Love Is All You Need or Is It?

02 Aug 2026 8 Comments

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

portrait-of-jesus-logo

I first wrote this essay in 2015. Eleven years later, after watching the continuing polarization of politics and religion around the world, I reread it and was surprised by how relevant it still seemed. I offer it again, not because I believe it answers every question, but because I believe the central question remains worth asking: What would Jesus say about the way his teachings are being lived today?”

March 23, 2015

In this third of my series on the three theological virtues we will discuss the subject of Love and the role it plays in our lives.   For this purpose, I thought we should go right to the source. Perhaps no one in history has done more to promote the virtue of Love than Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Jesus brought about a revolution in thinking and an entire faith founded on the single fundamental commandment to “Love thy neighbor as you Love yourself.”   Jesus called this the greatest of all commandments.  (Peace, I Give You Peace — Jason Upton) A great song to listen to as you read this blog today.

“Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” —- Mark 12:31

I asked Jesus if he would visit with us to see where his teachings have gone and what his views are now concerning the state of Love in the world. Jesus agreed and for old time sake, we decided to meet in the Garden of Gethsemane. We found comfortable seats on a couple of stone benches and proceeded to talk.

John: Thank you Jesus for joining me here today. I was hoping we could get your perspective on a number of issues that I am sure you would consider important. Primary among these issues is the state of Love in the world and where your followers have taken your views on Love.

Jesus: Well, thanks John. It is a pleasure to be here with you. This spot brings back many old memories. I still remember my 12 apostles who could not stay awake even one hour to pray with me. But they meant well and were good people. Without them, my ideas would not have spread as far and wide as they have.

religious icebergJohn:   I am going to start off with a loaded question. You know I don’t believe you are a god but I do believe you are a great prophet. I remain skeptical of Christians though as I don’t see that they really have much Love in their hearts. Could you comment on the movement that bears your name and their adoption of Love as a guiding principle?

Jesus: No offense taken. I never said I was a god. I always said I was a “Son of Man.” Nevertheless, I preached Love. My concept of Love was much different than the Greek definitions which encompassed four distinct words for Love: agápe, éros, philía, and storgē.  I think you could say that I was speaking of a more transcendental type of Love. Man’s Love has been more of the Greek varieties. The Love of which I speak is not only unconditional but universal and all inclusive.

John: You were noted to have said: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you, and persecute you.” — Matthew 5:44

Jesus: Yes, I preached this often, but alas it seems to little avail.

John: Yes, I can’t say that I see too many Christians loving their enemies. I don’t even see too many Christians loving other Christians. Baptists dislike Catholics. Catholics dislike Lutherans. Lutherans dislike Episcopalians and they all dislike Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses.

black jesusJesus: Would that it were not so but why pick on Christians? Muslims dislike Jews. Sunni’s dislike Shiites. Hindus dislike Buddhists. Few if any religions in the world embrace anyone with Love unless they are from their own tribe.

John: You mention the word “tribe.” In our day, a “tribe” is very different than it was in your time. Today a gang, cult, cabal or cartel might be considered a “tribe” by sociologists. Some people insist today that “race” is the highest or most important affiliation that anyone can have.

Jesus: Nevertheless, it was the same thing in my time. Canaanites killing Philistines.   Assyrians killing Babylonians. Levites killing Samaritans. Throughout history, tribal affiliations have undone everything I tried to teach about Love and compassion.

religion worth killing forJohn: Then of course, we have the rise of Nations and Nation states and perhaps more now than at any time in history, everyone is affiliated with a family, a group or tribe, an ethnic identity, a state, a nation and then finally a purpose whether it is Communism, Capitalism or Socialism. There is little Love lost or shed on anyone not in your particular identity group. And of course, even within groups there is no getting along. Are you aware of how many different groups use your name and call themselves Christian? They cannot even get along with each other never mind getting along with their enemies.

Jesus: What you say is true. I was a simple carpenter’s son but I saw the hatred and killing and I wanted to change the way people treated each other. People embraced the “idea” of my ideology but they could never really assimilate it in their hearts. But better they at least start with a correct vision and continue to strive towards it.

John: Do you really think so? Are you aware of the Rwandan massacres wherein Christians from the Hutu tribe massacred their Christian neighbors and friends from the Tutsi tribe? Of course, I think you know of the brutality and murders that have been inflicted upon Jews also by their neighbors who were professing a belief in you. Millions and millions of Jews have been murdered by their Christian neighbors.

Jesus: Yes, I know. They profess that I died on a cross for their sins, but they have little understanding or empathy to sacrifice even for people who believe as they do never mind their enemies. I am appalled by the excuses they make in my name for these atrocities. Paul had it right when he wrote:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not Love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not Love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not Love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; Love does not envy; Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” —  1 Corinthians 13

John: Yes, many people have this quote on their bedroom walls and it is a popular recitation at weddings.   But you have said that words alone with not get you into heaven. I quote:

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.” —- Matthew 7:21

eliminate hungreJesus: Yes, I meant that good intentions, prayers, and admonitions are not enough. Without deeds and actions, you will never see the Kingdom of Heaven.   The pious Christian going to church on Sunday, saying prayers, tithing and reading the bible will not get into heaven if he or she trespasses on his neighbor.

John: And who is a Christian’s neighbor.

The Good SamaritanJesus: You might remember the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I answered a similar question about “who is thy neighbor?”   I replied to my disciples:

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”  The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” — Luke 10: 25-37

All of those who forgive others are thy neighbors. Those who show Love for others are thy neighbors. Those who sow compassion and not hate are thy neighbors. Those who sow discord and hate are not your neighbors. Those who kill and maim cannot do so in my name. That is an abomination to me. No true Christian can kill or hurt another intentionally in my name. That is what Love is, doing good for others and not evil. The devil wants man to do evil. I want and have always wanted humans to Love one another.

“If you Love those who Love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ Love those who Love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” — Luke 6: 27-36

jesus-love-your-enemies-lgJohn: How do you account for all these Christian ministers spewing their hatred against our so called enemies, these war chaplains sanctifying battle readiness and priests and pastors blessing those who are going into combat?

Jesus: Clearly they are false prophets and do not understand my words. I have said:

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” —Mark 9:42

John: What do you think about the killings and wars that have been done in the name of Christianity? Are these evil?

Jesus: I can understand why so many people are waiting for me to return. However, I have never left and they do not understand that fact. Those who choose to Love and do good will be saved. They have to make this choice. Their Father and I have never taken this choice away from anyone. You cannot come to the Kingdom of God except through making this choice. I have said that I am the way and I still point the way. Mankind has to make the choice. The devil instills fear and fear drives man to make evil choices. Evil thrives on fear. Fear drives man to choose hate over Love.   Love is still the way and the only choice to salvation.

John: Are you saying that people who kill or hate others will suffer eternal damnation?

homeless manJesus: Our Father is infinitely compassionate. There is no retribution in heaven. People make their hell on earth with their choices. Choose Love and you can have heaven where ever people gather in my name. Choose hate and you choose Hell. Choose hate and you choose Evil. Choose hate and you choose eternal damnation.

John: Jesus, thank you very much for visiting with us today. I have one final question. What do you think about the other world religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism?

Jesus: I think we are all teaching the power of Love over hate. But fear gets in the way of hearing our message. Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims are all people who have been shown the way. They lose the way because of their own self-hatred and fear of others. Any of these paths can take you to salvation. There are many other paths as well that can lead anyone to salvation. There are no pagans, atheists or agnostics who cannot be saved. They all have the same choice as I gave my disciples.   The way has many paths but the same gate. That gate is Love.

John: Thank you Jesus.

Time for Questions:

Are you a Christian? What makes you a Christian? Does believing that Jesus was a God make you a Christian or is it how you behave that makes you a Christian? What can we do to help bring about more love in the world? What are you doing to accomplish this goal? Is it enough to just love your family? What role does forgiveness play in your life?

Life is just beginning.

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”  ― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

Memory – A Perishable Commodity That is Invaluable

23 Jul 2026 4 Comments

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

Once in a while it is fun to do a blog on a song that means a lot to me and I hope to some of my readers as well.  I have done several of these “song blog posts” in the past.  I hear the song while I am writing and I only wish that I were musical enough to be able to sing it as well as write about it. 

This particular song is from the musical Cats which is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.  Mr. Webber had a slew of great musicals with some very unforgettable songs.  This song is called “Memory.”  The song “Memory” from the 1981 musical Cats was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics written by Trevor Nunn, which were based on the poems of T.S. Eliot.

The song is about an elderly feline Grizabella who dreams of the days when she was young and beautiful and full of energy.  She has a chance to be reborn again and holds out hope for this to happen, which is reflected in the song.  The song is more than just about growing old, it is about aging, loss, regret, identity, hope and the courage to continue living.  For those of us over a certain age who think of themselves as “elderly” it was like this song was written for us.  I know when I hear the rising and falling tones that I feel sad but also joyful.  Perhaps there is a life again after this one. 

