Daily Postings

By the time children grow up, they should be able to assume responsibility.  But, that is not always the reality.  Some parents just don’t teach their kids to be responsible.  I will never forget when I was pastor of a particular parish, we had an extra building that was not being used so I thought it would be nice to allow college students to live there.  It was a comfortable residence and the kids had free run of the house.  I would get calls at 12 or 1 o’clock in the morning from the house mother asking if I would come over and talk to the kids.  This happened so frequently.  Nobody wanted to do the dishes, or do the kitchen laundry.  The dishes piled up and there were no dishes to eat out of.  

“I got away from home so I wouldn’t have to do those things anymore,” one girl said.

Nobody wanted to cook.  “I’m not here to be a servant,” was another gripe.   

One girl had been doing the dishes and no one ever helped her, so she got upset and refused to do them anymore.  So, they ended up with no dishes for supper that night.

Another girl did the cooking for a while, but eventually she got disgusted when no one would help her, especially one night when she needed time to prepare for a test the next day.  The situation was a mini-snapshot of what hell must be like.

Then later on I found out that the same thing often happens in marriage.  “I hate cooking, so I told my husband that if he wants to eat, he’s going to have to do the cooking.”

“Okay, I’ll do the cooking if you’ll keep the house neat and clean, was his response.”

“I work hard all day long, and besides I hate housekeeping,” his wife retorted.

“Don’t you think I work all day long, too?  Why can’t we share the work?  It’s only right.”

That was not acceptable, so, the place was always a mess because they both refused to do the housekeeping.  They were old friends of mine, but after a while I stopped visiting them because I was allergic to dust and they had velour furniture and it was never dusted and I could hardly breathe when I visited them.

In marriage, it is so important that people share responsibilities.  It is pure and simple a matter of maturity, not likes and dislikes.  A house has to be neat and clean and the children have to grow up in a tidy house or they will become slovenly just like their parents.

I write this because this is a problem that is so common today.  I am shocked at how many married couples have this problem.  It may be a little problem but it shows a childish unwillingness to share responsibility to provide a neat and orderly home for the family.  What a horrible way for children to have to grow up, ashamed to have friends over because the house is always a mess, with clutter all over the place.  Home should be an orderly and comfortable place to live, with a quiet space for the father and mother, and even for the children who need to be by themselves sometimes.

 It is only basic common sense thoughtfulness, and when I see houses like that, I can’t help but think it reflects the state of their souls. 

A friend recently asked me why Joshua in my book warned against the pursuit of wealth.  The wise men in the Hebrew scriptures, among them the prophet Jeremiah, warned that spending one’s life pursuing the things of this world, is like drawing water from a polluted well.  It can poison the soul and make spiritual things distasteful, and prayer boring.

When Joshua, really Jesus, warned against pursuit of material things, he was not talking about a wise and prudent way of making a living, but about some people’s obsession with accumulating money and material possessions.  As Jesus said, “Where your heart is, there your treasure lies.”  Another way of expressing it is, “Where all your thoughts and interest and energy are directed, that is your God.” 

Jesus is not saying that money or material possessions are evil.  They are gifts from God, but when we fall in love with His gifts, we often forget about God, and spend more of our time concentrating on our possessions.  Some people sit and watch the stock market ticker tape all day long as if they were worshipping their God.  When our interest in material things is the most exciting part of our life, interest is spirituality dies because we no longer have a taste for what is spiritual.  To pray is pure drudgery. 

Material possessions are gifts of God, and like all other of God’s gifts, He intends us to use them not just for ourselves and our families, but so we can be the heart and hands of God in bettering the lives of others who are not as blessed as we are.  My father used to say to us when we were kids, “When you come before God, He will not ask you how much money you made but, how much did you give away,” and when you work or live someplace, “Make sure when you leave, that you leave it better than when you found it.”  As children we could not understand what he was talking about, but when I got older it made good sense.  We must be the yeast in the dough, using what God gives us to touch the lives of those around us.

