Who gives a damn about the poor, the sick, the hungry and the needy? 

09 Mar 2025 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Who gives a damn about the poor, the sick, the hungry and the needy?  According to Pastor John Pavlovitz, it is not the Republicans who voted unanimously on a budget to cut 2 Trillion dollars from aid programs for the needy.  It is not the Evangelicals who Pastor John says put altar calls and prayer ahead of any direct aid to the “marginalized.”  It is also not the many Conservative Christians who say that the Government should not be responsible for the poor and needy but who have yet to devote any money to help those in need, unless of course they be friends or family members.

Pastor John writes, “We’re not witnessing an overwhelming outpouring of compassion from Conservative church folk who have declared that they’re going to repair the homes and make the lunches and pay for the surgeries and watch the children for the tens of millions about to be kicked to the curb by this Conservative leadership—and we shouldn’t be holding our breath.” — “The Christians Mocking Jesus and Defunding the Least of These” — John Pavlovitz, 2-25-25

Tribalism reigns supreme among Conservatives.  My first responsibility according to VP Vance is to take care of my family, then my friends and then my immediate social network.  To hell with the needy who I do not know or who do not live in my social circle.  It is out of sight, than out of mind.

You might argue that we cannot afford all of these social causes.  That is a lie.  It is a matter of priority.  Consider that our military budget is greater than the next highest nine military budgets in the world.  Consider that we have given billions in foreign  aid to the Ukraine and Israel to arm themselves with guns and bombs.  Consider that our tax breaks for the rich have resulted in a situation where the rich are worth hundreds and sometimes thousands of times what even the average middle-class American is worth.

Average Wealth:  The mean household wealth for the top 0.1% is more than $158.6 million.

The Average American Family:  The mean income for all American families is $136.000

Top 1% Wealth:  The top 1% (including the top 0.1%) holds a staggering $49.2 trillion of wealth.  That is 31% of the total wealth of America.

The Bottom 50% of American Families, own just 1% of the wealth in the U.S., with 13.4 million of these families having a negative net worth.

But who gives a damn about income inequality.  These people are losers.  They are lazy or stupid.  Too many of them sit home all day expecting a handout.  All they need is motivation.  A good kick in the ass would get them going.  No one gave me anything!  All I ever needed was a hand-up not a hand-out!  Why should I have to take care of them.  Some of these people make a fortune on government handouts.  Let them win the lottery.  I have a hard enough time paying my own bills.

I walk down a typical American street.  Today I pass by an old woman dressed in the latest “unfashion.”  She is not carrying a Gucci handbag.  In fact, she does not even have a handbag.  She is pushing a shopping cart.  Everything she owns is in a shopping cart.  It is not a Mercedes shopping cart either.  She is moving from one side of town to another so that she can find a new place to set up for the coming evening.  She has learned not to stay in one place too long or the police will move her out.

Yesterday, I passed a homeless Veteran on the streetcorner carrying a sign that reads, “Veteran needs money for food.” I volunteer a few days each month at our local Veterans center.  I am there to help Vets that come in with problems.  Recently, I spent three days trying to help an 80 percent disabled Vietnam veteran get some state assistance under a mobility grant so that he could afford a walk-in shower.  We never got to complete the online form required by the grant.  Every other page had some type of document required to complete the form.

Joe (the Vet) has been asked to provide Proof of Service, Proof of Home Ownership, Proof of Homeowners Insurance and several other proofs.  He has had to come back three times to the center.  Each time he wonders why they just did not state all the forms needed before we started.  A question that I have no answer to.  I have to scan all these forms in as Joe does not have a computer at home.  As I write this, we still have not completed all the paperwork.  He has not returned yet with the remainder of the forms needed.

We can send Israel 3.5 billion dollars a year, but we can’t make it simple for a disabled war veteran to obtain a walk-in shower.  For the amount of money we send to Israel each year we could build 350,000 walk in showers.  But who gives a damn about the poor and needy.  And now some idiot with a chainsaw is going to cut thousands of jobs in Social Security, The VA and other government organizations to improve efficiency.  I worked for fifteen years with Dr. W. E. Deming, and other quality greats.  Dr.  Deming always said you improve a process with a scalpel not with a meat cleaver.  When you use a cleaver you cut the muscle and bone along with the fat.  This is no way to improve the efficiency of any process or organization.

By the way, I am not against aid programs to other countries in need.  However, the aid we send to Israel does not help the sick and needy.  Mostly it is used to build guns and bombs or buy guns and bombs.  But our President stops aid to countries where people are starving so he will have more money to give to his rich supporters.

Losers and more losers.  How come so many people need a handout?  

A few years ago, I happened to catch a glimpse of a popular TV show called Bridezillas.  The prospective bride was shopping for a $20,000 bridal gown and screaming, “It’s all about me!  It’s all about me!”  I suppose many people watched this program and enjoyed seeing the little spoiled brat ranting and ranting.  This is a “reality” show.  The real reality is that fifty percent of Americans today are this little spoiled brat.  How many people ranting about Immigration have ever been molested by an immigrant?  How many people wanting to build a border wall have ever lost their jobs to an immigrant?  How many people complaining about illegal immigrants want to do the hard menial work that I see so many immigrants doing all over the USA.  From Arizona to Michigan to Rhode Island to Wisconsin, I have seen dozens of migrant workers doing work that Americans feel is beneath them or does not pay enough.

We complain about poverty and people taking handouts, but our kids are not willing to work anymore because they are too busy playing video games.  We complain about taxes, but we can buy designer clothes, designer shoes, designer weddings and designer handbags.  We complain about inflation, but it does not stop us from eating out at expensive restaurants.  We complain about the price of eggs and gasoline, but we drive $85,000 gas guzzling pickup trucks so that we can be cool.

I inquired of a few people I met recently “How could you vote for a man who is vindictive, unethical, lies like crazy and loves to humiliate other people.”  I was told the same thing by each person I asked, “I don’t care about his personality as long as he gets rid of the immigrants and lowers my taxes.”  Who are the selfish greedy spoiled brats in America?  As Pogo said, “ We have met the enemy, and he is us.”   

The Conservative Evangelicals have bumper stickers and wear t-shirts that read, “What Would Jesus Do.”  I don’t claim to be a Christian and I don’t claim to be a very religious person, but I don’t think Jesus would kick the immigrants out, kick people out of their jobs and stop aid for the people in America and the world who are most in need of help.  The pastor at our church always says, “Give me Jesus, they can have all the rest.”  I don’t think he would want a Jesus who said, “It’s all about me!  I want my taxes lowered and these lazy poor people put to work right after we get rid of the immigrants”

I repeat my question:  “Who gives a damn about the poor, the sick, the hungry and the needy?”  Are you proud to say that you are not your brothers keeper?

“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of the evil men.  Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and goodwill, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper, and the finder of lost children.” — Ezekiel 25:17

“Try Honey Before Vinegar” – Lessons on Leadership from Abraham Lincoln

06 Feb 2025 1 Comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

America has lost the “Art of Leadership.”  We no longer develop men and women with integrity or selflessness.  Instead of Statesmen, we have political hacks only concerned with getting reelected.  Politicians with no backbones or the courage to stand up against injustice.  We have a Congress of sycophants willing to do whatever they are told to do regardless of how unethical or immoral it may be.  We have thousands of lawyers who do not uphold justice but find arguments to support an amorality that meets the letter of the law but ignores the significance of decency, goodness, honesty, conscience and fairness.

