Sunday Homily, 12-2-12, 1st Advent

 

"Welcome in, Everybody," says Zoe, and welcome to you, too, Dearest Zoe.  Who is that  peeking around the edge?!

 

 

Readings:  

 Joshua 24, 1-2, 15-17, 18,  Far be it from us to forsake the Lord.  

Psalm 34,   Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.  (Wow, 3rd week in a row, terrific)

 Ephesians 5, 21-32,  Wives should be subordinate  to their husbands as to the Lord.   (Yipee, sounds good to me.  Make sure Rosemary is listening to this!)

John 6:60-69,  This saying is hard; who can accept it.

 

 

 

And Welcome to you, too, Dearest Tori.

 

Joshua:

Who is Joshua and what is this booklet about:  Joshua was Moses' assistant, his lieutenant when the the Israelites wandered in the desert.  The booklet is the story of the Israelite invasion of Canaan under Joshua's leadership. 

Author: somewhat amusingly, the fundamentalists say that Joshua wrote most of the booklet.  More scientific scholars say the work is a compilation of a number of sources. 

 

 

 

 

Our Magic Candle Lighter of The Week at work.

 

Date of composition: again fundamentalists state that the booklet was composed 1400-1370, i.e., while Joshua lived.  Scholars of a broader vision suggest that even if a Joshua existed the work was put together 800-700 BCE. 

The work combines a number of traditions about battles & destruction of cities to create a nationalistic narrative that justifies the Israelites' taking another peoples' land for their own.

 

 

 

 

 

So from where did we get this group of characters to bring up the bread and grape juice.

 

Ethical Question: genocide.  This is a bloody book.  Yahweh commands that the Israelites exterminate every breathing thing, including women & children & livestock.  

The battle of Jericho is characteristic.  For 6 days the Israelites marched around the city, blowing horns and menacing the people.  On day 7 they marched around 7 times and the walls came tumbling down, as in the spiritual.  Then every person except one woman & her family were slaughtered.  Lots of debate and rationalization over these events.

Our Selection: The last chapter of the booklet.  Joshua, who is dying, calls the people together at a place called Sechem and puts it to them.  Stick with Yahweh who has done all these things for you (which are mentioned in the text but are long & tedious) or choose another path of your own.

Sources: Good News Bible, Got Questions.org, Wikipedia

 

 

 

Play Station Number 1.  Sir Charlie, how come you are not here also?

 

 

Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord

Sounds good to me, Folks.   However, when I bring this up to Rosemary, what do I get?  “Want to start sleeping in the back yard dog kennel tonight?  Even my mom was not impressed with this little statement of Paul.  Just ask my poor dad. 

And guess what: I married my mom.  So much for the joy of being a married priest. 

 

 

 

The Best Team.

 

 

Some years ago while I was waiting in a line to ride the roller coaster at 6 Flags I overheard a husband telling his wife to obey him because of this passage, he was the head of the house and the Bible says it.  I almost dropped my teeth. 

The family, mom, dad, and two young girls were trying to decide something.  Finally, even the wife says to the girls that they have to obey the man.  He is the head.

So, how do we handle this, especially when we are repelled by the idea.

 

 

 

 

The Best Music with Ben & David.

 

 

Perspective!   Traditionally there are three types of family relationships.  This is fairly simple.

1. Matriarchal: the woman/wife is the head of the family.  Culturally this has been established occasionally and in some places.
2. Patriarchal: the husband is the head.
3. .Equality: both are partners, husband and wife. 

 

 

 

 

Shall we dance?

 

 

 Paul's place:  guess which paradigm Paul comes from?  Paul lives in a culture which considered women & children little more than domestic animals.  In Tanzania I found the same paradigm among the ordinary people.  This paradigm has been followed more probably  because men are physically stronger and don’t hesitate to maintain control with physical violence.

Even though today Paul can sound wako & chauvanistic, what he says about husbands loving their wives as they love their own bodies, this was pretty radical.

 

 

 

 

Yes, I would love to dance.