These difficult times strain even the most wholesome and happiest of relationships.  So many families are torn apart by the stress caused by loss of job, insufficient income to pay bills, threat of home foreclosure.  Sleepless nights strain everyone’s nerves, and husbands and wives who have been always caring and loving now find themselves arguing, judging and blaming each other for innocent things, noticing each other’s shortcomings and idiosyncrasies, things they never did before.  And most unfortunately, this may happen in front of little children which can cause serious damage. When this happens it can destroy what had been beautiful loving relationships in the family.

All this happens because no one has ever been prepared for such a catastrophe, and in the intense turmoil, it is hardly possible to sit back and calmly assess situations in a way that a clear pathway can be seen through the jungle of complicated financial and emotional issues.

This is all the more reason why we should take the time to realize that it is no time to panic.  Panic only worsens the chaos, and solves nothing.  In a stressful crisis like we are going through we have to, first of all, realize that the world is not coming to an end. We also have to be convinced that, with patience, and God’s help, (and yes, He does help,) there is a solution or a number of solutions to every problem.

First of all pray, and maybe pray together.  It is amazing how God can insinuate ideas into your head when we invite his help. 

Then we have to lay out on paper each one of the problems that the crisis has created for us. 

Usually it is shortage of money to pay all the bills.  I called a credit card company and told them that I had lost my source of income and that I might not be able to keep up payments unless they greatly reduced my interest rates. I had never missed payments, so they had no justification for my high rates.  They put me in touch with NovaDebt, and they worked it out with my five credit card companies, so that, not only were my interest rates radically reduced, but they stretched out my now single payment monthly over a five year period.  That took a huge load off my mind, and gave me a considerable amount of money to be used on other things that were more pressing.  From then on use only cash, or check.  It is amazing the built in discipline in paying by cash.

Then, my next concern was food.  Buying food every week is costly.  I checked my pantry and my freezer, and found that I had more than enough food to last for almost four months.  It may not be what I would have eaten, canned salmon, and tuna fish and chicken, and soups, and all kinds of pasta, and ten pounds of rice, and a long list of other things, but it is all healthy, so, in times like these, we make do.  And that doesn’t prevent me from buying other things when I want.  After all how much can one person eat?  Bread was a problem; two or three dollars for a loaf of bread?  I decided to buy a twenty pound bag of bread flour at Sam’s Club, and make my own bread, at 25 cents a loaf, and real healthy, Joshua bread with plenty of fiber and other grains.  Milk is costly, and can only too easily spoil. I used to put vodka in it to preserve it, but I decided against that and I now use powdered low fat milk, and put unflavored soy flour in it to taste like whole milk; twenty quarts for a reasonable price.

I now plan my shopping, and shop once a week rather than maybe three times a week. All this can save a considerable sum of money each week. 

Heat bills are a horrible drain on resources.  I reduced my heating bill from oil by 75% by not using my oil heat.  I put electric heaters in all the rooms and now have 15 zones, instead of the five zones with the oil heat.  To do this you can use very efficient and safe room heaters from Sam’s Club, and adjust the heat in such a way that only the rooms you are using at the time are cozy warm, while the others have just minimum heat, until you use them.  This will free up a very significant amount of cash you can use for other pressing needs.  Just be careful that all your water pipes are protected, and if they go through closets, make sure heat can reach the pipes.

If you have trouble with your bank and your mortgage, don’t just fret over it.  Go to your bank and talk with an officer and explain your problem and ask if they can help you solve the problem of your high monthly payments, so that you will be able to more easily meet your monthly commitment.  They would much rather help you to keep your house than go through the costly foreclosure procedure.

And if you can turn in your car and get a hybrid, that can be worthwhile if you use a lot of mileage every week.

And as a bit of advice for fathers and mothers, try to get to know each other’s needs and worries, and anticipate each other’s needs, so they don’t have to suffer silently.  And don’t be ashamed to ask each other how you can be a little more considerate.  After all you do love each other and you shouldn’t feel ashamed to talk like that. And try not to blame things on each other which can easily happen in these times of stress.  Be sensitive to each other’s feelings.  And if you can, kneel down together at night and hold hands and pray together.  That can help to heal many, many hurts. 