In this blog and the ones to follow,  I will write about insights regarding leadership from one of the greatest American leaders and Presidents of all time.  I found a compilation of these in an old collectors edition of “Civil War Times” published in Winter, 2013. There are 41 in total, and I have already covered the first in a previous blog.  I would like for you to hear the words of Abraham Lincoln and what he had to say about leadership.  I will include some of my own experiences from my years of working with senior management in over 32 organizations.  Some of the men and women I worked with were incredible leaders.  Most of them wanted to be better leaders and that is where I brought the teachings and thoughts of W. E. Deming to my consulting practice.  Dr. Deming achieved extraordinary results in business by tapping the knowledge, skills and abilities of ordinary people.  Senator Hubert Humprey famously said that “Democracy is a system that achieves extraordinary results with ordinary people.”

Insight # 2 – Try Honey Before Vinegar: 

Lincoln said, “If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend.”  Springfield, Illinois, 2/22/1842

This seems to be a principle or idea that is not very well understood by many people today.  I constantly hear people tell me that if you want to change people’s ideas about things, you must “empathize with them.”  “You must really listen to them.”  To these admonitions, I say “Bullshit.”  You can listen to some fanatics all you want to, and they will still totally ignore anything you say that does not fit in with their preconceptions or ideology.

A good woman friend of mine and I were arguing about Trump and his supporters.  Repeatedly in every argument, she would say “John, you just have to really listen to them.”  I finally got tired of hearing this refrain and one day I challenged her.  I said, “Tell me one, only one, Trump supporter you have listened to who has changed their mind.”  She was dumbfounded.  She was stumped.  She was bewildered.  She could not think of one.  Months went by.  I would occasionally rub salt into the wound, “Did you change the minds of any Trump supporters today?”

You can listen to others all you want.  You can listen to hell freezes over.  You will not change a fanatic or zealot’s ideas by listening.  But Lincoln was smarter than all the psychologists we have today put together.  He knew that it would take more than listening to get others to think differently or to appreciate your ideas after you have heard theirs.  It takes believing and feeling that you are a “Sincere” friend.  Not just a Facebook friend or some online friend, but a “Sincere” friend.  Plato talked about the various types of friends, but he said nothing about a “Sincere” friend.  So, what is a “Sincere” friend and what does it take to make someone believe that you really and truly are a “Sincere” friend?  Let’s first define the meaning of “Sincere.”

An online dictionary defines “Sincere” as:

“Free from pretense or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings.”

Wikipedia defines the virtue of Sincerity as follows:

“Sincerity is the virtue of one who communicates and acts in accordance with the entirety of their feelings, beliefs, thoughts, and desires in a manner that is honest and genuine.  Sincerity in one’s actions (as opposed to one’s communications) may be called ‘earnestness”’.

I think the word “Sincere” has a lot to do with integrity, honesty, trustworthiness and truthfulness.  The Jewish have a word for a person who is sincere and honest called a Mensch.  In Yiddish, a Mensch roughly means “a good person”.  The word has migrated as a word into American English with a Mensch being a particularly good person, similar to a “stand-up guy”.  A Mensch is a person with the qualities that one would hope for in a friend or trusted colleague.

I think we can now answer the question, “What does it take to impact someone’s ideas and ideology?”  The answer is very simple.  If you want to have someone listen to your ideas, you must be a Mensch or at least a very “Sincere” friend.  When I think about the people we elect to political leadership, I am struck by the lack of Menschs in either Congress or the Legislature.

In fact, I would argue that we have the exact opposite.  We have people you would not trust with a nickel.  People who we know will change their mind at the drop of a lobbyist’s donations.  Congresspeople, who continually lie to cover their malfeasance and incompetence.  Ask anyone of them what they do all day long and they will deny that they spend about 80 percent of their time fundraising for their next election campaign.

Try to suggest some new ideas to them as I have done countless times, and you will get the following answer, “I am very busy but send me something and I will look at it.”  Don’t hold your breath my friend.  You will die of asphyxiation before any of them, Democrat or Republican will ever get back to you.  However, mention that you are thinking of a large campaign contribution and doors will open in a New York minute.

Let us think of a scenario wherein a Trump supporter meets a Trump opponent.  We will call Mary the Trump supporter and Joe the Trump opponent.   Neither of them have ever met before and do not know each other.   The talk between them soon turns to politics.

Mary:  I think Trump is doing a great job.  He is really shaking the government up.  Just what we need.

Joe:  You think tariffs, job cuts and threatening our allies are what we need?  Are you crazy?

Mary:  He is already getting results.  Mexico and Canada have agreed to send more troops to the border.

Joe:  These are our allies.  What if I threatened you, how would you feel about me?  I am sure that long-term you would be looking for some way to get even.

Mary:  Well, I have to go.

Joe:  Yeah, so do I. Bye

If the above scenario had gone down between two long-term “Sincere” friends, how do you think it would have turned out?  I am betting both sides would have heard some value in the other sides position.  Furthermore, they might have  finished the discussion and gone out together to have a bite to eat or at least agreed on another time to get together.

Old Abe Lincoln knew a lot about leadership and the role that friendship played in it.

“On the contrary, assume to dictate to his judgment, or to command his action, or to mark him as one to be shunned and despised, and he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues to his head and his heart; and though your cause be naked truth itself, transformed to the heaviest lance, harder than steel, and sharper than steel can be made, and though you throw it with more than Herculean force and precision, you shall no more be able to pierce him, than to penetrate the hard shell of a tortoise with a rye straw.” — Lincoln, Address to Washington Temperance Society (February 22, 1842)

I have heard many conversations between Trump supporters and Trump opponents.  We attack each other.  We condemn each other for stupidity.  We assail each other for taking the Kool-Aide.  Then we retreat to the other sides of the room full of hate and disgust.  We ask ourselves, “How could anyone think like they do?”  “What is wrong with them?”  “They must be either, stupid, uneducated, brainwashed, racist or something else.”

If we are going to break down the walls and barriers that now separate us in the USA , we are going to have to do more than just listen to our opposition.  We are going to have to find ways of befriending each other.  Not just casual friendships but real “Sincere” friendships.  Friends who can accept and support mutual honesty and truthfulness with each other.

Too much of what I have seen in the media supports a narrative that my side is intelligent and smart, and the other side is dumb and uneducated.  I confess to having shared some of this narrative in my own writings.  It is now time to move past these simplistic and detrimental stereotypes and develop empathy and understanding that surpasses mere listening.  The way to do this is through “Sincere” friendship and not by demonizing the other side.

How do we fight an “Uncivil War”?  Insight # 3 from Old Abe has more valuable thoughts to help us in this struggle.  I will share these in my next blog.

 

I Don’t Need a Hero, I’ve Got Two of Them!