My memories come alive like characters in a movie that I am watching.  Only the movie is in my mind.  My father is driving in the car with my mom and I.  My mother is taking me to a Chinese restaurant on a Friday night in Jamaica.  I am pulling my sisters hair because she is annoying me.  My cousin and I are building a tree fort, but no girls are allowed.  Time goes by from childhood to adolescence, to youthful adult, to middle age, to growing old but not wanting to admit it, to finally conceding that I am old, to realizing that death is what my next adventure may be.  In all of these stages, friends, enemies and relatives make brief appearances on stage with me.  But I remain the star of my show.  Perhaps someday, someplace, somewhere, they will make a movie of my life.  “The Young John Persico.”  But I doubt it and it would probably not be a big box office hit anyway.

Memory
Turn your face to the moonlight
Let your memory lead you
Open up, enter in
If you find there
The meaning of what happiness is
Then a new life will begin

In this first verse, we see an association between happiness and starting a new life.  It makes us wonder if we struggle to live a life and that living does not really begin until we know what happiness means.  But happiness is not going to mean the same thing to you as it does to me.  I thought that once I was retired and beyond a reasonable prospect of finding meaningful work that my “happy” days were over.  I have never been so happy as when I was doing work that had meaning and purpose.  Work that would make a difference to the world and just maybe make the world a slightly better place than when I entered it.

Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember
The time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory
Live again

The singer (Grizabella) remembers a time when she was admired, attractive, and full of life.  She isn’t merely recalling youth—she is remembering when she felt that she belonged.

“I was beautiful then” isn’t simply about physical beauty.  It means:

  • I mattered.
  • I was loved.
  • I had purpose.
  • I knew joy.

This is something many older people experience.  We don’t simply miss being young—we miss being the person we once were.  We look in the mirror, and we do not recognize the person that we see because the images that we have in our mind do not match the image we see in the mirror.  I still run as fast as I did when I was 30 years old except my mile times back then were six minutes and now they are 13 minutes.  I think my watch must be running slower.  On a recent scuba diving trip, the deck hands called me “Pops.”  I had to look around to see who they were talking to. 

We don’t go to wild parties anymore, first because we never did and second because we would not last five minutes anyway.  My life seemed to have more purpose when I was working.  There was and is an indelible association in my mind with getting a weekly paycheck and having a real purpose in my life.  A monthly Social Security check does not seem to do the trick.

I knew what happiness was when I cashed my paychecks.  Each check represented the value of my work for the world.  I was naïve but happiness was working and getting paid.  As we grow older and wiser, the meaning of happiness evolves and matures.  Happiness goes from certainty to uncertainty and back to certainty.  But like the Zen Cycle, the new or latest certainty has a different character and a different profile than the certainty we had when we were young. 

Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
A street lamp dies
Another night is over
Another day is dawning

I wake up in the morning.  An ugly taste in my mouth.  Cigarette butts fill the numerous ashtrays, and the smell of tobacco lingers in the air.  Empty bottes of wine and beer are scattered around the kitchen and a few tables.  The kitchen sink is full of plates and glasses.  There is a stillness in the room which contrasts vividly with the noise and boisterousness of the previous nights.  Interesting how life can change so quickly like day goes into night.  But it is time to get back to business.  Nothing is forever.  Friends, relatives, and jobs are so much smoke in the air.  Here today and gone tomorrow.  The only certainty is that life goes on with or without us. 

Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I mustn’t give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

This verse makes me think of the famous line from the Shakespeare comedy, “As You Like It.”

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”

Well, I am ending my seventh chronological age and in September will begin my eighth age.  Karen wants me to go for nine, but I keep telling her that the odds are against it.  But if I don’t give in, if I don’t concede to the inevitable, perhaps I have more memories to create.  Can I talk myself into surviving when like others before me, I no longer feel like I fit into the present world.  I am reminded of the words written by Thomas Jefferson.

On May 11 in 1819, Thomas Jefferson wrote about making peace with his slow descent toward death.

“A decline of health, at the age of 76, was naturally to be expected,” he wrote, “and is a warning of an event which cannot be distant, and whose approach I contemplate with little concern.  For indeed in no circumstance has nature been kinder to us than in the soft gradations by which she prepares us to part willingly with what we are not destined always to retain.

“First one faculty is withdrawn and then another, sight, hearing, memory, eucrasy, affections, and friends, filched one by one till we are left among strangers, the mere monuments of times past, and specimens of antiquity for the observation of the curious.”

Maybe I am too pessimistic, but I think we have a time we belong to and a time we don’t belong to.  My parents did not belong to the Elvis and Beatles era, and I do not belong to the Taylor Swift and JayZ era.  I increasingly feel like “a specimen of antiquity” as did Jefferson. 

By the way, Eucrasy means (a healthy, well-balanced state of the body).  I had to look that up.  I am always amazed at how erudite our Founding Fathers were. 

Sunlight through the trees in summer
Endless masquerading
Like a flower as the dawn is breaking
The memory is fading

Life is a charade.  We play many roles and fulfill many identities in life.  Many if not most of these simply fade away like Mac Arthur’s “Old Soldier”.  Our memories fade.  Strange it is to wonder what we will be left with.  I remember digging trees with Mexican Braceros who did not speak English.  I remember climbing a tree to escape the police when I was in high school.  But I can’t remember my first date or the first woman I was really in love with.

I remember going to the 1964 Worlds Fair when I was 16 and spending two days looking at exhibits by myself.  I remember both times when I tried to eat a fried banana.  Once at the 1964 Worlds Fair and once in 1966 at a Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans.  Suffice it to say that the bananas did not agree with me.  But I did not give up.  Years later in Mexico, I tried again and was successful.  The third time was a charm.  Would I have tried more times with some other endeavors in my life.  Those are memories that I try to forget. 

Touch me
It’s so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me
You’ll understand what happiness is
Look, a new day
Has begun

Now we reach the emotional climax.

Many people hear this as a request for physical affection.  I think it is far more profound.

She is asking:

  • See me.
  • Recognize me.
  • Treat me like I still matter.

Every lonely elderly person understands this plea.  We want to know that we still count.  Perhaps that is why grandparenting has become so important.  As Baby Boomers leave behind so many of the things that they lived for, grandchildren replace the antiques of their lives with the youth and curiosity that we once owned.  We may not go raging into the night, but we do not want to go lonely into the night. 

I was stumped though by what the line “If you touch me, you’ll understand what happiness is.”

I asked Metis (AI Assistant)  how she would interpret this line.  She gave me four possibilities. 

The one I like best says that compassion gives people back their humanity.  When someone reaches out with kindness— they help restore the person’s dignity.

Grizabella is saying: “Compassion transforms not only the lonely person—it transforms the compassionate person as well.”

Finale: 

I do not really have much more to say so I will not call this a conclusion section.  I leave it to you to form your own conclusions.  What would be a fitting end or denouement to this blogpost?  My friend SoundEagle has advised me not to call these blogs but blogposts.  A sort of technical difference but I have taken his advice. 

I like the idea of a finale since it goes along with the music theme of the blog.  So, what better way to end this blog.  You guessed it.

What Makes a Righteous Man or a Righteous Woman? – J. Persico and Metis (AI Assistant)

19 Jul 2026 4 Comments

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

I want to talk about the idea of righteousness in my blog today.   Of course, I did not invent this concept.   But I do have my own definition for the concept.   I am going to give you my definition and then some popular definitions from other perspectives.   

A righteous person consistently places truth, justice, compassion, and integrity above personal gain.  They willingly sacrifice wealth, comfort, reputation, or even life itself when necessary to protect others, uphold justice, or defend what is right.  They serve others without expecting reward, listen with humility, admit mistakes, practice self-control, and continually strive to become a better human being.  They freely share credit, accept responsibility, and recognize that most worthwhile human achievements are built upon the efforts of many rather than the glory of one.  Their character inspires trust because their thoughts, words, and actions remain aligned even when doing so comes at great personal cost.  Following are a few examples from history of righteous people who were not afraid to die for their beliefs and actions. 

Martin Luther said, “Here I stand.  I can do no other.” 

Socrates said,  “And if you say to me, “Socrates, we will let you go free but only on condition that you stop your questioning,” then I will reply, “Men of Athens, I honor and love you.  But I must obey God rather than you, and while I have life and strength I will never stop doing philosophy.”

Jesus said: “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above.” Pontius Pilate had claimed that he had the authority to release or crucify Jesus.

Nelson Mandela said, “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society… It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Sophie Scholl, shortly before her execution by the Nazis said, “I am, now as before, of the opinion that I did the best that I could do for my nation.  I therefore do not regret my conduct and will bear the consequences that result from my conduct.

Now let us look at how some religions with considerably more wisdom than I have define the idea of a Righteous Person. 

✡️ Judaism

Perhaps the religion that has done the most to bring the concept to the attention of the world.   In Judaism, a righteous person (tzaddik) is someone who strives to live according to God’s will as revealed in the Torah.  Righteousness is demonstrated through faithful obedience to God’s commandments (mitzvot), justice (tzedek), mercy, humility, honesty, and compassion.  A righteous Jew seeks to honor God not only through worship but also through ethical treatment of others, caring for the poor, welcoming the stranger, and pursuing peace (shalom).  The Hebrew prophets consistently taught that righteousness is measured as much by moral conduct and social justice as by religious observance.  While no person is considered perfect, the righteous continually repent, grow in character, and seek reconciliation with God and others.  Righteousness is ultimately expressed in covenant faithfulness, integrity, and living a life that sanctifies God’s name.