In these bad times we have to concentrate on the good, in ourselves, in our loved ones, in our lives.  Sit down and write all the good things you love and admire in your husband or your wife, and then put it in an envelope and put it on their pillow.

And try to do nice little things for each other to create tender feelings.  Love grows on beautiful memories of thoughtful, loving words and gestures.  Love begins to die when tender memories vanish and hurtful memories take their place.

But, then, what would I know; I am only the 700 pound gorilla in the room with a Roman collar?

There are many people today, even Christians who do not believe in the divinity of Jesus.  While visiting some friends a few years ago, they were telling me that their bishop who was a friend of their told them that, when the Episcopal Church appointed him as bishop of their state, he had to face his first crisis only a few weeks after his appointment.  Half of his priests did not believe in the divinity of Jesus, and that he had to tell them to resign from their ministry.  I was shocked because I had always been close to Episcopalians, feeling that they were so close to us as Catholics in their beliefs.

Knowing some of these priests, I knew they were good men, and their way of life very Christian even though they had a problem with the divinity of Jesus, which I do not minimize because it is a very disturbing realization that clergy should have such a problem.  But, it does bring up an issue which I think is worth considering, namely, that even though many people do not believe in the divinity of Jesus, they should not reject out of hand, the beautiful and sublime teachings of Jesus, which far surpass the teachings of any other religion.  Most people do not know it, but there has been for centuries a group of Muslims, the Sufis, whose mystical life of prayer centers around Jesus.  They are a remarkable and peace people, and could well be an inspiration to other Muslims, who might want to consider Jesus’ profound insistence on peace, compassion and forgiveness.

Jesus’ sharing with us his own beautiful intimacy with God, the Father of us all, is a facet of his life and his spirituality that is unique.  No matter what a person’s religion, no one can fail to be deeply moved by Jesus’ message to an anxious and troubled crowd one day, when he saw the fears and heartaches because of the terrible injustices, and harshness of life, and comforted them with the beautiful words, “Why are you all so troubled and so anxious, and so worried.  Look at that flock of birds over there; they don’t sow or reap or gather into barns.  Your heavenly Father takes care of them.  You are worth more than all the flocks of birds, and all you do is worry. Stop worrying.  Your heavenly Father things of you always and He will take care of you.”

Whoever talked like that before, and tried to develop such intimacy for God in people’s hearts.  And he told the people to call God their father, “Abba,” which really means “Daddy.”  The intimacy Jesus tried to instill in the hearts of people who were conscious only of their sinfulness before God.  How beautiful!  How comforting!

And his words about a sinner despised by nice people, “Her sins, as many as they are, they are forgiven, because she loves and has deep concern for others.”  He tries to tell us that God knows we are flawed because God never intended to make us perfect, but endowed us with just enough gifts to do a little job for him, and our own sins, as many as they may be, will be forgiven if we love and reach out to others in need.

And Jesus’ words about forgiveness, “It used to be said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say to you, unless you forgive you enemies from your heart, your heavenly Father will not forgive you your sins.”

“I have come to bring peace, not the kind of peace the world offers, but the kind of peace that comes from being embraced in my Father’s love.”  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be truly God’s children.”

“Love one another as I have loved you.”

“When someone in need asks for a loan, give it to him and do not expect to receive it back.”

“You are all children of your heavenly Father.”

“Give to others as generously as your heavenly Father has given to you.”

“Pray for your enemies, do good to those who are mean and unjust to you, and do not seek revenge.  The requiting of injustice leave to your heavenly Father.”

When you accept me, my Father and I will come and live within you.”

These are just a few of the sublime teachings of Jesus. They should inspire anyone searching for a beautiful way of living, to get to know more deeply this peace loving teacher whose serene and loving spirit can bring peace and serenity to troubled souls

After I talked to Annie the other day, I promised to talk to her mother, which I did.  I knew the family, so I felt it would not be out of place to discuss what was troubling Annie.  At first the mother was offended, but after talking for a while, she shared with me her own concerns.  She did not have a nice childhood herself.  She was shy and had few friends.  When she married, her husband’s high position in his company introduced her to new friends, most of whom were college graduates, which made her feel out of place.  So, after finishing the last 20 hours of her college courses, she was offered a good job, and for the first time felt proud of herself and very comfortable with all her friends. She was now in a good position socially, which was very important to her.