24 Jan 2025 9 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

This week two courageous and brave women spoke their truth.  In doing so, they stood up for America and the world.  They are my Heroes.  In standing up to speak out, they risked violence, retributions and death threats.  They have since received some of each.  That is why there are so few heroes.  Freedom is not free.  It means being willing to risk your reputation, your career and even your life.  However, it has been said that “Evil triumphs when good people are silent.”  Both of my heroes have been feted in the news, but I want to dedicate this blog to the truth that each was trying to tell.  I do not think that their words should ever be forgotten.  I will share their own words here, since I could never be as eloquent as both of these women were. 

Every year for the next four years, I am going to post their words here on my blog on January 20, to remember the tragic episode that happened this day in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. 

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde::

Let me make one final plea.  Mr. President, millions have put their trust in you.  And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God.  In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.  There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives.  And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants, and work the night shifts in hospitals, they — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.  They pay taxes and are good neighbors.  They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara and temples.

I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.  Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.  May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world.

____________________________________________________________________________

Amy Goodman in her Democracy Now Podcast added the following comments to the courage of Bishop Budde.  

AMY GOODMAN: Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde addressed President Trump and his family at the inaugural prayer service at the National Cathedral in Washington as Trump and Vice President JD Vance sat in the front pew.  Trump was later asked at the White House about her sermon.

REPORTER: What did you think of the service?

PRESIDENT  DONALD  TRUMP:  What  did you think?  Did you like it?  Did you find it exciting?  Not too exciting, was it?  I didn’t think it was a good service, no.  Thank you very much.

AIDE: Thank you, press.  Thank you, press.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They can do much — they can do much better.

AMY GOODMAN: President Trump later posted a message about Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde on his social media platform Truth Social, writing, quote, “The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater.  She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way.  She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.”

Republican Congressman Mike Collins of Georgia posted a message online saying, quote, “The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.”

______________________________________________________________________________________

Ms. Pam Hemphill:

The following is from an online newscast and includes a discussion with Ms. Hemphill and a reporter.  Some of my immediate comments below are taken from an NPR radio show this past Thursday featuring a discussion with Ms. Hemphill.  That is when I first heard her story.  

“President Trump this week issued pardons to more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, but one 71-year-old woman turned down the president’s offer of clemency, telling NPR it would be a dishonor to the truth of what happened that day.” — NPR Reporter

“I broke the law that day, period. Black and white,” Pamela Hemphill told NPR’s All Things Considered of the role she regrets playing at the Capitol that day. “I’m not a victim, I’m a volunteer.”

Some Trump voters express reservations with his sweeping Jan. 6 pardons

Hemphill was an ardent Trump supporter when she joined thousands of people in Washington, D.C., who attempted to halt the certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Fueled by Trump’s repeated lies that the election had been rigged against him and his supporters, Hemphill was among those who stormed into the halls of Congress, leading lawmakers to flee and hide.

Taking a pardon now in light of her actions, Hemphill said, “would be a slap in the face to the Capitol police officers, to the rule of law and to our whole nation.”

I Want to be More Like Jesus!

22 Dec 2024 7 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Every year, I try to post our “Annual Holiday Letter” and then follow up with some holiday or Christmas missives.  Today, I was struck by what a friend of mine wrote on his blog: 

“I want to be more like Jesus.”

Now just to be perfectly clear.  I believe that Jesus was a great prophet and humanist.  I do not believe that he was the “Son of God” or that, “He rose from the dead on the third day and ascended into heaven.”  Nevertheless, many people would disagree with me and millions of people the world over celebrate his birthday on December 25th.  Jesus has inspired people to live a better life, and it would be no mean feat for anyone to follow in his footsteps.  I admire my friend for his goal.  I decided to see what or how ChatGPT would respond to his request.  I typed in his goal into my ChatGPT program:  “I want to be more like Jesus.”  The following is the ChatGPT reply that I received word for word: 

ChatGPT:

That’s such a meaningful and beautiful goal!  Striving to live more like Jesus involves focusing on qualities and actions that reflect His teachings and character.  Here are some practical ways to guide you:

1. Cultivate Love and Compassion

Jesus emphasized love above all: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).  Practice kindness, empathy, and care for others, especially those in need or who may be marginalized.

Look for ways to serve and help, whether through volunteering or simply being a good listener.

2. Practice Forgiveness

Jesus taught forgiveness, even for those who wrong us: “Forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  Let go of grudges and seek reconciliation where possible.

3. Live Humbly

Humility was a cornerstone of Jesus’ character.  Avoid arrogance and practice gratitude for your blessings, knowing that everything is a gift from God.

4. Spend Time in Prayer

Jesus often withdrew to pray and strengthen His connection with God (Luke 5:16).  Take time daily to pray, reflect, and seek guidance.

5. Follow the Golden Rule

Treat others the way you want to be treated (Matthew 7:12).  This simple principle can help guide your decisions and interactions.

6. Embrace Patience and Peace

Jesus remained calm and patient even in challenging situations.  Practice patience with others and seek peace rather than conflict.

7. Live Faithfully

Make God the center of your life by reading Scripture, attending church or fellowship, and applying biblical teachings in your daily actions.

8. Show Generosity

Jesus cared deeply for the poor and was generous with His time and resources.  Share what you have, whether it’s time, money, or talents.

9. Stand for Truth and Justice

Jesus was unafraid to stand up for what was right.  Be honest and stand firm in your values, even when it’s difficult.

10. Be Servant-Hearted

Jesus said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28).  Serve others without expecting anything in return.

Becoming more like Jesus is a lifelong journey.  It’s about progress, not perfection, so give yourself grace along the way.  ❤️

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I think these are all beautiful goals.  The only one I might partially modify would be number seven.  “To make God the center of my life.”  Being an atheist, making God the center of my life would be hard to do.  Nevertheless, the way I see it is that I should not make the mistake of making “Myself” the center of the universe.  I remind myself regularly that the world does not revolve around me.  Neither do I make science or even rationality the center of my universe.  I try to read other books of wisdom like, The Tanakh: The sacred text of Judaism; The Quran: The sacred text of Islam; The Analects of Confucius: The sacred text of Confucianism; The Rig Veda: The sacred text of Hinduism and The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The sacred text of the  Baháʼí Faith. 

There is much wisdom in the world and the more I read, the more humble I have become.  The more difficult it becomes to take myself too seriously.  Reading and reflection are good antidotes to prevent oneself from being another god.  So, this year if you want to embrace my friend’s goals “To be more like Jesus,” you will get no argument from me.  I will salute you and wish you success on your journey.  That to me is the true meaning of Christmas.  What Jesus would have us all do this wonderful holiday season. Did he not say, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Only God Can Save You!

17 Oct 2024 13 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

This past year marks my 41st Jesuit Silent Retreat.  I may be the only Atheist at the retreat.  Each year brings new insights and thoughts.  I wonder if I have grown any during my retreats.  I can’t say that I feel any closer to God, yours or theirs.  I wonder if there is a God but I doubt it.  I wonder if there are multiple Gods.  A God for each religion.  Is the Muslim God and the Catholic God and the Jewish God the same entity?  Were the Romans, Greeks, Hindus and many others more on the mark with different Gods for different functions?

This year reading as I usually do many of the assigned Gospel readings and many other Gospel passages I was struck with how many of the old prophets emphasized the need to believe in God’s goodness.  Only God can save us and we must have faith in God’s goodness.  God has a plan for all of us if we will only listen to him or perhaps her.  God knows what we need but we ignore his/her messages.  Pray to God.  Love God, for God loves us.  He loves us so much that he sent his only “begotten” son (Not sure what a begotten son is) to save us.