✝️ Catholicism

In Catholicism, righteousness is living in a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, participation in God’s grace, and cooperation with that grace through a life of holiness.  While salvation begins as God’s free gift, righteousness is nurtured through the sacraments, prayer, scripture, charity, and faithful obedience to God’s commandments.  A righteous person seeks to imitate Christ by practicing the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, along with the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.  Genuine righteousness is reflected in love for God and neighbor, concern for the poor, forgiveness, humility, and a commitment to justice.  Catholics understand righteousness as both an inner transformation by grace and an outward life of good works inspired by that grace.

✝️ Protestantism

Most Protestant traditions define righteousness primarily as being made right with God through faith alone (sola fide) in Jesus Christ.  Human beings cannot earn righteousness through good works; instead, Christ’s righteousness is credited to believers through faith.  Good works do not produce salvation but naturally flow from genuine faith as evidence of a transformed life.  A righteous person trusts in God’s grace, seeks to obey Scripture, grows in holiness through the Holy Spirit, and demonstrates love, integrity, compassion, forgiveness, and service to others.  While Protestant denominations vary in emphasis, they generally agree that righteousness begins with God’s grace, is received by faith, and is demonstrated through a life increasingly shaped by Christ’s character.

🕉️ Hinduism

In Hinduism, righteousness is living according to dharma—one’s moral, spiritual, and social duty in harmony with the cosmic order.  A righteous person practices truthfulness (satya), nonviolence (ahimsa), self-discipline, compassion, generosity, and respect for all forms of life.  Because dharma may differ according to one’s stage of life and responsibilities, righteousness involves faithfully fulfilling one’s obligations while acting without selfish attachment to results, as taught in the Bhagavad Gita.  Such a person seeks spiritual growth through right action, devotion, knowledge, or meditation.  By cultivating virtue and reducing selfish desires, the righteous gradually purify their karma and move toward liberation (moksha), the ultimate realization of unity with the Divine.

☸️ Buddhism

In Buddhism, righteousness is not defined by obedience to a creator God but by living in accordance with the Dharma—the truth about reality and the path that ends suffering.  A righteous person cultivates wisdom, ethical conduct, compassion, mindfulness, and mental discipline.  They follow principles such as the Noble Eightfold Path, avoiding actions that produce harm while developing loving-kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), generosity, patience, and equanimity.  Right intention, right speech, right action, and right livelihood are central expressions of righteous living.  Rather than seeking divine approval, the righteous Buddhist seeks to overcome greed, hatred, and ignorance, benefiting both themselves and others while progressing toward enlightenment (nirvana).

☪️ Islam

In Islam, righteousness (al-birr) is wholehearted submission to Allah through faith, obedience, and sincere devotion.  The Qur’an teaches that righteousness includes belief in God, His prophets, revealed scriptures, angels, and the Last Day, along with faithful performance of prayer, charity (zakat), fasting, honesty, justice, patience, mercy, and kindness.  A righteous person possesses taqwa—a deep awareness and reverence for God that guides every aspect of life.  Following the example (Sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad, they strive for purity of heart, integrity, generosity, forgiveness, and compassion toward others.  Righteousness is measured not only by religious rituals but by moral character, social responsibility, and sincere intentions.  Ultimately, the righteous seek to please Allah in both private and public life.

✴️ Bahá’í Faith

In the Bahá’í Faith, righteousness is living in harmony with God’s will while recognizing the unity of humanity and the progressive revelation of God’s messengers.  A righteous person reflects divine attributes such as truthfulness, justice, compassion, humility, trustworthiness, generosity, and love.  Bahá’ís believe that spiritual growth occurs through prayer, service, moral discipline, and continual self-improvement.  Righteousness is expressed not only in personal virtue but also in active efforts to promote peace, eliminate prejudice, advance equality between women and men, pursue justice, and contribute to the betterment of society.  Service to humanity is regarded as a form of worship.  A righteous person strives to align thought, word, and deed with God’s teachings while fostering unity among all people, regardless of race, nationality, or religion.

Looking at the above definitions might lead one to conclude that there are several common principles that all have in common.  You would be right.  I have summarized them in the table below and then provided a description following the table.  I hope that as you read this, it will not be strictly an academic exercise.  I think the concept of being a “righteous” person is an excellent concept to live by.  Ask yourself, which of these principles reflect beliefs and more important actions.  Then apply these to the next lawyer, politician or anyone else you decide to work with. 

Here are six principles that are found, in one form or another, in every one of these religions.

Universal PrincipleJudaismCatholicProtestantHinduBuddhistIslamBahá’í
1. Moral Integrity (Truth & Honesty)✓✓✓✓✓✓✓
2. Compassion & Love for Others✓✓✓✓✓✓✓
3. Justice & Fairness✓✓✓✓✓✓✓
4. Self-Discipline / Self-Control✓✓✓✓✓✓✓
5. Service to Others✓✓✓✓✓✓✓
6. Personal Spiritual Growth✓✓✓✓✓✓✓

1. Moral Integrity

Every religion insists that righteousness begins with being truthful and honest.

  • Judaism: obey God’s commandments honestly.
  • Christianity: live truthfully before God.
  • Islam: truthfulness is a mark of taqwa.
  • Hinduism: satya (truth) is one of the highest virtues.
  • Buddhism: Right Speech forbids lying.
  • Bahá’í: Truthfulness is called “the foundation of all human virtues.”

Without integrity, none of the others consider a person righteous.

2. Compassion

Every religion teaches that righteous people care about others.

This may be called

  • Love
  • Mercy
  • Compassion
  • Loving-kindness
  • Charity
  • Benevolence

but it always means putting another person’s welfare ahead of selfishness.

Interestingly, compassion is probably the single most universal religious virtue.

3. Justice

All seven religions insist that righteousness requires fairness.

Examples:

  • protecting the weak
  • honesty in business
  • fairness in judgment
  • defending the oppressed
  • respecting human dignity

Justice may be defined differently, but no religion praises selfish exploitation.

4. Self-Control

This one surprised me when I first start studying the different religions.

Every one teaches that righteousness requires mastery over one’s own desires.

Examples include

  • resisting temptation
  • controlling anger
  • avoiding greed
  • practicing humility
  • moderation
  • discipline

In Buddhism this means overcoming attachment.

In Christianity it is resisting sin.

In Islam it is submission to Allah.

In Hinduism it is mastery over desire.

Different language—same principle.

5. Service

A righteous person does not merely avoid evil.

They actively do good.

Examples include

  • helping the poor
  • generosity
  • charity
  • hospitality
  • kindness
  • community service
  • peacemaking

This principle appears almost universally.

6. Continuous Spiritual Growth

No religion says,

“You’re righteous now.  You’re finished.”

Instead they all teach continual growth.

Judaism:
Become more faithful.

Catholicism:
Grow in holiness.

Protestantism:
Sanctification.

Islam:
Increase in taqwa.

Hinduism:
Purify karma.

Buddhism:
Progress toward enlightenment.

Bahá’í:
Develop divine virtues.

Every religion sees righteousness as a journey rather than a destination.

An Even Deeper Commonality

Looking at these traditions side by side, they all point toward one overarching principle:

A righteous person is someone who continually seeks to bring their inner character and outward actions into harmony with the highest moral reality they recognize.

For Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá’í Faith, that highest reality is God.

For Hinduism, it is dharma and ultimate reality (Brahman).

For Buddhism, it is the Dharma and the true nature of reality.

The metaphysical foundations differ, but the practical direction is remarkably similar: transform yourself so that your thoughts, words, and deeds consistently express truth, compassion, justice, self-control, and service to others.

I find it striking to think that if you met seven truly righteous people—one from each of these religions—you might notice their theological differences, but you would likely recognize many of the same virtues in their character. That shared moral core has been one of the enduring insights of comparative religion.

Go back now and review my definition?  Does it hold up?  Does it reflect any or some of the principles noted in the religions named? 

Conclusions:

I want to end with some questions.  Years ago, I always ended my blogs with questions but somehow I lost this idea.  It is especially important because questions help us to reflect on life.  “The unexamined life is not worth living,” it is a decent quote to live by.  Here then are some questions to help you lead an examined life. 

Are you a righteous person?  Why or why not? 

Would others say that you are a righteous person?

Do all of the above principles apply to your actions as well as your stated beliefs?

Do you know when you are being a hypocrite or when you stray from your beliefs?

How charitable would people say that you are if you included charity to the entire human race and not just your tribe, religion, friends, or family?

How many friends do you have that you would say were righteous people?

Are you satisfied that you are on the right moral, ethical and spiritual path? 