“But, what about Annie who is hurting because she feels she’s not loved?”

“I never realized that, and to be honest, it never occurred to me that anything was bothering her, or that I had cut her out of our lives.  I feel horrible if that’s what’s happened.  I never thought of it.  I guess I was so engrossed in my own problems, I hadn’t even noticed what I was doing to Annie. I guess I am just going to have to make adjustments, because she is the most precious person in my life.  And I hope my husband doesn’t feel the same way Annie is feeling.  And yet come to think of it he has been very distant lately.  I guess I’ve been ignoring him, too.  Father, I am so terribly embarrassed at all this, but, it is certainly unintentional.  I guess I was just too taken up with my own needs, and never thought of their needs. I hope it’s not too late.”

“It’s never too late, but if you sit down and explain to them just what you told me, I am sure they will understand and, as long as things change, everyone will feel a lot better.  I know you all love each other and that is the important thing.  But, love sometimes demands sacrificing other less important things in order to care for the needs of those we love.”    

The incident about Annie yesterday disturbed me quite a bit, and I have been thinking about it ever since, and made me recall so many of my marriage counseling episodes over my many years.  We live in very difficult and complicated times, and with all the problems and crises in the world and in our own personal lives, it is difficult and almost impossible to live a simple life anymore and even more so in family situations.  Mothers’ and fathers’ lives are rarely simple, as they struggle to follow their dreams, and pursue careers, and develop their potential, in an attempt to built up a feeling of self-worth. 

Somewhere along the line every father and mother has to take stock of themselves and their priorities, and make decisions that are difficult.  As parents they have freely taken on awesome responsibilities, not just to themselves but to their children.  Having a child is not an end in itself.  It is the beginning of a career, a lifelong career, the most awesome career on this earth, with the responsibility to mold the image of God in a child and spend endless hours learning to understand the feelings, the needs, the many facets of the child’s developing personality. 

The problem, however, is that often the parents have other dreams that demand full energy and precious time each day which often leaves the child to drift into the back of the parents’ consciousness.  Often, without the parents’ realizing it, the child can unintentionally become an obstacle to the pursuit of other goals, and the child begins to feel unloved and in their way.  Children very early realize when parents don’t have time for them anymore.  In not spending necessary time with them the parents often miss the tiny, but significant changes in the child’s personality.   The pursuit of personal dreams takes the parents more and more away from the home, and the child is relegated to second or third place or fourth place in the order of importance, which, of course, the child is only too aware of.  This is especially true if the child is put in the care of a nanny.  Often the child will bond with the nanny rather than with the parents, because it craves love.  If that happens it can be tragic, though sometimes, sadly, the child’s salvation.

Having children is not a part time job.  It is the most important part of parents’ life, and they have to realize that they are responsible for molding the personality and character of their child which takes hours of dedication to learn every facet of the child’s growth patterns, and traits and strengths and weaknesses.

It is very healthy when parents realize that the children do not belong them.  They belong to God, and God loans them as a gift to the parents, to be cherished and inspired to develop the great potential that God has placed deep inside each one of them.  By their love and care they can inspire a child to almost unbelievable heights of accomplishment, or by their lack of love and care, can allow the child to drift into a dark and frightening world.

A parent’s greatest dream is to appear one day before God, with their child, proud that they have molded their child into a beautiful and fully mature reflection of the God who created him or her.

I met a young friend at a store a few days ago.  When we walked outside, she seemed sad, so I asked her, “Annie, were you crying?”  She looked up at me, wondering how I could tell.  “I really don’t want to go home.”

“Why?” I asked her.  “Because there’s no one there and it’s horrible.  I sometimes go to my friends house, because her mother is always baking something and it smells so nice.  When I go home, it’s empty and lonely.”