Exodus 33:18-19 (NKJV)

“And he said, ‘Please, show me Your glory.’ Then He said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’”

Frankly, I still don’t get it.  Many people have taken a shot at saving my soul, but I still don’t see any value in God.  During the past five years, he/she has allowed Global Warming to destroy much of the climate that I once loved.  He sent a scourge called Covid 19 to help ruin the last few years of my life.  And to top it off, he allowed a low life called Trump to run for President again.  I guess I am lost to the damnations of hell fire, but I still don’t see a God that is going to save me.  If so, he/she is about 78 years past my patience.

C. S. Lewis was the great “converter.” The conversion of an Atheist to a Theist is an aphrodisiac for the devoted religious. I suppose it justifies their belief in a future fiction that requires a complete abandonment of reason and logic.  A place called Heaven where we can all live happily ever after.  Just as long as we are willing to listen to daily sermons about how good God is for us.

“[God] will not be used as a convenience. Men or nations who think they can revive the Faith in order to make a good society might just as well think they can use the stairs of heaven as a shortcut to the nearest chemist’s shop.” — C.S. Lewis

But “Only God Can Save You” has a ring of truth to it.  No one on earth can save you from death.  No one can be trusted to be by your side forever regardless of the consequences.  Friends and lovers come and go like shadows in the night.  One day someone loves you, the next day they hate you.  One day someone is your friend, the next day they unfriend you on Facebook.  Tragedy of tragedies.  Loneliness is a Satan stalking all of us all of our lives.  I would wager more people have committed suicide out of loneliness than any other reason on earth.

Psalm 107:8-9 (NKJV)

“Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

Only the concept or idea of an All Knowing, All Seeing, All Powerful and All Compassionate God can guarantee us that we will never be alone.  Never be forgotten.  Never be forsook.  One popular song goes:

Walk on, walk on

With hope in your heart

And you’ll never walk alone

You’ll never walk alone

This song was first written by Oscar Hammerstein II and composed by Richard Rodgers for their musical Carousel, which was released in the USA in 1945.  It has since become one of the most popular funeral songs (Next to Amazing Grace) of all time.  Many people interpret it to have faith.  Faith in friends.  Faith in lovers.  Faith in a God who will always be with you in time of trials and tribulations.  It is a song to give hope to people in time of grief and suffering.

But where does one find such a God?  The Bible shows us at best an arbitrary God.  Sometimes belligerent.  Sometimes vindictive.  Sometimes vengeful.  Sometime cruel.  A God that many of us see in the world wreaking havoc on humanity for any number of transgressions.  From Sodom and Gomorrah to massive floods to sending his “Chosen people” into slavery.  A God who threw Adam and Ever out of the Garden of Paradise because they dared eat an apple.  A God who destroyed cities because they did not live up to his/her expectations.  A God who sent a flood to wipe out humanity.  This is a compassionate loving God?

Psalm 31:19 (NIV-84)

“How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.”

Or is it a God who feeds his people.  A God who watches out for his Chosen ones.  A God who rewards those who obey him/her.  A God who destroys the enemies of those who worship him.  A God who is loving, kind and compassionate.  I wonder what God really is.  Here are some questions that still nag at my Atheist beliefs.

  1. Do I think that I am smarter than all the wise and great people who believe in God?
  2. Who or what created us?
  3. What if there is a God? What does he/she think of me?
  4. What if there is no God?
  5. Is God simply a metaphor for “Unconditional Love?”
  6. Is God Death or Life or Both?

The Atheist by Martin Braun

Science defines my virtue.

Factual and fictional books are my domain.

Don’t speak to me of pixies, fairies, and unicorns,

Or of your monopoly on morality, love, faith, and shame.

I am what I am

And of what I do I claim my own.

I fight for my survival

Of which need not be told, judged or shown.

There is no all knowing

Or an immortal god of my fate he will judge.

For when my heart ceases to beat

It will return from whence it came, a kind of primordial sludge.

My Final Will and Testament – Scriptures – Reflection #10

07 Jun 2024 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

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Last year at my 40th Demontreville Retreat, one of the exercises that we were given by the Retreat Master included a very challenging set of thoughts.  The worksheet for the activity was labeled as “A Testament.” I took the worksheet and instructions home with me.  It had fourteen tasks or reflections to complete.  I did not desire to complete them during the retreat.  It is now almost a year since my retreat, and I have decided to make the mental and emotional effort necessary to complete this “Testament.”

The worksheet started with these instructions:

Imagine that this is the last day of your life on earth.  In the time that you have left, you want to leave a “Testament” for your family and friends.  Each of the following could serve as chapter headings for your “Testament.”  This is Reflection Number 10 on the worksheet.

  1. These are the Scripture Texts that have touched and helped me.

My being an Atheist some people might think that I would have a hard time with finding Scriptures that have touched me.  In truth, it is one of the easiest reflections for me to think about.  I have so many wonderful parables from the New Testament and many proverbs and wisdom from the Old Testament that I use to guide my life and decisions.  I see the Bible as another source of great wisdom that has been compiled over the ages.  It is a combination of history, storytelling and profound thoughts compiled into one large book.  I do not view the Bible as infallible or “The Word of God” unless I use that interpretation very loosely.  If there is a God, perhaps he does reside in all of us and all of us are “Children of God.”

In 1775, Thomas Paine wrote a short essay criticizing slavery and reflecting on “Pretended” Christians who could support such a practice.  His words were:

“to catch inoffensive people, like wild beasts, for slaves, is a height of outrage against humanity and justice, that seems left by heathen nations to be practiced by ‘pretended’ Christians.” — African Slavery in America, 1775

Today we have a system that seems somewhat analogous to the system of “Pretended Christians” that Thomas Paine described 250 years ago.  “Pretended Christians” who can support a man and party that attacks, insults, abuses, and maligns minorities, immigrants, women, disabled people, and veterans.  A man who swears vengeance against the people who disagree with his policies.  A man who pays no attention to Scripture which says:

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.  Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good.” — Romans 12:19-21 King James Version

Many of the people insulted by this man continue to feel that he is some sort of Christian Savior.  A man who will restore Christianity as the Mother Religion of America.  A position for religion that not one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers either desired or supported.  We have a country full of people who want to call America a Christian nation but who neither practice nor believe in one iota of what Jesus of Nazareth taught and died for.  We have a nation full of “Pretended Christians.”  I do not pretend to be a Christian or a Saint or a Holy Man.  God (If he/she exists) save me from these “Pretended Hypocritical Christians.”

The following are four of the scripture quotes that have had the most influence on my life.  I will briefly describe the impact that each has had on my thoughts and behaviors.