 

Today: all three of the paradigms are valid.  Among most educated people, however, equality between husband & wife, men & women is the more healthy.    Besides, as we know, women just won’t let us guys get away with it. 

Certainly with education for both men and women, there is equality.  

So, again, beware of taking the Bible literally.   Like beating your kids.

 

 

 

 

The Terrible Ekes, Cindy, Marlene, Mabel, Billy, & especially Mabel.

 

What paradigm do you prefer???

 

Readings:

Acts  15, 1-2, 22-29,   Unless you are circumcised you cannot be saved.

Psalm 67,  Oh, God let all the nations praise you.

Revelation  21, 10-14, 22-23,  The angel took me to a great, high mountain.

John 14, 23-29,  Whoever loves me will keep my word.

 

 

 

Welcome home, Chloe, you are beautiful and special here.

 

 Acts observations again:

WHO: same as author of Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15 of 28

WHEN: late 60’s, before 70

WHY: To further Paul’s desire to make “The Way” of Jesus’ followers acceptable to people in the Greco-Roman world of his time.

Today’s reading from Chapter 15 of Acts gives us another example of how the followers of Jesus at that time were originally Jewish. We have no documents from the 20 years following Jesus’ death. Scholars conjecture that there were writings from that time that became sources for the authors of the gospels of Matthew and Luke.

 

 

 

Victoria, along with Zoe, they say, Welcome, Everybody."

 

 

My Peace I give to you

My Peace I give to you.  What a beautiful gift.  The Best.  How do you find it?   

I would like to talk about finding the peace this morning.  I would propose that the gift is all around us.  It is here in our community, it is in our homes, it is in Tom Thumb, it is in our city.  I would suggest that there are big and little packages of peace.  For example, some little packages that give me peace.

First, taking Aviana, our dog, for a walk.  Rosemary takes Aviana for two or three afternoon walks.  Along the way she gets to know so many of our neighbors. 

 

 

 

Brandon, the guy with all the personality, also says, "Hi, Folks."

 

 

I take Aviana for 3 walks in the morning, including her first walk at ca. 4:15.   Want to know what peace is?   Watching her do her business quickly, especially both of them on this 5 minute walk.  It is short because she knows that she will get her breakfast right away afterward. 

Secondly, try biking.  Sometimes riding my bike with Rosemary around White Rock and going down the White Rock Creek Trail, I cannot believe how delightful this is.   On The Trail I often think, 'I cannot really be in Dallas,' the scenery is so beautiful and natural.

 

 

Chloe put to work lighting the candles.
 

 

 

Thirdly, I find great peace in doing weddings and, in particular, getting together with each couple to plan their wedding.  Just this past Friday and Saturday I spent an hour with two delightful couples. Saturday’s couple was Lisa Anderlick, John and Karen’s daughter.  

These daily and weekly events, while being really profound to me, are what I could call smaller packages of peace.    Want to know about a Big Packages?

  

Sisters, Jessica and Renee.

 

First, how can I not be touched with peace every time we all come together?   Remember that morning that it was pouring rain at 9:30?  Rosemary and I both said that few people would find their way here in that storm. 

What happened?  We had 65 plus people.  The kids are a special event of peace.  Our music.   And just everybody.   The peace of our community stays with me all week long. 

 

The Quinn Girls,  Vivienne, Kiera, & Mikayla.

 

Secondly, Cinco de Mayo!   What?, you say.  Cinco de Mayo? 

This big Mexican feast is also a special day for Rosemary & me.  We are celebrating our 11th anniversary.  I know you figured Rosemary could not stand to live so long with this old obsessive bachelor.  However, we have made it and each day brings more peace and more fun. 

 

 

Another beautiful Sunday thanks to Shonda & Bethany, Ray & David.

 

 

One of the fun things  takes place most weekday mornings, when I return from the J at around 7:15.   I wake up Rosemary with coffee and newspaper in hand.  Then I return to the kitchen, get my cup of coffee, and proceed to hop on the bed where we talk and discuss the day.  Aviana is also part of the event.