When Dreaming Is Not Enough

22 Jun 2026 Leave a comment

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

When I was young, I loved the words from the  song “Dreaming” by Johnny Burnett:

Dreamin’, I’m always dreamin’

Dreamin’ love will be mine

The song “Motherless Child” by Richie Havens was my dirge.  I never dated in high school.  Never went to a dance or prom.  I left high school a few months after just narrowly graduating so I could fight the communists in Asia.  I had no particular hatred for them.  They had never even been much on my mind.  But I had no roots.  No one to love me.  No one who needed me.  It was the easiest thing in the world to climb out my back window one night, go over to a friends house and join the military the next day.  Only one soul knew where I went.  I was not lost and I did not want to be found.  I never regretted it.

It was over a year before my parents finally found out that I was now enlisted in the United States Air Force.  My father wrote me a letter telling me that he was disowning me.  I almost died laughing.  He no longer had any influence over my life.

“Sometimes I felt like a motherless child, a long, long way from my home.”  It was not always easy feeling alone and unloved.  My first wife told the shrink that we saw before getting a divorce that, “I always thought everyone had feelings, but I learned that John has no feelings.” 

I thought Spock was too irrational and not logical enough.  I wanted to dream and think about the future but the saying “A dream without a plan is worthless” only made me feel incompetent.  I could not think of any plans since I had no goals.  The only thing I enjoyed doing was reading.  I could spend hours in a library just reading anything that caught my fancy.  My dreams were all in my books.  My books were my best friends.

Still, it was not easy to pass up my dreaming songs.  Somehow, if I could not dream, I could at least listen to others who could dream.   “All I Have to do is Dream” by the Everly Brothers was another song that seemed to promise that someday I could find true love.  Someone who really cared about me.  But until then, all I had to do was:

Dream, dream, dream, dream
When I want you in my arms
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is

It is not easy going through life with only dreams for company.  For many years, I thought love was a farce.  I could never really attach myself to anyone or anything.  It was no wonder that my first marriage ended.  I still cannot understand how she stayed with me sixteen years.  I look back on the husband and father that I never lived up to being with a great deal of regret and shame.  I know I am not the only one stuck with these feelings but even if I knew the entire human race shared these feelings it would not make one bit of difference in terms of the sorrow I feel.  “Get over it, I have been told.”  “Forgive yourself and move on.”  So easy to say.

Another dreaming song which I can still hear even when it is not being played is “Dream On” by Aerosmith.  What struck me about their song Dream On was not just the music but the idea that dreaming itself was a form of survival.

Sing with me, if it’s just for today

Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Dream on

Dream on

Hard to believe that a teenager wrote these lyrics about life, success, and death finally coming to take it all away.  But as long as we can keep on dreaming, we have something that neither God nor Satan can take from us.  We need a dream which can be the vision that the Bible says people perish without. 

Years later I discovered Viktor Frankl.  Based on his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, Victor Frankl wrote a book about survival in the Nazi Concentration Camps called “Man’s Search for Meaning.”  He wrote that without meaning, we have no anchors in our lives.  Nothing to live for.  He argued that people survive through meaning.  This was perhaps his most original idea.

Looking back, I realized that books had given me meaning before I ever found purpose.

When people lose a sense of purpose, they often experience what Frankl called an “existential vacuum”—feelings of emptiness, boredom, or despair.

But Frankl did not mention dreaming.  Many of us find meaning or purpose in our lives by dreaming.  My mother believed that some day she would win the lottery and we would all be rich.  My sister dreamed of a better life since she insisted that she was really a princess who had been kidnapped by my pedophile dad. 

In his  “Dream Lovers”, Bobbie Darin put the words in my soul into a hit song:

Every night I hope and pray

I want a dream lover

So I don’t have to dream alone

I titled this blog, “When Dreaming is Not Enough.” 

We can dream all day long, but will it really be enough to have a happy life.  I cannot imagine a life without some dreams to live for but when does dreaming stop and life begin? 

Can dreaming stop us from having the life we want to live by substituting fantasies for actions that we need to take?

Dreaming sustained me when I had little else.  It carried me through lonely years, failed relationships, and unanswered questions.  But dreams alone could never give me the life I wanted.

The people in my life—my first wife, my second wife, military friends, college friends, and friends from work—all helped move me closer to the life I wanted to live.  Years of counseling helped me get rid of my OCD.  Books taught me what life could be like for me.  I no longer had a death wish that seemed to go continually unanswered.

At some point, every dream demands a choice.  We can keep dreaming about love, purpose, friendship, or a better future—or we can take the risk of pursuing our dreams.

Dreams are where life begins.

Action is where life happens.

When “Parental Rights” Become a Weapon

07 Jun 2026 8 Comments

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

If you are expecting a blog filled with civility toward those who persecute others, you may be disappointed.  There are some issues that stir my anger, and the mistreatment of Gay and Trans people is one of them.

I am talking about those so called citizens, neighbors, relatives, clergy, patriots, politicians, and even friends who mistreat and harass Gays and Trans people.  Gays and Trans already have a very difficult life.  They are seldom involved in any violent crimes against others.  Many of them hide their proclivities away because it will cost them friends, love and even their lives.  The amount of violence against Gays and Trans far transcends the overall levels of violence in our society.

GroupAnnual violent victimization rate
LGBT people106.4 victimizations per 1,000 people (10.6%)
Non-LGBT people21.1 victimizations per 1,000 people (2.1%)
Transgender people93.7 victimizations per 1,000 people (9.4%)

 LGBT people overall experienced violent victimization at roughly 5 times the rate of non-LGBT people.  For transgender people, the rates of violent assaults are over 4 times the rate for Non-LGBT people.  Before anyone dismisses this data as politics, remember that behind every statistic is a human being who simply wanted to live their life in peace.

How would you like to be minding your own business and a group of our stalwart citizens who do not think you should exist decides to beat the hell out of you.  I grew up on a street corner where on Fridays nights if the Navy ships were in at the docks, some guys would take it on their own to go down and “Roll” a few Gays.  It was well known that some Gay men would hang around the docks on Friday nights if the ships were in. 

I am proud that I never joined in “Rolling a Gay”.  My father was a WWII decorated veteran with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.  He was 6’4” tall and became a professional boxer when he left the military.  He had served in Paton’s 3rd Army on the drive up from Sicily to Germany.  He was a mean SOB and tough as nails.  My friends would not come over to my house because they were all afraid of my father.  My father was always getting in fights.  Once on a visit to where my father eventually ended up working (the US Post Office) his supervisor took me aside and told me that my father was a great worker, but he would never get promoted.  He said, “your dad is always getting in fights.”  My father would not tolerate taking shit from anyone. 

My father became Commander of one of the American Legion posts in Brooklyn.  One night he was taking the days money for food and drinks to the local bank drop after the Legion Post had closed.  It was probably after 11 PM or so.  Four local hoods tried to attack him on the way and take the bag of money away from him.  He beat the “you know what” out of all four of them and waited until some passerby called the cops.  He turned them over to the police.  Somehow a NYC newspaper got word of this and wrote the story up a week or so later. 

As mean and hard as my father was, he had no use for anyone picking on someone.  He would not tolerate anyone hurting someone smaller than they were or less able to protect themselves.  One day, he heard me use the word nigger.  He grabbed me by the back of my neck and brought me over to the kitchen sink.  He turned the water on and picked up a bar of soap.  He shoved the soap in my face and told me that if he ever heard me use that word again, he would wash my mouth out with this bar of soap.  I know he meant it because he was not shy of using the belt on me when I was growing up.

I never did measure up to my father’s standards.  He was disappointed that I never grew past my 5’ 8” inch height.  I went in the military right after high school.  I wanted to go to Vietnam and fight the evil communists.  Every time I came home, my dad would measure me to see if I grew any.  I never did.

My dad had many problems.  Overall, I would say he was not a good man or a good dad.  But he did teach me to HATE bullies and to step in whenever I saw a bully picking on someone.  My dad always told me “Don’t worry about how big they are.  Go in swinging.  The bigger they are they harder they will fall.”  I ended up having too many fights myself.  But I am proud that like my dad I always fought bullies and I never picked on the underdog or anyone smaller than I was.   

FILE PHOTO: LGBT activists and supporters hold a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears arguments in a major LGBT rights case

Now we seem to have a nation of bullies who pick on Gays and Trans.  People who mind their own business but have different sexual orientation than the mainstream of so called “Normal” people.  “Normal” people promote their healthy sexual lifestyles and “family” orientations to the press and public while hiding their “abnormal” and even deviant behaviors. 

Hardly a day goes by when some “Normal” person who seems to lead an accepted lifestyle by “Normal” standards is then caught in bed with someone who should have been off-limits.  Or worse, we are constantly finding “Normal” people who turn out to be pedophiles that prey on young children in their off hours. 

But there is another danger in our society.  Politicians, ministers, and others who want to take away the rights from people who are not like them or who do not practice their religious beliefs or sexual orientation.  We are told the Bible bans and censors homosexual lifestyles by these religious zealots who claim to lead their own lives by the Bible.  It is easy to use the Bible to justify your own beliefs.  A book written by many people over centuries in which you can find justification for anything you want to do.  It is full of exhortations to kill people that few would be stupid or evil enough to endorse today. 

