There are many "pat phrases" that come at us with the force of truth, that later prove false.  "Lightning never strikes twice in the same  place" is a case in point.  Lightning does indeed strike more than once in the same place, and that quite frequently.  This should make us wary of accepting similar phrases at face value.

I mean, what we call "popular" or "conventional" wisdom, is sometimes expressed as a truth in a proverb.  "A friend in need, is a friend indeed," is one of the soundest pearls of wisdom in this class; you cannot argue very well  with that.  Others may be clearly false, like the one that says, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."  More emotional and mental suffering has resulted from thoughtless or angry words than is possible to compute.

Popular wisdom also attempts to classify people into groups, or types; to label them for easy reference.  Life is seldom that simple.  Human nature is far too complex to be summed up by simply throwing a few words at it. 

Could it be we "adopt" pat phrases as a means of avoiding the responsibility of thinking things through?

One  phrase that strikes a particularly discordant note, to me, is the one directed at some individual in the following way:  "He will never change!"  Or, "She is so set in her ways, there is no hope for her."  Yet again, it may be directed within.  We might say, "I'm hopeless.  I could never change."

True, many people don't change.  Yet at the same time, there are too many examples of people who have experienced radical change in life to adopt the idea that 'people can't change' as a principle.  It is cruel to impose such a burden on a person. We all need someone to believe in us.  We all need an encouraging word and a push in the right direction.

Who knows if your encouragement may rekindle a quenched hope?  It may give the impetus to persevere.  It may even inspire them to make changes in their life.