When she said that, it brought back memories of my own childhood, and what a wonderful warm feeling it was to go home after school and smell the apple pies my mother was baking, and how nice it was when she would give me a hug, and tell me she missed me.  I could feel little Annie’s hurt at being deprived of such warm experiences.

 I had known the family for years; they are wonderful people, and the young girl, who is not more than eight or nine, and is a sweet little angel.

Then Annie continued, “My mother finally comes home after a couple of hours, says hello and runs right to her computer to do her email, and I can’t disturb her until she comes in for supper.  My father comes home and he’s in a bad mood from work, and gives me a hug and then cooks supper, and eats while he cooking and then runs to his computer.  My mother comes and eats her supper, and I get a chance to talk to her for a few minutes until one of her friends calls, and she continues eating while she talks to her friend.  I feel so alone in my own house.  It’s as if I don’t have a family.  My father and mother hardly talk to each other they’re so busy, and they still don’t talk to me, because they have other things to do, or have to discuss something with each other.  After supper, my mother goes back to her computer to talk to her old college school mates.  My father comes back and does the dishes and I get a chance to talk to him when I’m drying them.  Then when he finishes he goes to his computer, and again I’m alone.  I sometimes feel that I’m in the way.  My mother yells from her computer, “Annie, do your homework, and then get ready for bed.”

“But, Annie, you know your mother and father love you,” I said to her. 

“Father, I don’t know that. I don’t think I really have a family.  I’m just there, and I feel so lonely in my own house, as if I live with two strangers. We really don’t have a family.”

She then started to cry.  I put her head to chest and let her cry, then told her, “I will talk to your parents, and tell them how much you are hurting.  I am sure they have no idea of how you feel. I am sure it never even crosses their minds.”

But, when I left the girl, I began to think that this must be a common problem these days when everyone is so hooked on their computers, talking their friends, checking their stocks, taking care of business, and playing games.  If people don’t learn to discipline themselves and realize that family must come first, they are gong to destroy any family life that’s left. Relationships need constant nurturing.  Obsession with computers can destroy family life.  Wise up, parents, before it’s too late, and your kids find a home someplace else!     

I would like to tell you about a friend, a dear friend. His name is Koji Yamazaki.  I met him at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington about thirteen years ago.  The National Prayer Breakfast is a very busy affair, with three thousand people from over two hundred countries, mingling, chatting, and planning for working relationships during the following year.  But, the Breakfast, and the dinners and talks in the evening for the next two days are the heart of the annual affair which is centered around Jesus.  This whole group of presidents, ambassadors, heads of state, judges, CEOs of major corporations, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Shintoists, Communists, and people of every description, center their three days concentrating on understanding the mind of Jesus as the one person, whose life and philosophy has the potential for fostering peace, harmony and mutual cooperation throughout the world.

My friend Koji, is Japanese.  He is a humble, self-effacing man who could pass unnoticed in a crowd, and not taken for a man of brilliance and influence. But, he is just that, and a deeply spiritual man.  Not long after I met Koji, we chatted a few times, and met each year when he came from Japan for the annual prayer breakfast.  Our chats were just casual, and never for more than a few minutes, and then we’d pass on to other people and other things, as the breakfasts are very busy affairs.  After a few years, Koji contacted me from Tokyo to tell me he would like to translate “Joshua” into Japanese.  I was shocked, as I never really knew if he had read the book, but I was also delighted, because it was possible that Joshua could now be introduced to the Japanese people.  After many months, the Japanese translation of Joshua became a reality and is now in its sixth printing, and has spread throughout Japan through all levels of society from members of the imperial family to parliament and cabinet members, and CEOs of multinational corporations, and people within the whole spectrum of religions represented in Japan.  This past year, the most renowned narrator in Japan, has just finished narrating “Joshua” for CD, as a gift to the blind and visually handicapped. It was a long and tedious undertaking which she did out of the generosity of her kind heart.  Hopefully, “Joshua” can become a powerful vehicle for introducing a Jesus whom the Japanese people can fall in love with, and become the Rising Sun of the eastern world.