How-to-Understand-and-Interpret-the-Parables-of-Jesus

  1. What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world but suffer the loss of his own soul? — Matthew 16:26

The first Jesuit retreat that I did at Demontreville in 1984, upon entering the grounds I saw the larger-than-life sized statue of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order.  He stands on a large concrete pedestal.  I was forty years old at the time and just finishing my Ph.D. degree.  I was hungry for fame and fortune and success.  During the retreat, I walked up to the statue and discovered the words “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world but suffer the loss of his own soul?’ written on the base of the pedestal.  These words are perhaps the most profound words I have ever heard in my life.  I went back several times during the retreat to read and reflect on these words.  Over the past forty years or so, despite these words being etched in my brain, I always go to see the statue of St. Ignatius and silently repeat these words to myself several times.

My first visit to these words did not stop me from chasing what some call the elusive gods of fame and fortune.  Over the years, my chasing has become less vigorous, but the goal posts still exist in my mind.  Part of me longs to carry the football over the goal line and to hear the roar of the crowd and bask in shouts of “hurrah” and “you’re the greatest.”  The fortune part has never really mattered as much to me as the adulation and recognition that I still thirst for.  Thus, every year that I go back to Demontreville, (this will be my 41st retreat), I will make my pilgrimage to the statue to restore my commitment to the fact that fame and fortune are no substitute for the real nutrients that nurture the soul.  No amount of fame and fortune can substitute for integrity, compassion, kindness and charity towards others.

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  1. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. — Matthew 6:34

Another phrase from the teachings of Jesus as marked down by Matthew.  Throughout history, this same thought has been voiced by most of the great prophets, thinkers and philosophers.  “Live each day one moment at a time.”  “Live in the now.”  “Be mindful of today.”  Doing so is akin to walking a tightrope.  It requires a sense of balance.  We must plan for the future, but we must also live one day at a time.  How to find that balance is a Herculean task.  A second Herculean task is maintaining our balance.   These two tasks are by far more difficult in the modern world than slaying the Nemean lion or capturing the Cretan bull.  Hercules managed to complete 12 very difficult tasks.  I have yet to manage completing even one of my two challenges.  I suppose I will be working on “Living in the Now” for the rest of my days.

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  1. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities!  All is vanity.  — Ecclesiastes 1

The Book of Ecclesiastes is reported to have been written by King Solomon.  Solomon as you know was one of the wisest men in history.  He was granted wisdom by God because Solomon did not ask for fame or fortune.

“And God said to Solomon: Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked for long life; but you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king.”  — (2 Chronicles 1:11-12 NKJV)

Buddhism, Advaita, Zen and other religions talk about the major problem that leads to all of humanities other problems being what psychologists call our Ego.  Solomon called it vanity.  Some might call it self-conceit, narcissism, self-centeredness, self-absorption, me-ism or egotism.  Its all the same.  People become the center of the universe.  I saw a sign the other day that read “When I am not the center of the universe, people become human.”  This is another difficult battle to overcome.  We can focus only on our own needs or desires, or we can expand our awareness to notice the needs and desires of other people.

The Eight Beatitudes given by Jesus in his famous Sermon on the Mount are the greatest exposition of our responsibility to other people that has ever been written.  Jesus elucidated what are called the Eight Beatitudes.  I will not list them all as they are easy to find on Google.  These eight thoughts clearly define how we should treat other people.  I often wonder why so many “Pretended Christians” want to put up the 10 Commandments from the Old Testament, when their Jesus gave them the 8 Beatitudes to obey.   I have actually read that many “Evangelicals” believe that the 8 Beatitudes are wimpy.  The lack of respect for the man that founded Christianity is beyond belief.

I try ever day to remember that I am not the center of the universe.  The world does not revolve around me.  For every one of my rights, there is a responsibility.  I need to look out for others and to help those in need, be they gay, women, immigrants, minorities or even right-wing bigots.  They are all part of the human race.  To paraphrase Ben Franklin, “Either we all work together for a better world, or we shall surely all perish together in ways that none of us desire.”

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  1. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven. — Mark 10:25

My friend Kwame says that we should be grateful that we are not rich.  Money is a corrupting influence.  It is somewhat like a drug.  It is addictive.  The more you get the more you want.  The more you have the more you need.  Another friend of mine whom I met in China told me before we left Shanghai in 1989 that we were rich.  I explained that we were not rich, but very middle class.  In fact, we were definitely not even upper middle class.  Xibo said, “you are rich to us in China.  You have nice house, and you can afford to travel to distant countries.”  Xibo’s comments were very accurate, and they had the effect of making me realize just how selfish I often am.  I am bemoaning my mundane middle-class status when to most of the rest of the world, I am regarded as rich.  Never mind regarded.  I am rich to possibly 90 percent of the world.

I am told by biblical interpreters that Jesus never said “rich people were bad” or that rich people could not go to heaven.  What Jesus did say and used many parables to illustrate the fact was that it would be hard for rich people to get to heaven.  Money is a heavy load to carry, and it corrupts.  Lord Acton said that “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  The same can be said of money, “Money corrupts, and excessive money corrupts excessively.”

Regard the quest for money in the USA today.  Everyone wants more than they have.  We worry about Inflation, about immigrants stealing our jobs, about the Chinese sending too many products to us.  On the other hand, billions of dollars are now spent on people trying to get rich quick through pull-tabs, lotteries, online gambling and now sports betting.  The mania for money is fueled by the incessant celebrities, media influencers and TV shows touting the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”  The airwaves, newspapers, Internet and all of our media are full of non-stop advertising.  “Shop till you drop” should be the title of a song or at least put on the US dollar bill right under George Washington’s picture.

To be mindful of what I have I keep repeating this thought in my head.  ‘It is easier for the camel than the rich man to get to heaven.”  By the way, I do not believe in heaven or hell but I take it metaphorically that it is better for the human race if I try to be the camel and not rich and greedy.

Next Reflection:    

  1. These are things that I Regret about my life.

Requiem for America:  Our Battle with Fate

28 May 2024 10 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

fortune

I wrote this blog seven years ago about the time that Trump assumed the office of the President of the United States of America.  As I stumbled across it again, I could not help feeling that nothing has changed in this country.  Therefore I am posting this blog again in the futile hope that one voter might read it and change his or her mind.

January 21, 2017

Many of you have no doubt heard the tone poem by Carl Orff titled Carmina Burana.  One of the famous parts of this musical piece is taken from a poem called “O Fortuna.”  It is a Medieval Latin poem written early in the 13th century.  I started thinking about it today as Trump became the 45th President of the United States of America.  I have never much believed in fate, preferring to think that we are masters of our own destiny and fate be dammed.  But as the inexorable reality of the inauguration kept intruding on my existence, I was forced back to the conclusion that perhaps fortune does rule the world.  (To listen click here O Fortuna)

Like the moon you are changeable,
ever waxing and waning;
hateful life first oppresses and then soothes as fancy takes it;
poverty and power it melts them like ice.

I loathe this greedy narcissist.  I loathe his values.  I loathe his words.  He represents everything I hate in myself and in humanity.  We keep trying to destroy the racism and fear and prejudice that we are brought up with but fate impels us to confront a world that seems to thrive on such iniquities.  My relatives, my friends, my co-workers —- they voted for this reprobate and now exult in his coronation.  I stand impotently on the sidelines questioning (as many Jews in the Holocaust questioned) why God has deserted us.  Have we committed some grave sin worthy of the future that fate now seems to have assigned us?