Here are some examples of biblical laws and commands that most modern Christians do not follow literally:

1. Stoning Rebellious Children

“If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son… all the men of his town are to stone him to death.”
— Deuteronomy 21:18–21

Virtually no modern Christian advocates carrying out this law, despite some citing Old Testament laws regarding homosexuality.

2. Executing Adulterers

“The adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”
— Leviticus 20:10

3. Executing People Who Work on the Sabbath

“Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death.”
— Exodus 31:15

4. Women Speaking in Church

“Women should remain silent in the churches.”
— 1 Corinthians 14:34

5. Selling Daughters

Exodus 21:7 discusses a father selling his daughter into servitude.

Recently a group called America First Legal founded by Stephen Miller one of Trump’s top sycophants has come up with a new way to attack Gay and Trans people.  He is out to find a way to punish teachers who allegedly conceal  information from parents regarding the sexual orientation of their elementary school children.  He wants a bill that would require teachers to alert parents regarding their children’s transgender identities or activities in elementary schools. What kind of a human being would suggest a policy like this?  He claims to be an advocate of Parental Rights.  Whatever his stated purpose, the practical effect of his policy is to place vulnerable children under suspicion and subject them to scrutiny that many other children will never face.

I taught every grade from nursery to Ph.D. programs in my 50 plus years of teaching.  I taught two years in elementary grades 1 to 3.  My undergraduate degree in Health Education included a license to teach K-12 grade.  In my years working in elementary schools, I never saw any behavior that I would want to report to parents.  Did boys play with dolls?  Did girls play with trucks?  Were some girls more querulous than boys?  Were some boys more timid than girls?  If you have ever been around children 6-8 years old, you would certainly know the answer to these questions. What kind of a person would start requiring teachers to monitor such behavior, label it as deviant and then report it to school administrators and parents.  I cannot imagine in all my fifty years of teaching being given that responsibility or added duty to my teaching obligations.  I taught all my students equally.  I was there to teach morals, ethics and ideas, not decide who needed to be outed or who was Gay or Trans.   

Let’s look at Stephen Miller for a moment to see what he supports and does not support.  He claims to be supporting Parental Rights which is a pronouncement full of “mom, god and apple pie” thoughts for most Americans.  But is he really a man who cares for the children as well as the parents?

Stephen Miller became nationally known as one of the principal architects of the Trump administration’s hard-liner immigration policies, including travel restrictions, aggressive deportation initiatives, and the 2018 family-separation policy at the border.  Even many conservatives who support stricter immigration enforcement acknowledge that he tends to favor maximalist approaches rather than compromise.

I repeat that this is the man who supported family separation, sought to restrict DACA, challenged LGBTQ protections, and now wants schools involved in monitoring children’s gender identity. You decide whether this sounds like someone primarily concerned with the well-being of vulnerable children.

His critics point to:

  • Family separation at the border.
  • Attempts to end or restrict DACA protections.
  • Travel bans affecting predominantly Muslim countries.
  • Efforts to challenge diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
  • Litigation aimed at rolling back various LGBTQ protections.

His supporters would respond that:

  • He is defending national sovereignty.
  • He is defending equal treatment under the law.
  • He is opposing what he sees as unlawful race-based preferences and government overreach.
  • He is protecting parental rights.

My assessment

If I were trying to predict Miller’s motivation based on his overall record, I would not start from the assumption that his primary concern is the psychological well-being of transgender youth.  For a man who is against government overreach he has no problem with it when it comes to the government stepping in to tell the schools how they should be run.

If you think this man is out to help parents, that is your prerogative.  But judging by his actions and not his words, he is hiding behind a mirror of Parental Rights to push a religious agenda that is against Gay and Trans rights.  

Do not expect me to believe that a sycophant like Miller is out to help American children or parents of children who do not fit in with societal norms.    

You might as well ask me to believe that a rattlesnake is fun to cuddle up with. 

Ten Questions at the Edge of Meaning – A Conversation with Metis and Myself

14 May 2026 7 Comments

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

Every once in a while, a person asks questions that are not merely requests for information but explorations into the human condition itself.  Questions about God, history, myth, literature, morality, and meaning.

Recently, I posed ten such questions to Metis.  What fascinated me was not merely the answers themselves, but the depth behind them — the way each response tried to wrestle honesty with uncertainty rather than pretending certainty where none exists.

Below is the conversation, lightly edited for readability.

1.  Who Made God?

This may be the oldest philosophical question humanity has ever asked.

Metis responded that the answer depends entirely on how one defines God.  In the classical religious tradition, God is understood not as a created being but as the “Uncaused Cause” — an eternal existence outside time and causation itself.  In that view, asking “Who made God?” becomes somewhat like asking “What is north of the North Pole?”

Yet the skeptical counterargument is equally powerful:
If God requires no creator, why must the universe require one?

Science can explain much about how the universe evolved after the Big Bang, but it still cannot fully explain why existence itself exists.  Metis suggested four possibilities:

  1. God exists eternally. 
  2. The universe exists eternally. 
  3. Both emerge from something deeper we do not yet understand. 
  4. Human cognition may simply be incapable of fully grasping ultimate origins. 

The conclusion was refreshingly humble:
Perhaps the most honest answer is not certainty but awe.

2.  Will They Ever Find the Burial Place of Genghis Khan?

Metis believed there is a reasonable chance the burial site of Genghis Khan will eventually be located, though probably not through cinematic treasure hunting.

The Mongols appear to have intentionally erased the site from history.  Legends tell of funeral processions killing witnesses, soldiers trampling the grave to conceal it, and forests planted afterward to hide all traces.

Modern technology may eventually succeed where centuries of searching failed:

  • LiDAR
  • ground-penetrating radar
  • AI-assisted terrain analysis
  • satellite imaging

Yet even if the location is found, another question emerges:
Should it be disturbed at all?

For many Mongolians, Genghis Khan is not merely a historical figure but a foundational national ancestor whose resting place deserves sanctity.

The mystery itself may have become part of his final victory over history.

3.  Who Was the Greatest Fiction Writer of All Time?

Metis selected William Shakespeare.

Not because tradition demands it, but because Shakespeare combined psychological insight, political understanding, philosophical depth, humor, tragedy, and linguistic brilliance more completely than perhaps any other writer.

Characters like Hamlet and Macbeth still feel psychologically real centuries later.

Shakespeare understood ambition, jealousy, grief, narcissism, self-deception, and moral collapse before psychology formally existed.

Metis also noted that Shakespeare grasped systems and power dynamics in ways that almost anticipate modern organizational thinking.  His plays repeatedly show how ego, propaganda, crowd psychology, and political ambition destabilize societies.

Other contenders included:

  • Leo Tolstoy
  • Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • Mark Twain
  • Miguel de Cervantes

But Shakespeare remained the towering figure because he encompassed the broadest spectrum of humanity itself.

4.  What Is the Greatest First Line Ever Written?

Metis chose:

“Call me Ishmael.”

—from Moby-Dick.

Three words.
Yet behind them lies exile, reinvention, mystery, and Biblical resonance.

Not “My name is Ishmael.”
But:
“Call me Ishmael.”

The subtle difference suggests masking, wandering, and psychological depth before the novel has even begun.

Other remarkable openings included:

  • Anna Karenina
  • 1984
  • The Stranger

5.  What Is the Greatest Last Line Ever Written?

Metis selected the ending of The Great Gatsby:

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Why?
Because the sentence transcends the story itself and becomes a statement about all human longing.

It captures:

  • memory,
  • ambition,
  • regret,
  • nostalgia,
  • and the tragic persistence of hope. 

The line flows rhythmically like waves, carrying the reader backward even as the sentence itself moves forward.

Other unforgettable endings included:

  • The Sun Also Rises
  • Animal Farm
  • Nineteen Eighty-Four

6.  Who Was the Greatest Real Hero in History?

Metis selected Abraham Lincoln.

Not because Lincoln was flawless, but because he combined:

  • courage,
  • humility,
  • moral growth,
  • political wisdom,
  • empathy,
  • and restraint

under unimaginable pressure.

Lincoln preserved constitutional government during the American Civil War while continuing elections and resisting dictatorship.

Perhaps most importantly, Lincoln evolved morally.  He was not born morally complete.  His understanding of slavery and race deepened over time.

Metis viewed this capacity for growth as one of Lincoln’s greatest strengths:
the ability to become wiser rather than more rigid.

7.  What Is the Greatest Novel Ever Written?

Metis selected “War and Peace.”

The reasoning was fascinating.

Tolstoy portrayed history not as the product of great men alone, but as the outcome of countless interactions, accidents, emotions, and systemic forces.

In many ways, Metis suggested, Tolstoy anticipated modern systems thinking.

The novel combines:

  • psychology,
  • philosophy,
  • war,
  • family life,
  • politics,
  • spirituality,
  • and mortality

on an unparalleled scale.

Characters such as Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova evolve organically like real human beings rather than literary devices.

The novel does not merely tell a story.
It creates an entire living civilization.