Unfortunately, even though coffee is supposed to be a stimulant, when I drink it after working out, it has the opposite effect.  Ten minutes and I tell Rosemary I am falling asleep and think I will take a 15 minute nap.  Of course, I get a comment like, “What a fascinating conversationalist you are.”

 

 

 

Remember, Brent, the cupcake is for Reggie, your Souls Harbor manager and recovery story–his birthday.

 

What is the response to these little and big packages of peace?  Two things.   Awareness and Gratitude.

Where do you find The Peace? 

 

Readings:

Acts  5, 12-16,  Many signs and wonders were done among the people.

Psalm 118,  Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting

Revelation  1, 9-19, I was caught up in spirit on the Lord’s day.

John 20, 19-31,  Thomas, “Unless I see the mark of the nails.   

 

 

Harper says, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in."

 

 

 Acts observations:  I won’t bore you every Sunday for the next six with these same observations.  I thought I would mention them because you may have missed them Easter Sunday with all that was going on.  Periodically I will remind you of the basics.

Date:  sometime before the year 70.  Why?  No mention of the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place the year 70, a Big Date in Jewish history.

 

Genevieve, too, says, "Hi, Folks, come in."

 

Who:  The same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke.  How do we know?  Similarities of style, language (Greek), and theological themes.

Subject:  The story of the expansion of the Jesus story in 3 areas, first, Jerusalem, then, Palestine or the Holy Land, and finally, into the Mediterranean and ultimately, Rome.

Today’s Subject: a description of the growth & expansion within the first area, Jerusalem. 

Sources: Good News Bible, The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Wikipedia

 

Hi, Cathy, and welcome to you, too.  Thanks for bringing Harper.

 

New Life Next Weekend

Next Sunday when you all come together here I will be getting together with my former Jesuit classmates in the beautiful college chapel at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama.  We guys spent the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th years of our training at Spring Hill. 

It is class reunion time this weekend and about 8 of us gathered last year for the same event.  This year the alumni board is making a big deal out of us and is inviting all the ex and present Jesuits who got degrees at Spring Hill to special recognition.  There could be hundreds.

 

Leo, the Candle Lighter, at work on the Easter Candle.

 

When I was there we had about 150 guys residing in Assumption Hall, which has been since demolished and replace with smaller units of student housing. 

I would like to make 4 observations on the uniqueness of this group of guys.

 

You never know what you will find out on April 1.  The Juliets.

 

First, all joined up to be Jesuit priests despite the 10-14 years of training involved.  Some entered out of college, others, like myself, entered out of high school.  I got the full 14 years of training, which at the time was not too bad.  It was broken up into 3 & 4 year goals.

Secondly, all these guys became well educated, whether in the Jesuits or after leaving.  Lots of the guys taught in schools and universities.  They were a pretty progressive group, interested in service, usually to the poor.  All would have made good priests and good contributors to the numerous Jesuit high schools, universities, parishes, and retreat houses.  In my early years there were 35,000 Jesuits just in the U.S. 

 

Welcome, Nora, into our special Catholic Family.

 

Thirdly, in my class there is and has been a love of reuniting to see how everyone is doing.  There is a comfort zone and guys are willing to share pretty important parts of their lives.

I remember a reunion maybe 3-4 years ago in New Orleans.  One of my buddies, Bill, who had cared for his wife for some years before she died of cancer was there.  I had not seen him or talked with him since she had died.  I was sitting in the group where we were talking about where each of us was at. 

 

Tom and Denni with their just baptized grandbaby.

 

 

Bill had not said anything.  I remember debating within myself.  But I am used to asking these questions.  Finally I simply asked him would he be willing to share how it was to care for and lose his wife.  We were all in tears.

In Wernersville, PA there is a large Jesuit retreat house & novitiate.  Every summer a reunion of some 50 or more Jesuit & ex-Jesuit classmates gather for a weekend.   I just found out about this from one of my classmates from the east.  I plan to go some summer in the future.

These reunions are just among Jesuits.  There is a large, more formal group called Corpus.  These guys seem to be mostly ex-diocesan priests.

John Cade, any Carmelite groups?