Trying against
Fate – monstrous and empty,
you whirling wheel,
you are malevolent,
well-being is vain and always fades to nothing,
shadowed and veiled you plague me too;
now through the game I bring my bare back to your villainy.

My good intentions.  My desire to be tolerant and virtuous.  My goal to treat others with compassion and kindness all seem to melt in the face of a Fate that decries a monster who will now rule over us.  I hear the voices that say “give him a chance.”  I wonder what chance they want.  A chance to create more greed.  A chance to create more racism.  A chance to create more sexism.  Have we not enough bigotry in this country?  Have we not enough inhumanity towards others?  We created the Atom bomb.  We created the Hydrogen Bomb.  We created weapons of biological and chemical warfare that can destroy millions.  We take no heed whether they kill children or innocents.  We are now all guilty in our incessant warfare.  The only thing that counts is creating more efficient means of murdering people.

Fate is against me in health and virtue,
driven on and weighted down,
always enslaved.
So at this hour without delay pluck the vibrating strings;
since Fate strikes down the strong man,
everyone weep with me!

I wake up disbelieving that I live in this reality.  I joke that I am in Wonderland and whatever one believes is the reality that exists.  But I did not believe in this reality.  I have done everything that I thought I could to help make the world a better place.  I thought my friends and family and neighbors wanted the same world that I wanted.  It seems clear now that we did not share the same reality.

I curse the fate that has brought our nation to this point.  I curse the people that voted for this Frankenstein.  I curse the party that nominated this abomination.  Deep inside, I wonder what I did to contribute to this horror.  Does my own hate somehow create the fate that I seek to escape from?

Abraham, John, Robert and Martin all dead — killed by that coward called fate.  But let us not forget Jimmie Lee Jackson and Clyde Kennard and Juliette Hampton Morgan and James Reeb and Jonathan Myrick Daniels and Viola Gregg Liuzzo and Vernon Dahmer and Oneal Moore and George Lee and Harriet and Harry Moore.  They also were martyrs.  They also died fighting fate.

Do not believe that the good die young.  The good die pregnant with a dream for a better world.

Time for Questions:

So what is left?  Nihilism?  Apathy?  Hate?  Bitterness?  Resistance?  Fight?  Hope?  Will a dream for a better America arise from the ashes of despair?

Life is just beginning.

“I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.”  —   Booker T. Washington

fortune

My Final Will and Testament – Sufferings – Reflection #7

22 May 2024 3 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

images (1)Last year at my 40th Demontreville Retreat, one of the exercises that we were given by the Retreat Master included a very challenging set of thoughts.  The worksheet for the activity was labeled as “A Testament.” I took the worksheet and instructions home with me.  It had fourteen tasks or reflections to complete.  I did not desire to complete them during the retreat.  It is now almost a year since my retreat, and I have decided to make the mental and emotional effort necessary to complete this “Testament.” 

The worksheet started with these instructions:

Imagine that this is the last day of your life on earth.  In the time that you have left, you want to leave a “Testament” for your family and friends.  Each of the following could serve as chapter headings for your “Testament.”

7.  These are the Sufferings that have seasoned me and made me more compassionate.

How to start talking about Sufferings without sounding like a whinny spoiled brat?  Sure, I have had some downs, and I will mention them.  But my life has not been anywhere near the life that I know other people have lived.  In my 77 years on this earth, I have met people who have been through unimaginable and unspeakable sufferings.  If anything has made me more compassionate, it is listening to their stories.  Let me just tell you one that I recently encountered.

A week or so ago, I had a substitute teaching job for the JROTC program at our local high school.  I looked forward to this work since the kids who take this program are usually UBER well-behaved.  JROTC is a program staffed by Marine personnel with the blessing of the school administration.  When I arrived, the full-time teacher was away but there was another staff member.  He was a retired Marine Corp NCO.  I will call him Nick but that is not his real name.  Nick was missing a leg.  He had served in the Gulf Wars and been hit with an IED or Improvised Explosive Device.  He spent several months in a VA hospital but finished his tour of duty and retired from the Marine Corp.

Nick suffered from many other injuries and also had a form of degenerative MS which was slowly killing him.  We talked most of the day as you can imagine two veterans would do.  Nick had a family and two children.  I met one of his kids and was impressed by her closeness with her dad, something I never experienced with my daughter.  Despite his disabilities, Nick claimed no special privileges in life.  He was positive and happy to be alive.  He enjoyed working with the schoolchildren and trying to make a difference in their lives.  Throughout the day, I detected not one bit of remorse or self-pity on Nick’s part.

When I left home at 18 and joined the military, I resolved never to blame my parents for anything I would experience in life.  I was now an adult.  It did not matter that I had an abusive father growing up or that I often felt like a “motherless” child.  I was now an adult and my destiny in life was in my own hands.

I experienced suffering when I caught my first wife in bed with a co-worker and she wanted to leave me for him.  I experienced suffering for nearly twenty years when my only daughter did not want to speak with me.  She was married twice, and I was not invited to either wedding.  She had two grandchildren whom I have only seen maybe three or four times in the last thirty years.  I have improved my relationship with my daughter somewhat over the past five years.  She and I get together for lunch each time I come back to Minnesota.

imagesAm I a very happy person?  Most of my friends would probably say no.  My sufferings though are mostly self-inflicted.  My thoughts on the life that I should have lived haunt me.  Try as I might I can’t let go of the things I fucked up in this world.  I can’t even forget the teacher in the third grade who told me to, “Shut my mouth and stop singing.”  Seventy years later and it feels like if I try to sing, something awful will happen to me.  I would rather jump off of a cliff than sing a note.

A number of years ago, I had a job which required me to do some collections from overdue purchasers of various products.  I did a car repo, and I did not feel too bad about it since I thought, “Why should anyone have a brand-new car if they could not make the payments?”  At this point in my life, I was still just scrapping by financially.  I had never had anything more than a ten-year-old vehicle.  I was still buying cars from the junk yard as well as used tires from the junk yard.

images (2)One day, I had to go out to do a repo on a guy who bought a TV set and was not making his payments.  I went to the poor section of town and walked up to the address I had been given.  It looked like maybe a three-room small bungalow.  The yard was gated, and I looked for a dog.  Not seeing any, I opened the gate and walked up to the front door.  There was a screen door.  The main door was open, and I could see into the house.  I knocked loudly on the door as there was no doorbell.  I could see a living room and a kitchen.  Out of the kitchen, a large man started coming to the door.  As he drew closer, I could see he had no legs.  He was missing both legs and was walking with two crutches.  He asked me what I wanted.  I hesitated and then answered “Sorry, I must have the wrong house.”  I went back to my office and quit the same day.  I figured he needed the TV more than my company needed the money.  I could not do a job that required me to take from poor people what little they had in life.

These are some of the sufferings that try men’s souls and women’s as well.  In some sense, they are also our sufferings.  John Donne (1572-1631) wrote, “For thee Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls.”  The sufferings of humanity are all of our responsibilities.