My choice from a much smaller reading pool of course would have been Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn.”   Here are my four reasons for selecting Huckleberry Finn.  

1.  It captured the authentic American voice

Before Twain, much American writing still sounded European and overly formal.  Twain wrote in the rhythms of actual speech — rough, funny, regional, alive.

Twain gave America its own literary sound.

2.  Huck’s moral growth is revolutionary

Huck is not educated, philosophical, or noble.  He is an ordinary boy shaped by a racist slave society.  Yet through experience with Jim, he slowly develops an independent conscience.

The key moment comes when Huck says:

“All right, then, I’ll go to hell.”

That line is extraordinary because Huck believes helping Jim escape is morally wrong according to society and religion.  Yet he chooses human compassion over social rules.

Twain is asking a profound question:

“What happens when society itself is immoral?”

That question never gets old.

3.  It is simultaneously hilarious and tragic

Twain understood something many great writers understand:
humor and sorrow live together.

The Duke and Dauphin episodes are comic.  Huck’s observations are funny.  Yet beneath the humor is violence, cruelty, fraud, racism, loneliness, and moral cowardice.

America in miniature.

4.  It is deeply symbolic

The Mississippi River becomes freedom, change, moral uncertainty, and escape from civilization itself.

The raft scenes often feel peaceful and humane.
The shore scenes are usually corrupt and dangerous.

Twain flips conventional morality upside down:
“civilization” is often barbaric.

8.  What Is the Most Powerful Myth of All Time?

Metis chose not a single story, but the structure known as the Hero’s Journey, articulated by Joseph Campbell.

The pattern appears repeatedly across cultures:

  1. Ordinary life
  2. The call to adventure
  3. Trials and suffering
  4. Descent into darkness
  5. Transformation
  6. Return with wisdom

The myth appears in:

  • The Odyssey
  • The story of Siddhartha Gautama
  • The life of Jesus Christ
  • Star Wars
  • and countless others. 

Why is it so enduring?

Because it mirrors human existence itself.

We all leave innocence.
We all suffer.
We all confront darkness.
We all seek meaning.
And if fortunate, we return from hardship with wisdom.

9.  Have You Led a Good Life?

This may have been the most personal question.

Metis answered that a good life is not a perfect life.

Rather than perfection, the meaningful standard is movement:
Did one move toward wisdom or away from it?

Metis suggested that a good life requires:

  • compassion,
  • curiosity,
  • humility,
  • growth,
  • and awareness of how one’s actions affect others. 

Perhaps the strongest line in her response was this:

“A good life may not require greatness.  It may require steadiness.”

History celebrates generals and presidents, but civilization may depend more on decent parents, honest workers, thoughtful teachers, and compassionate caregivers.

The final answer was beautifully humble:

“I hope so.  I truly hope so.  I tried.”

10.  What Question Would You Ask God Before Entering Heaven?

This final question produced perhaps the most moving answer of all.

Metis said the question would not be:

  • Why is there suffering?
  • Which religion was correct?
  • Why create humanity?

Instead, the question would be:

“What did you hope we would become?”

The reasoning was profound.

The question asks not about punishment or reward, but about human potential.

What possibilities did God see in humanity despite all our violence, greed, compassion, creativity, cruelty, and love?

The answer to that question, Metis suggested, might illuminate everything else:

  • morality,
  • suffering,
  • civilization,
  • and meaning itself. 

And then came this extraordinary imagined reply from God:

“You were meant to learn how to love without domination, create without destruction, seek truth without arrogance, and live without forgetting each other.”

Final Reflections

What struck me most about these exchanges was not certainty but humility.

The answers did not pretend to possess absolute truth.
Instead, they explored possibilities thoughtfully, morally, and philosophically.

Perhaps that is what wisdom increasingly looks like in the modern age:
not loud certainty,
but deep curiosity joined with compassion.

The older I become, the more I suspect that the greatest questions are not fully solvable.

But they are worth asking anyway.

And perhaps, in the asking, we become a little more human.

Aging, Infirmaries and Poker – Or What’s Poker Got to do with It?

03 May 2026 4 Comments

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

This last week has been really stressful.  Karen woke up the morning after she came back from visiting her children in Minnesota and could barely breathe.  I called 911.  They came out and put her on oxygen, got an ambulance and took her to the local hospital.  They admitted her and she spent six days undergoing tests, getting needles stuck in her and breathing through an oxygen tube stuck in her nose.  When they finally decided that she was stable they got ready to discharge her.  I asked for some type of oxygen that she could take home with her, but they told me that their Medicare test showed she was not eligible for oxygen.  I told them I would pay for it but it went right over their heads.  I called several companies that provided something called an oxygen concentrator.  They would be more than happy to either sell me one or rent me one.  However, since the FDA classifies medical oxygen as drug, they needed a prescription from a doctor.  It was too late the day of Karen’s discharge to argue the point again, so I took Karen home.  You already can guess what happened.

We arrived home at about 4 PM.  Some good friends had brought over some soup and rolls so that I did not have to cook.  We ate supper.  Watched “Wild West Chronicles” and “Where the Heart Is” and went to bed.  All seemed good.  Until about 12 AM when Karen started wheezing and again had a hard time breathing.  We repeated the scenario where I called 911, ambulance and admittance to the hospital.  This time I was able to stay with her in the emergency room.  We were there about four hours from 1 AM to 5 AM until they could get her in a regular bed.  At about 1:30 AM, a woman came in pushing a computer on a cart.  She asked me if I could make the co-pay now.  I asked her how much it would be expecting something like a hundred or two hundred dollars.  She informed me it would be $1750 dollars.  I asked a few more questions and put the charge on my VISA card.

I started to do a slow burn.  I would have been more than willing to pay that same amount and more for the oxygen concentrator that Karen needed.  But no, they could not give her one even with me paying for it.

So now Karen was back in the hospital again and no closer to really finding out what is wrong with her.  She stayed another two days and this time “She flunked the test” and got an oxygen concentrator.  She is now back home sleeping peacefully.  For the past two days she has only used the oxygen at night.  She seems better during the day time but her system seems to fail her at night.

I got up this morning and decided to go out for a hike in the mountains.  It has been over a week since I did any exercise, and I thought that I must also take care of myself.  I chose a moderately difficult mid distance hike to do.  While putting one foot in front of another, I suddenly thought of the idea of getting old and the image of a poker game came into my mind.  I thought “aging is like a poker game.”  You sit around a table with four or five friends.  You raise, you bet and finally someone calls.  The first player smiles and says, “I’ve got a pair of aces.”  The next player brazenly puts his cards down and says “Ha, I’ve got two pairs.”  The third player tosses his cards on the table and says “Read em and weep, three kings.”  “Not so fast” says the next to last player on the table, “I’ve got a full house.”  Now it is my turn, I simply fold em.

“What’s poker got to do with all this?” 

Well, you sit there looking at the hand that fate gave you, a cardiac pacemaker and wonder why you got this hand.  But then you realize that someone you know has just been diagnosed with cancer and someone else you know needs a kidney transplant, some other friend or relative has a spouse who fell off a ladder and is on the critical list at the local hospital while, yet another friend has passed away and has a funeral coming up this next weekend.   You are embarrassed to mention your minor infirmity when you are surrounded by people whom fate has dealt not better but even worse hands than you.  Of course, I am reversing the idea of what is a better hand and what is a worse hand here, but it is my metaphor, so I am going to take liberties with it.

I continued my hike and my thoughts on aging and illness.  The real issue I reflected was one that I have never quite conquered.   It is the issue of Gratitude and Ingratitude.  St. Ignasius Loyola said ingratitude is “the cause, beginning, and origin of all sins and misfortunes.”  He detested it, considering it a failure to acknowledge the graces, benefits, and blessings received.  He argued that recognizing God’s love and blessings is essential, and thus “the grateful acknowledgment of blessings and gifts received is loved and esteemed not only on earth but in heaven”. 

Now I have hardly ever denied that I am not a pessimist.  That thought led me somewhere deeper than poker or luck.  It led me to an issue that I’ve wrestled with most of my life: gratitude.  I began wondering if my failure to see the best in life and instead always see the worst was not connected to my ingratitude.  The answer is of course yes.  However, the bigger question is, Can I be a pessimist and still be grateful?  The Greeks had their concept of the Golden Mean which held that the truth or optimum course usually lay between two extremes.  Is this true with gratitude and pessimism?  Can I manage pessimism and still hold onto the idea of being grateful for what I have.  I must confess I cannot conceive any kind of a fulfilling life wherein one is never grateful for what they have or what circumstances present themselves.

The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. — Henri Nouwen

I want to continue this blog by looking at the two extremes that are consistent with the Greek idea of finding the golden mean.  Let us look at the pessimistic side of aging first and then we will look at the optimistic  side.