 

Who are all these people, Nora?  Why, that is you granddad, Tom, your sister, Charlotte, your grandmommy, Denni, your big sister,  Chloe, your mommy, Claire, and your daddy, Andrew.

 

Final observation.  Do you realize that within the next 30 years these groups will all disappear?  We have here a unique sample of the population, ex-priests and ex-seminarians.   They all wanted to be priests.   They all wanted to be married.    Because of Vatican II in the ‘60s, they decided remaining celibate was not healthy for them.  Shortly the whole group will pass on.

A little slice of history for you today, folks.  

 

Nora, you are beautiful and perfect.  Welcome into our world.  

Readings: Genesis 14, 18-20; Psalm 110, You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek; 1 Corinthians 11, 23-26; Luke 9, 11-17 

   

Sorry for the delay on the Sunday Blog.  The Editors had a wedding near Austin Sunday Evening.

 

 

Genesis: a review—

 

 

What: the first book of the whole bible, part of the Torah, the first 5 books of the ancient Jewish bible.   The word, from Greek, means origin or beginning.

 

The book is a mythical panorama that covers:

   1.  2 creation stories

   2.  The apple tree, the snake, Eve, The Fall

   3.  Cain & Abel

   4.  Noah & the Flood

   5.  Tower of Babylon

   6.  The Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob (or Israel)

   7.  The 12 sons of Jacob & Joseph sold into Egypt

   8.  The migration to Egypt (which sets up the Exodus)

 

Who wrote: not Moses; 4 major streams or sources can be identified

 

Date: Anywhere from 1500 to 500 B.C.E.

 

Today: a little blessing of Abraham by Melchizedek, a king & a priest.  Abraham has just won a battle.   Melchizedek is seen by the Catholic Church as a sort of proto-priest.  How come no more Jewish priests?  Because the Romans in 70 C.E. destroyed the temple in Jerusalem.  The priests offered sacrifice to Yahweh to win his benevolence.  Now rabbis & synagogues.  What if the temple were rebuilt? 

 

 

 

Luke Gospel: observations—

 

 1.  Luke copied Mark (the earlier writer), 5 loaves, 2 fish, 12 baskets, 5,000 men seated in groups

  2.  Mark is trying to convince the Jews in the temple & synagogue that Jesus is special, similar to Moses .  Both bring the people out of slavery.  Both feed the people, Moses in the desert.

  3.  Mark is working with the Jewish liturgical calendar, presenting Jesus stories each Sabbath in the worship services. 

4.  Please pardon me for repeating an understanding of this nature miracle that I have told before.

Sources: Wikipedia; Bishop Spong, Jesus for the Non-Religious, p. 72

 

 

 

The Miracle of Sharing My Stuff

 

 

I took an overnight train once from the capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, to the Kilimanjaro region where we Jesuits had a house I used as a base.  The train leaves at about 6:00 in the evening and arrives in a town called Moshi about 6:00 in the morning. 

 

 

Normally I would book a first class compartment ahead of time, which is not that much, but much better than coach.  I do not remember the reason  why I was traveling without my motorcycle.  Whatever, I ended up grabbing a coach ticket on the afternoon of the train’s departure.  A dumb move normally.

 

 

Coach, folks, is a scene.  I get on.  All seats are occupied, of course.  The aisle is full of luggage and people.  I find a corner and sit on my suitcase, resigned to sitting up all night. 

 

 

This would have been okay, but about 1:00 in the night we stop in the middle of nowhere.  It looks like west Texas in the dry season, scraggly bushes, semi-desert.  We sit there all that night, all the next day, and finally move as it is getting dark again.

 

 

I have now lived in East Africa a good half a dozen years.  I can speak the language easily.  I know the unpredictability of everything.  However, I did something really stupid that night.  I got on that train without any water or food, assuming the train would arrive as scheduled. 

 

 

Of course, the Tanzanians were provident.  They had food & water.  They would have easily shared with me if they knew I needed anything.  Trouble was, I did not want to drink their water because often it is not purified.