My years working as an AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) counselor taught me that while I might have one or two things to cause me suffering, many other people have three, four, five or more problems.  I cannot begin to describe all the inhumanity that I saw reflected in the lives of my clients.  And then you have the “financially responsible politicians” who demand that many of these people get a job if they are going to receive welfare.  A whole cadre of human beings who disparage and denigrate the less fortunate as “welfare queens,  free loaders, leeches and parasites.”  Many so-called Christians who forget the words of Jesus,  “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” — Mark 10:21:

Helping+someone+get+up+Annie+Spratt+Unsplash_49d20648-4035-49ac-acb7-56f660c19fc8-prv

So that’s all Folks.  My life has been a breeze.  My friend Kwame always says that he is blessed.  I never use that word, but I suppose I have been blessed.  I have good health.  I have a great wife.  I have enough money to pay my bills and go on a vacation each year.  My only sufferings in life now are watching so many of my friends and relatives pass away.  I fear I might be the last man standing in a world that I feel increasingly alienated from.

Next Reflection:    

  1. These are the Lessons that life has taught me.

My Final Will and Testament – Insights – Reflection #5

18 May 2024 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

transfrom-data-actionable-insights

Last year at my 40th Demontreville Retreat, one of the exercises that we were given by the Retreat Master included a very challenging set of thoughts.  The worksheet for the activity was labeled as “A Testament.” I took the worksheet and instructions home with me.  It had fourteen tasks or reflections to complete.  I did not desire to complete them during the retreat.  It is now almost a year since my retreat, and I have decided to make the mental and emotional effort necessary to complete this “Testament.”

The worksheet started with these instructions:

Imagine that this is the last day of your life on earth.  In the time that you have left, you want to leave a “Testament” for your family and friends.  Each of the following could serve as chapter headings for your “Testament.”

5.  These are ten of the greatest Insights that I have gained in the School of Life.

Friends are like flowers:

I have realized that friends are like flowers.  They grow, they bloom and then some of them wither away over time.  Some friends are like Perennials.  They live for more than two years. They grow back each year as we renew them.  They may bloom for many seasons.  Over and over again.  Other friendships are more like Annuals.  Annuals have a much more limited life cycle.  Sometimes, they are over in less than a year.  They are beautiful when they last but somehow they are never destined for longevity.

Cowards die many times before their deaths:

A line from Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” that I have used my entire life to remind me that fear can be death.  Fear can stop us from trying new things, going to new places and enjoying life.  True, fear is a warning.  However, fear can also be paralyzing.  You have heard it said that some people are afraid of their shadows.  As we get older, life closes in on us.  Unless we can keep pushing back the boundaries, we will end up in a coffin long before it is our time.

Live for today.  Take one day at a time: 

So easy to say.  So hard to do.  All the great prophets in history have given paeans to the virtue of living one day at a time.  Jesus said “”Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”— Mathew, 6:34.  Buddha said, “Don’t get caught in the past, because the past is gone.  Do not get upset about the future, because the future is not yet here.  There is only one moment for you to be alive, and that is the present moment.” — Knowing the Better Way to Live Alone.  The Muslim preacher, Hasan al-Basri said, “The world is three days: Yesterday, with all that was in it, has gone.  Tomorrow, you may never see it.  As for today, it is yours, so work on it.”  There are many more admonitions to live in the moment.  Still, easier said than done.

I wake up making my lists each day.  I plan some of them one week, one month, and even years out.  Will those days ever come?  The older I get, the less likely it is that a ten-year plan will ever come to fruition.  It makes sense to live in the moment.  Except, what about the grasshopper and the ants?  They stored up grain for the future, while the grasshopper fiddled and danced.  Who starved?  A good friend of mine complains that it is not fair that state parks and other such venues do not operate on a first come first served basis.  Today, if you do not plan for the future, you may not get a campground.  Not planning for a future can mean even more dire prospects than not getting a campsite.  It might mean not having any retirement money.  It might mean not having any resources for health care and other necessities.  There must be a balance between living for today and planning for tomorrow.  Does anyone know a sure fire way to find that balance?  Here is what ChatGPT said in response to my query:

Balancing living for today and planning for tomorrow can be a delicate act, but it is achievable with mindful practices and habits.  Here are some strategies that can help:

Set Clear Goals: Define your long-term goals and break them down into smaller, manageable steps.  This helps you focus on the present while keeping an eye on the future.

Prioritize Your Time: Make a list of your daily activities and prioritize them based on importance and urgency.  This ensures you are spending time on what matters most, both for today and for your future.

Practice Mindfulness: Mindfulness techniques, such as meditation and deep breathing, can help you stay present and enjoy the moment without constantly worrying about the future.

Create a Balanced Schedule: Allocate specific times for work, relaxation, hobbies, and social activities.  This ensures that you are enjoying life now while also dedicating time to your future goals.

Financial Planning: Save and invest wisely to secure your future, but also set aside some money for leisure and experiences that bring you joy today.

Stay Flexible: Life is unpredictable, and plans may change.  Being adaptable allows you to enjoy the present while being prepared for future changes.

Reflect Regularly: Take time to reflect on your progress and adjust your plans as needed.  Regular reflection helps you stay aligned with your goals and make necessary changes.

Seek Balance in Health: Take care of your physical and mental health through regular exercise, a balanced diet, and sufficient rest.  Good health enables you to enjoy the present and ensures longevity.

Enjoy Small Moments: Find joy in everyday moments and appreciate the present.  Whether it’s a walk in the park, a good meal, or time with loved ones, these moments are valuable.

Continuous Learning: Invest in your personal and professional growth by learning new skills and acquiring knowledge.  This not only prepares you for the future but also enriches your present life.

By integrating these practices, you can create a harmonious balance between living in the moment and planning for the future.

It took ChatGPT all of about one minute to come up with the above list.  Pretty amazing isn’t it.  I only wish I were as smart as she/he is.

Kindness is more important than knowledge:

This is a lesson that has taken me many years to learn.  “Chicken Soup for the Soul” was a pivotal event in my life.  The stories started me thinking more about kindness and less about acquiring a great deal of knowledge.  I once thought that knowledge was everything.  Knowledge was the path to virtue according to the Bible.  Knowledge was power according to Sir Thomas Hobbes.  Knowledge comes from a different place than kindness.  Knowledge is necessary to make a living, but kindness is necessary to make a life.  A human being must be more than just a collection of ideas and theories.  We must be able to show compassion and empathy for other human beings and other creatures.  Kindness will make more of a difference to the world than the Encyclopedia Britannica ever did.

We do not age like a fine wine, we age like bananas:

Whoever came up with the trope about aging and fine wine must never have grown old.  The older I get, the more wizened I get.  My wine is getting moldy.  My face is getting wrinkled.  Like an aging banana, I now am getting more and more black spots on my skin.  Nobody throws a fine old wine away, but in a few years, just like a rotten old banana, my carcass will be disposed of.  I am softer and mushy now.  I once was firm and hard.  Who likes a mushy old banana?

Don’t rely on Hope:

Hope may spring eternal in the human breast but hope never accomplished anything.  It takes effort to make a life.  It takes effort to go to work every day.  It takes effort to do anything worth being done.  You can hope your life away.  Hope is a seasoning for life.  You can season the meat, but you must then cook it.  Hope can help you to have faith that you can change the world, but hope is not enough to get the job done.  Patrick Henry spoke about “hugging the delusive phantom of hope.”