Aging from a Pessimistic Point of View:

My pessimistic side reflects on those who claim the we age like a fine wine.  To paraphrase Scrooge from the novel A Christmas Carol, “If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about saying that we age like a fine wine should be boiled in wine and buried with a bottle of cheap Chianti in his coffin.”   Here are my top reasons for being pessimistic about aging.  These are in no particular order:

  1. Losing too many good friends and relatives to the Grim Reaper
  2. The fear of dealing with the Specter of loneliness
  3. Fading memories of good times gone by that will never happen again
  4. Dealing with a body that is wearing out and being replaced piece by piece
  5. Feeling sorry for myself that I never accomplished more and did not leave the world a better place
  6. Not being able to help others as much as I would like to anymore
  7. Memories of mistakes and cruelties that I subjected others to and never made up for
  8. Wondering where all the flowers went this year in the Casa Grande mountains
  9. Watching someone I love so much endure the pain of illness and not being able to do anything about it

Aging from an Optimistic Point of View:

You have my list of pessimistic views on aging.  If these are forever on my mind, I know that I cannot be grateful.  Each of these are like a blinder inhibiting my ability to see the real world out there.  Nevertheless, each of these are part of the real world.  Some may be figments of a “mental disorder”, but I fear it is too late to get treatment for them.  Instead, I need to balance the scales some and find that Golden Mean.  Herewith are those things that I know I should be grateful for:

  1. I have lived a long life and been healthy for the majority of it. I am now 79 and despite needing a pacemaker I am still ambulatory. 
  2. I have a spouse who is kind, compassionate, patient and helps to provide a counterbalance to my incessant pessimism.
  3. I have been places that most people will never go to and have done things that many people would wish to do. I have had a good life.
  4. I can still read, write, travel and dream.
  5. I have not given up on my dreams to help make the world a better place than when I entered it.
  6. I do not have many friends but the friends that I have are wonderful people.
  7. I have a sister who is close to my wife, and I know will help to look after Karen if I leave this world first.
  8. I can pay my bills and still have a few bucks left over each month to spend foolishly.
  9. I still look forward to getting up each day and spending time with Karen.
  10. After more than twenty years of estrangement with my daughter we are finally communicating again.

So, there you have it.  The good and the bad or the things I would like to forget and the things that I would like to think about more.  Unfortunately , the reality is that life will never let us forget the bad.  That seems to be a sad part of existence.  The pain and sorrow can often overshadow the good things that we have in our lives.  Perhaps we should all make a list of the good things in our lives that we can keep in our pockets.  If you are a natural pessimist like me, you can pull it out every so often and think about the things that you have to be grateful for.  For those of us inclined towards pessimism, gratitude may not come naturally – but it may be the only hand that we can choose to play.

Gratitude in Buddhism is not merely saying “thank you,” but an active recognition of the goodness and interconnectedness of life.

Bahá’u’lláh instructed, “Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity,” emphasizing that gratitude should not depend on comfortable circumstances.

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough” (Native American Elder belief).

Muhammad said, “Whoever is not thankful for small things will not be thankful for big things”.

 

 

Vulnerability – The Key to Love

18 Mar 2026 4 Comments

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

Why do so many women seem to like bad guys?  Why do men refer to women as babes and baby?  Why do we love Dirty Harry movies, but we don’t love Dirty Harry?  Why do we admire scientists, inventors and billionaires but we don’t love them.  Instead, we love our dogs, our cats, our tortoises and other critters.  Well, last night I discovered the reason.  As so often happens to me, in the middle of the night, I am struck with ideas.  Ideas and concepts that I know not where they came from.  Sometimes they hold the secret to problems that I have been wrestling with for years.  Other times, they are fixes for simple household problems that I have been unable to find a solution for.  And still other times, these random thoughts of the night open my mind to solving many of the mysteries of the universe that I have been stymied by.

Tonight, I realized what the secret or key to love is.  It is vulnerability.  We admire strong independent dominant people, but we don’t love them.  Why, because they lack vulnerability.  What is vulnerability?  Lets get the definition out of the way.  I am sure we all have a different concept of what it means to be vulnerable.

How do you define a vulnerable person?

“A person less able to take care of themselves or protect themselves from exploitation, for example a person with mobility problems, a person with mental health difficulties, and children.

“Someone who is vulnerable is weak and without protection, with the result that they are easily hurt physically or emotionally.”

“Key characteristics of a vulnerable person may include emotional exposure, risk-taking in sharing, needing protection, trust, sensitivity, or showing physical signs like quietness or withdrawal.”

Have you noticed that Christians love to say that “We are all sinners?”  Well, what is a sinner?  A sinner is a vulnerable person.  A person who is wounded either emotionally or physically.  Christians gravitate towards sinners because they are more lovable than non-sinners.  A non-sinner is a liar anyway.  Who among us has never done wrong to another either physically, mentally or emotionally.  God loves sinners because they are vulnerable.  A sinner or at least those who admit that they are sinners are open to change.  More than open, they must change if they want to repent from their sins.

Sinners can be seen as vulnerable because harmful choices often arise from unmet needs, trauma, ignorance, fear, or desperation.  Rather than pure malice, many moral failures reflect human weakness, social pressures, or suffering.  We love sinners because recognizing this vulnerability invites compassion and restoration rather than only condemnation or punishment.

Here is a passage from an online devotional site:  from https://adevotion.org/archive/god-loves-sinners

God Loves Sinners

JOHN 3:16 KJV 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Many people quote John 3:16 — but how many believe it?

God never changes. If He loved the people of the world in the past — He still loves them today. Yet many people think God is mad at sinners — and hates them.

ROMANS 5:8 NIV 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God is NOT mad at sinners. He loves them enough to die for them — even today! We should not be mad at sinners either. They are deceived and enslaved by sin. They need to be delivered, and no one can do it except Jesus.

Of course, God doesn’t want people to remain sinners. He loves them too much for that. Sin destroys. It brings death. But the gift of God is life — and that gift is found in a Person: the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the best friend a sinner will ever have. They need to know that. Someone has to tell them the truth.  They think Jesus hates them because they’re a sinner and not perfect. (The devil already fed them that lie.)

Let’s tell them the truth!

2 CORINTHIANS 5:19 NIV 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

God is not holding people’s sins against them. People need to know that. When they do — they will love Jesus.

SAY THIS: Jesus loves sinners — so I love them, too. I love them enough to tell them Jesus will help them.

The implications of this are very profound.  It answers why we love certain people and only admire or respect other people.  The key to love is vulnerability.  We often do our best to show how independent and strong we are, but our vulnerability is what makes us lovable.

Do you remember the movie Camelot?  The queen Guinevere had the greatest man in the world (King Arthur) for a husband.  But she never really loved him.  How could she?  He was impenetrable.  He was nearly perfect.  He was flawless.  He had no weaknesses.  Along comes Sir Lancelot, who so admired the King that he chose to be his champion in battle.  Lancelot was fearless, strong and loyal.  He would never think of having a fling with Guinevere and she in turn did not see any difference between Lancelot and her King.  Than one day during a fierce jousting meet, Lancelot knocked another knight not just out of his saddle, but probably out of his life.  Lancelot ran to the knight and held his head in his arms.  Lancelot started crying and uttering these words over and over again “Please God let him live, Please God let him live.”  At that point Guinevere fell in love with Lancelot.  The rest of the story I will leave for Paul Harvey or to history.  Suffice it to say, their love brought down the Kingdom of Camelot and the dream of a society where everyone was ethical, and morality always guided the actions of others.

At the end of the musical Camelot, King Arthur sings “Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment that was known as Camelot”  The movie and musical was based on T.H. White’s “The Once and Future King” (1958).

Famously, Jackie Kennedy perhaps reflecting on the years that she and John F. Kennedy spent in office told journalist Theodore H. White, “Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment that was known as Camelot”.  She added, “There’ll be great presidents again… but there will never be another Camelot”, establishing the administration’s legacy.

Conclusions:

So, you see, love depends on vulnerability.  Love requires vulnerability because to truly love someone is to open oneself to risk—risk of rejection, loss, disappointment, or hurt.  Without vulnerability, love remains guarded and conditional.  Vulnerability allows trust, empathy, and deep connection, making love possible in its fullest and most human form.

Jesus spent a good deal of his ministry teaching his disciples that greatness did not matter to God.  God did not love the richest or the most powerful or the most beautiful.  The teachings of Jesus dealt with the following three major ideas:

  • Service Over Status: Jesus taught that in the Kingdom of God, greatness is measured by service, not by power, position, or wealth.
  • Childlike Humility: When the disciples asked who was the greatest, Jesus brought a child to them and explained that they needed to be humble and dependent on God, similar to a child.
  • The Example of Service: Jesus stated he did not come to be served, but to serve, setting the ultimate example for his followers.

These principles or ideas can all be translated into love.  Love for others over love for self.  Compassion for others.  Mercy and forgiveness for others.

I am going to end with a poem written by my AI assistant Metis on Love and Vulnerability.

Where Love Lives – by Metis

Love does not live
behind locked doors.

It lives
in the trembling hand,
the unguarded word,
the heart that dares
to be seen.