And this wonderful undertaking was done so quietly and unobtrusively by my dear gentle, unassuming friend, about whom I knew practically nothing for over thirteen years of our friendship, and only recently learned that he is one of the most influential people in Japan, and a close friend of the imperial family, and a former executive director of the International Monetary Fund.  He taught me how one man, in a quiet, unobtrusive, and humble way, can touch the lives of millions of people, not only of his own country, but of other countries throughout the Far East.

The thought crossed my mind today: why do we work, why do we play, why do we read, why do we dream of the future, why do we watch movies, why do we keep busy, why do we fill our lives continually doing things, why do we, at the end of the day, drop from exhaustion? What is it that drives us at this frenetic pace each day, every day?  What is it we are looking for, for we are looking for something, otherwise we would relax and just enjoy being alive.

We do things so we can feel good about ourselves.  We need to feel that the image we have of ourselves we can live with.  Sitting around doing nothing makes us depressed because we feel useless, as if we are worthless, and have no value to ourselves or to anyone else.  We then wonder about the purpose of living.  Is there a purpose to life?  Or are we just here?

We know we have to do something, just so we can begin to like ourselves.  We either try to better ourselves through an education, so we take courses towards a degree, or we will get a job and earn money.  We then feel we are accomplishing something of value.  We pass our exams and we feel good about it, because it shows we can compete with others and that we have reason to feel good about ourselves, and that, perhaps, we are even better than others.  Or if we get a job and earn a good salary or get a promotion, we can feel that we are improving our lives.  When we make friends and find that they like us, that pushes our self-image way up on the self-approval scale.  We are now somebody.

But, in our lonely moments, when we are thrown back upon ourselves, we again begin to think, “Am I to be measured by the kind of job I have, or by the importance of the friends I have, or by the marks I get in my exams?  Does all my importance come from things outside myself, from things that can come and go, and are not really a part of what I am?  I can lose my job, I can loose my friends, I can finish my education.  Thinking like this, I am thrown back upon myself. Then where is my value?  Why do I exist?  My thoughts are all that I have left.  Am I valuable because of what I think?  But, what is the value of just thinking, if I can do nothing with my thoughts?

I eventually marry, and have a family, and they are all successful, and move on, far from home, and my wife, whom I loved dearly, dies before me, and I am again thrown in upon myself.  I am now in the same situation I was in before I started to live, and I am still confronted by the same problems, which I finally realize were just distractions from a life that I found was empty.  After a whole lifetime, I now find that I have still not solved the basic problem of my life: Why am I here?  And why do I still crave a purpose to make sense of my life?

When Saint Augustine reached this point in his life, he finally realized that he had been running away from God all his past thirty-three years, and remarked, “Our hearts were made for you, O God, and they will rest only when they rest in you.”   It is in finding God that we find the true purpose of our existence, and in loving Him that we find that our whole life comes alive and that  we have found the Fulfillment of our existence.  It is so simple why could we not have seen it?

My own life has been one long adventure, from school, to seminary, to college and graduate school, to life as a monk and priest, to total involvement in my work in so many aspects of society from schools to parishes, to prisons, to government commissions, to writing best selling books, and now that I am reduced to living alone, with all the world having past by, I find that finally I do not need it all, and that I can finally rest in God.  I have finally found that I need nothing more.  I am finally at peace and can rest in God’s presence and can finally enjoy the purpose of my life, to live with God, who is with me day and night, and with us all, all our lives, though it takes a lifetime to realize it.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could learn that at the beginning of our lives?  Maybe parents can at least teach this to their children from their earliest days, but, then, maybe we have to learn it on our own.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about patriotism.  Throwing around the word patriotism too loosely cheapens the meaning of an awesome virtue, and politicians who talk so much about patriotism, and boast of their lapel pins as evidence of their patriotism, are not necessarily patriots.  One wonders if there is nothing else than a lapel pin they could find to prove their patriotism.  Patriotism is a way of living that is sacred and should not be cheapened or too narrowly limited.  First of all, patriotism is the seal of a person who loves and has a deep commitment to his country and its people.   Using Jesus’ words makes clear the meaning of patriotism, “Greater love no one has than to lay down his life for others.”