You can hope to win the lottery but unless you buy a lottery ticket, you have no chance of winning the jackpot.  Hope can be a motivator, but running the 100-meter dash of life takes moving your legs to get to the finish line.  Keep hope in perspective but don’t let hope become your whole life.

Life is about trying to make a difference:

We wake up each morning and what do we do?  We say a prayer maybe.  Maybe we have breakfast.  We take a shower.  We write a few lines.  We go to work.  What is the purpose of our life?  If it is not to make a difference in the world, I don’t know what it is for.  Is it simply to live another day?  Is it just to have fun? “God Forbid” to quote Patrick Henry again.  If the meaning of our lives is not to make a difference in the world, I don’t know what we exist for.

Sadly, we may never know if we make a difference.  We are not born with a difference gauge that tells us which of our efforts is the most effective.  Faith can make a difference here.  Mother Teresa was once challenged by a reporter who asked her, “How do you know you are making any difference with all your poverty and charity work?”  Mother Teresa replied, “I am not called upon to make a difference, I am called upon to have faith.”  Faith guides us down the path of hope but we must be propelled by a desire to see a better world if not for ourselves than for our children.

Progress is made by people, ideas, and technology:

There are many theories of human progress.  Karl Marx believed that materialism was the prime motivator and engine for change.  “The essential condition for the existence, and for the sway of the bourgeois class, is the formation and augmentation of capital; the condition for capital is wage-labor.” — The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx.  Despite the fact that Marx has been refuted more times than I can count, his problem came not from his perspective, it came from his limitations of perspective.  He was not able to see the difference that ideas, people, and technology could and do make on the world.

The argument as to which drives progress is really a chicken and egg dilemma.  Or maybe it is more like a giant Mobius strip.  Great men come up with great ideas which create great technology which creates new material goods which lead to new leaders who have new ideas for more progress.  Around and around we go, but we always remain in one plane.  A Möbius strip is a one-sided surface with no boundaries that looks like an infinite loop.  Progress comes from going around and around and around.  All the elements of the universe help motivate us around this single plane.

Whatever can be done, can also be undone:

The pundits are telling us that if Trump gets reelected he will abandon and even destroy all the foundations for democracy that still exist in the USA.  His first attempt at doing so fell short but together with his minions, he will take another shot at it.  Americans are deluded into thinking that democracy is indestructible.

Democracy is a set of ideas which when put into action creates a system of government.  Sometimes this system works very well but often it is dysfunctional.  Democracy has no guarantee of success if people no longer believe in the set of ideas that defined their democracy.  There are only twenty or so true democracies in the world today out of over 180 different governments.  “The Economist Democracy Index rates countries on the state of their governing system each year.  In the latest published edition, corresponding to the year 2022, only 24 countries in the world have been rated as ‘full democracies’, representing 8% of the world’s population.” — The State of Democracy, April 2023

It is by no means inevitable that democracies will be created in the world or that they will be sustained.  History has shown us over and over again that great empires fall, and democracies may not survive.  Human beings seem to have an equal propensity to favor authoritarian governments as they do democratic governments.  Recent events in the USA cannot be denied.  America is full of people who do not believe in democracy and who would favor a tyrant and bully like Trump being elected for life.

Love surpasses everything:

If making a difference is the ultimate purpose of life than love is the ultimate meaning of life.  We often love not too well and not too wisely, but love is the soul of our existence.  Deprive humans of love and you deprive humans of the only thing that really matters in this world.  A lonely life is one that saddens all of us.  How many people live such lives?  What can we do to help others who are not loved or who cannot share love with others?  If we can stop manufacturing bombs and bullets to murder others, we might be able to work towards creating a world based on love.  We may have faith and we may have hope, but unless we mix the ingredients for love and share them with others, love will remain only a dream.

Next Reflection:    

6.  These are the Risks I took.

 

My Final Will and Testament – Convictions – Reflection #3

12 May 2024 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Last year at my 40th Demontreville Retreat, one of the exercises that we were given by the Retreat Master included a very challenging set of thoughts.  The worksheet for the activity was labeled as “A Testament.” I took the worksheet and instructions home with me.  It had fourteen tasks or reflections to complete.  I did not desire to complete them during the retreat.  It is now almost a year since my retreat, and I have decided to make the mental and emotional effort necessary to complete this “Testament.”

I am going to complete one or two reflections every other day for the next few weeks.  I would love it if you would do these tasks along with me.  If you would like to share your thoughts, that would be great, but I am not expecting anyone to do so.  I would like to know if you find any benefit in completing these activities.

The worksheet started with these instructions:

Imagine that this is the last day of your life on earth.  In the time that you have left, you want to leave a “Testament” for your family and friends.  Each of the following could serve as chapter headings for your “Testament.”

  1. These are the Convictions that I have lived by.

I do not like the sound of the word Convictions.  I think I have lived by too many Convictions in my life.  There are of course two somewhat very different meanings that can be attached to this word.  Dictionary.com provides the following two definitions.  Let us look at these for a second.

  1. A formal declaration that someone is guilty of a criminal offense, made by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law:  “She had a previous conviction for a similar offense”
  2. A firmly held belief or opinion:  “She takes pride in stating her political convictions”

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Regarding the definitions, one can see where a person might have some anxieties about the first association of Conviction with jail and prison.  I assure you that this is not where my anxiety comes from.  I am pretty sure it stems from the second definition.  “A firmly held belief.”  When I look back upon my life, I have had too many firmly held beliefs.  Behind my back, I know that I have been called “A know it all” many times.  I am still a very opinionated person as any of my readers can probably attest.  However, I would like to think that seldom if ever do I get into robust arguments any more with other people.  I even gave up trying to convince Trump supporters who include veterans, evangelicals, businesspeople, college graduates, relatives, and friends that Trump is a total scumbag with no morality or ethics.

I am trying hard to find any Convictions now that I am so dedicated to that I let them rule my life.  All of the great quotes, aphorisms, metaphors, analogies, theories, and ideas that I know of would fill an old encyclopedia Britannica.  But not one that I can think of would I waste five minutes defending.  I think that there are pro’s and con’s to everything in life.  For every up there is a down.  For every night, there is a day.  For every light, there is a dark.  For every right, there is a wrong.  Perhaps, Ecclesiastes comes as close to a Conviction as I want to live with today.

“For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come.  Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!  So, I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me.  For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.” — Ecclesiastes 2

Is the above a Conviction or is it simply a belief?  Not sure it even matters.  Everything we do is blowing in the wind.

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One story I like very much was told by OSHO about a mighty king who died.  This King believed that he was the greatest King on earth and also that he was the greatest King who ever lived.  The King died and found himself in the realm of the Golden Mountains.  These mountains were higher than the Himalayans and more vast than the entire Asian continent.  Here the King met the Caretaker of the mountains.  The Caretaker gave the King a magic pen and told him that he could write his name in the mountains.  This was permitted because he was a mighty King.  A few days later the King came back to the Caretaker and complained, “I have walked for many miles through the Golden Mountains and everywhere I went to sign my name, some other person had already signed their name.  Who are all these people?”  The Caretaker replied, “These are all the other mighty Kings before you who died.”

  • “Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies.”
  • “Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.”
  • “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”

I would rather live by a set of virtues and values than a set of convictions. 

Next Reflection:    

  1. These are the things that I have lived for.

 

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