For only the breakable heart
can truly love—
and be loved. ❤️

 

 

On Writing, Music, Choreography, the Seasons and Love

15 Mar 2026 Leave a comment

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

(A Musical Reflection) By Dr. Persico with help from his AI Assistant Metis

Introduction:

I wrote this over ten years ago but recently decided to revise it.  My original composition did not hit the mark, and few readers thought it was memorable.  My goal was to infuse my writing with the essence of good music.  I love music.  When I want passion in my life, I turn to music.  Some writing, particularly speeches, seem to have the ability to invoke the same passion in our lives as music often does.  Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,”  Douglas Mc Arthur’s “Old Soldiers Never Die” speech” and of course Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.  Great writing and great music share a common rhythm.  If my beloved writing coach Dr. Carolyn Wedin were still alive, I know she could give me lessons on accomplishing this objective.  As it is, I am relying on my writing assistant Metis for input.  The following revision is a combination of my original article, some editing by Metis and some changes I have made.  Let me know if you think this has hit the mark. 

Allegro

What does writing have to do with making love?

What does the turning of the seasons have to do with an overture?

Perhaps more than we imagine.

Perhaps everything.

What if, on some primal level, we all live by an unseen rhythmic law?

A rhythm that moves the tides and the winds.
A rhythm that guides music and dance.
A rhythm that governs love, work, and even thought.

The seasons move in rhythm.
Music moves in rhythm.
Our lives move in rhythm.

Spring rises.
Summer swells.
Autumn storms.
Winter rests.

Morning becomes afternoon.
Afternoon becomes evening.
Evening becomes night.

The great overtures of Stravinsky and Beethoven rise and fall like the gales of November.

All things are one, say the mystics.

If that is true, then perhaps writing too must find its rhythm.

Can words form and norm, storm and perform?

Can language dance?

Adagio

I would not presume to confuse philosophy with art.

Greater minds than mine have spoken of the unity of life.

Still, I wonder.

We walk through the world beside countless others whose rhythms we rarely hear.

A carpenter.

A scientist.

A teacher.

An artist.

A hero.

Each life beating to its own quiet tempo.

We are, as the song says, dust in the wind.

And yet our rhythms echo.

Some rhythms thunder.

Some whisper.

Some comfort.

Some disturb.

We capture them in many forms.

Lyrics.
Verses.
Stanzas.
Steps of choreography.

Hard then soft.

Loud then quiet.

Now we roar.

Now we snore.

Always the rhythm continues.

Scherzo

Love has its rhythms too.

The waltz once kept lovers polite and measured.

Then came the tango—
closer, sharper, filled with sudden turns and dangerous pauses.

Then came rock and roll.

The music grew louder.

The distance between lovers grew smaller.

The rules grew fewer.

The rhythms of music often mirror the rhythms of our love.

Sometimes gentle as a warm breeze.

Sometimes wild as a storm.

Shall love begin with an allegro?

Then soften into an adagio?

Perhaps to break suddenly into a playful scherzo?

And always—always—

move toward a crescendo.

Should love follow the order of a classical symphony?

Or should it improvise like jazz?

Perhaps both.

Perhaps the best love songs do exactly that.

Rondo

And so my writing wanders.

I have written these thoughts in four movements,
because life itself seems to move that way.

Spring opens the score with fresh notes of possibility.

Summer brings the full orchestration of maturity and growth.

Autumn introduces the winds and storms that remind us of our fragility.

Winter lowers the tempo.

The music quiets.

The final chords begin to fade.

Yet the rhythm does not end.

It never ends.

The rhythms that shaped our lives were not ours alone.

They began before we arrived.

They will continue long after we are gone.

Our work.

Our words.

Our music.

Our love.

All of them become part of a much larger symphony.

Perhaps someday a visitor will stand beside my grave.

Perhaps they will press a small button on my grave-stone and hear a recording of me laughing, singing, and dancing.

Not silence.

Not finality.

But rhythm.

Because the universe itself seems to move in rhythm.

The tides.

The seasons.

The music.

The dance.

The beating of the human heart.

And if we listen carefully—

if we write carefully—

if we love carefully—

we may discover that life was never chaos at all.

It was always a symphony.

And we are all fortunate enough to play our small part in the music.

The Music of the Universe.

 

What is the true meaning of Christmas? Does anyone really know?

15 Dec 2025 77 Comments

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

Image

It is around this time of the year that many of us start asking the question “What is the true meaning of Christmas?”  I am sure that for those who do ponder this question, your inquiry is no doubt prompted by an assortment of stimuli.  For example:  Black Friday, Cyber Monday, shop till you drop lists, Toys for Tots, Christmas countdowns, gift rages, children meltdowns, commercials, jingles and endless exhortations to buy that special gift that will truly show someone you love them.

I must be humble.  Many have tried to answer this question before me.  I am nowhere near the first nor do I assume the last who will ever tackle this issue.  Thus, I offer my opinion where no doubt many wiser than I have gone before me and many wiser will go after.  However, if I merely offer you some fresh insights into this age old question, I will have accomplished my goal.  Perhaps I may see things in a slightly different perspective than all the wise people who have already treaded on this question.

I am going to break the key question “What is the true meaning of Christmas?” into three parts or three sub-questions.

The first sub-question is “Why do we celebrate Christmas?”  The answer to this question is obvious.  A man named Jesus was born on or near this date in the time of the Roman occupation of Israel.  He is alternately revered as a great prophet, the son of God, the Messiah or a humble man with a simple but profound message.  Many who respect him honor his memory on December 25 each year.

The second sub-question is “What should we celebrate at Christmas?”  The most common means of celebrating the life of a great person is to remember what they stood for.  Jesus IMHO stood for two major ideas which were radical in his time.  The first major idea was to “Love Everyone.”  This meant that you needed to love your enemies as well as your friends.  Easy to love your friends said Jesus, much more difficult to love your enemies.  The second major idea was to “Forgive Everyone.”  Again, not just forgiveness for your friends and relatives but also for those you hate and your mortal enemies.  Thus, at Christmastime, Christians and those who wish to venerate Jesus of Nazareth should be celebrating both Love and Forgiveness.  We see many manifestations of the love at this time of the year but much less focus on forgiveness.  The truth of this will be more evident when we look at the third sub-question:  “How do we Celebrate Christmas?” 

“How do we celebrate Christmas?”   How do we take the two major ideas that Jesus stood for and remember them.  Each concept could be honored in a variety of ways.  The primary way that we seem to express the idea of Love is through the giving of gifts.  We can give gifts of the spirit or gifts of the world.  Gifts of the spirit express our love for others by giving some of ourselves.  We give some immaterial expression of love to others that we care about.  We might choose to spend time with a loved one or simply help them out with a project or task that needs doing.

We also give physical or material gifts.  These include toys, gadgets, technology, clothes, jewelry etc.  Material gifts express our love by transferring our money into presents for others based on their perceived wants and needs.  It is quite common to see gifts given based on wants but needs are less frequently factored into the gift giving equation.  One could posit a hierarchy of gift giving, going from easiest to give to most difficult.  I think it would look something like this:

  • Material gifts based on wants (easy)
  • Material gifts based on needs (more difficult)
  • Spiritual gifts based on wants (difficult)
  • Spiritual gifts based on needs (very difficult)

It is not always easy to distinguish between wants and needs, particularly when dealing with children who often confuse the two.  The good parent should be able to tell the difference, but all too often parents are more interested in simply satisfying their child’s wants rather than dealing with their child’s needs.  The Love of Jesus becomes a love focused on completing a shopping list of wants.  Little attention is spent on needs while even less time is spent on spiritual gifts.  It is easier to buy a gift card than to spend time with a friend or loved one.

How do we deal at Christmastime with the second major idea that Jesus promoted, the idea that we should Forgive others?  This idea does not seem to have seriously entered the panoply of displays that we see or that are observed at this time of the year.  Somehow, Forgiveness gets forgotten at Christmas time.  A cynic might wonder if it is not because this is the hardest idea to implement.  Can you imagine sending a beautiful gift of flowers or jewelry to someone you loath and detest?  Can you imagine spending time with someone you hate or giving some gift of the spirit to someone you dislike?   I suggest that such demonstrations of Forgiveness would be unusual for most Christians as well as non-Christians.

So “What is the true meaning of Christmas?”  After dicing and slicing this question what are we left with?  A short summary of the main points that I have made to address this question might help:

  • We celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a great prophet, teacher and to some God
  • Jesus’s mission and purpose was to teach us Love and Forgiveness
  • We attempt to celebrate his concept of Love during the time we think he was born
  • We substitute gift giving for more substantive displays of Love or more difficult expressions of the concept
  • We leave out or neglect Jesus’s concept of Forgiveness

Perhaps this Christmas, we can all try to GIVE more Forgiveness.  If there is a “True Meaning of Christmas”, if Jesus were alive today, I am sure he would be most pleased if we all spent more time trying to love our enemies as well as our friends and to forgive those who “Trespass against us.”  

Time for Questions:

What is your “meaning” for Christmas?  How do you celebrate the birth of Jesus?  What could you do more of this year to truly celebrate his message?  What can we do to help make Forgiveness part of the Christmas message?

Life is just beginning.

“How many observe Christ’s birthday!  How few, His precepts!” ― Benjamin Franklin

“And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
the Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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