Putting your life on the line for others, that the meaning.  I watched a movie last night, which I rarely do.  It was “The Soloist.”  The hero, a Los Angeles Times reporter, befriended a lonely violinist on a street with his homeless companions.  He was playing away, totally absorbed in the simple melody he was playing, on a violin that had only two strings, because he had no money to buy the two missing strings.

The reporter befriended him and over the next many months, spending much of his free time with him, trying in every way to bring out the genius in this troubled schizophrenic young musician. It was a seemingly impossible task, but the man did not give up, until he eventually redeemed his friend as much as was possible, even to the point of reuniting him with his mother with whom he had lost contact a long time before. 

I began to think, now there’s a real patriot, a person who tries to better the lives of people in his country.  And I thought about the man who was in charge of caring for the hundreds of homeless outcasts of society who lived in a warehouse-like setting, knowing each one by name and their personal problems and so many of the details of their broken lives.  He was, I thought, another genuine patriot, dedicating his life to people who would not even be able to express thanks, because so many were out of touch with reality.

Teachers are real patriots because they inspire and teach the young to love their country and inspire them to high achievement, so they can make their contributions to enhance the strength and growth of the country and raise the level of the country’s values for good and extend achievements to enrich the rest of the world.

Then, my thoughts wandered to a prostitute in a place where I was once stationed who used to spend so much of her money buying clothes and food for really destitute families she knew.  This she did for years until she died.  She was a lonely and deprived woman, who was not very intelligent, but had a kind and generous heart.  In her quiet way, she tried in her little neighborhood to better the lives of the poorest of the poor.  She was a genuine patriot, the kind that Jesus would recognize, though cynics would scoff at.  True she didn’t wear an American flag lapel pin, but that is not real evidence of patriotism, no more than wearing a Roman collar is evidence of a dedicated priest or minister.

Another dedicated person was a doctor who set up a general practice in an area far from the nearest hospital because he knew many people there would never have access to health care.  He opened his practice and trained local people to help him as he set up his clinic.  People with every possible illness came to him from all over the neighborhood.  Even after many years he did not make much money, but he saved the lives of hundreds of people, and brought healing to thousands.  “Greater love than this no one has…”  He was a genuine patriot.

A young college graduate, rather than apply for a lucrative job, joined the Peace Corps, and spent five years in an undeveloped country trying to teach people how to do modern farming, and helping them to find water supplies and electricity.  She changed the daily living practices of the people in the village, and transformed their lives forever.  She was a patriot, spreading America’s goodness and generosity to people struggling in a strange and impoverished country.

Another patriot is a young student who graduated from college only a few years ago and decided to dedicate his life to medical research working with a famous scientist, so he could one day make a contribution to help find cures to horrible diseases.  The saving of lives is the kind of patriotism that touches God’s heart.   It improves the lives of the people and moves the country forward in a way that enhances not only its world standing, but improves the life of the people.

Parents who sacrifice much to raise children with love, and inspire them with noble ideals and values, and a love for their country, and a caring for others especially the unfortunate of this world.  They are the unsung heroes and heroines, true patriots, because they make strong the heart, the fiber and  the backbone of the country. Without them the country would soon fall into the rubbish heap of past civilizations.

I would have a hard time looking upon people in Congress as patriots because a patriot’s dedication is to the country and to the people.  We have seen for too long that their commitment is not to the interests of the country or the good of the people. 

Men and women who are willing to sacrifice the best years of their lives for their country, and are willing to die to protect their country from harm, are authentic patriots, especially if they don’t do it for personal glory or to parade their patriotism and bask in the glory of their escapades or how many people they killed.  That does not necessarily bring honor or glory to their country.  But those who out of pure and noble motivies fight for their country and are willing to die for it are heroic patriots.

A patriot is any ordinary person who loves his or her country and is eager to help the country to move forward and improve the lives of its people and share in some way the country’s goodness with people in other countries less blessed.