 

 

 

In the whole train, guess how many white folks there were.  One other couple, the guy a 6’4” military kid from West Germany and his blond girl friend from East Germany.  Before the wall came down.

 

 

They had water.

 

 

There are a couple of spin off stories about this couple.  First, I saved them from big trouble when the guy took a picture of a cute Tanzanian baby.  Tanzanians really get spooked and mad about this.

 

 

Secondly, I took the couple up Kilimanjaro and had to laugh.  The guy was like a number 5 out of 5 on the Alpine Rescue Team and near the top of Kilimanjaro I had to carry his pack because he got altitude sickness. 

 

 

I tell this story about the train because it explains to me just how this feeding of the people could have come about.

 

 

The people following Jesus were like my Tanzanian companions.  They did not go off without food.  Moreover, they hid what they had.  And they aren’t sharing it except under exceptional circumstances.  Jesus was one of the circumstances. 

 

 

He takes the five loaves and two fish, takes a bit, and passes it on.  The person who receives it realizes that under his robe he has some bread, too.  He takes a bit and passes it on.  But he also adds a portion of his own bread.  By the time it makes the rounds of 5 thousand times at least 2 (the women & kids), there is a leftover of 12 baskets.

 

 

The miracle was of the heart.  These country people who would hide and hoard to save their lives opened their hidden treasure and shared with their neighbor. 

 

 

This is miraculous.  This we can do. 

 

 

How are you doing it?

 

Picture 1:   Mass begins, Kevin helping

 

Picture 2:   Wendy, Shonda, Ray, & Celeste

 

Picture 3:   Communion

 

Picture 4:  John & Alison DeGenova, Sabrina's parents

 

 

 

 

 

Readings:

1 Kings 3:5, 7-12,  Give your servant an understanding heart.  

Psalm 119,   Lord, I love your commands.

Romans 8,  28-30,  We know that all things work for good for those who love God…

Matthew 13, 44-52,  Kingdom Parables

 

Kevin and John ready to start Mass.

                                               

Homily:

 

We heard of Solomon’s call to be king of people of God

We heard in Paul’s Letter our call to be “conformed to the image of Jesus” 

And we heard in Matthew the parables about putting the treasure buried in a field and the pearl of great price ahead of everything else we could have.

                                                                                                             

The Offertory helpers, Bill, Paul and Carrie.

                                                        

Our word for today is asking how we hear our call and how do we answer our call?

I remember the answer I was given growing up (long long ago), hearing it in sermons and in weekend retreats at Grand Coteau, Louisiana. We were told that we are called to be holy and holiness was presented as perfection— You know the quote from Matthew: “Be you perfect as your heavenly father is perfect”. According to Matthew Fox, in his book Original Blessing, the quote from Matthew’s Gospel, “Be you perfect…”, does not refer to moral perfection and does not have here the later Greek meaning of being totally free of imperfection. The word ‘teleioi’, translated as “be you perfect”, actually meant “to be full-grown, to be complete or whole”.

                                                                                                                                    

Our musicians, Celeste, Shonda and Ben.

                                                                               

Remember also how we were given the lives of the saints, in which they were portrayed as achieving perfection and we were taught to imitate those perfect people. The lives of the saints inspired me, but there was no way I could live up to the idealized stories of their lives of perfection. Going to seminary at age 18 and to a monastery at age 22 was how I chased after the ideal of holiness as perfection.

Remember also how we were taught to make an examination of conscience, detailing everything we thought or did wrong–not about what we thought or did that was good or generous or loving or courageous or compassionate, not how we were becoming more full-grown or complete. The implication was that we were lacking and in sin almost all the time; that was scary folks. We were told we were imperfect, not holy, and I took that to mean I didn’t measure up, I wasn’t good enough. We were taught that there was a time, in the beginning when our original parents were in a paradise and were good/perfect, and connected to God. But that in Adam we sinned and were separated from God.  

                                                                                                                                                         

Georgie and Mom, Michelle.

 

What if we came to learn in the last 400 years, like Matthew Fox did, that there was never a state of perfection in our world, that creation in our universe has been going on for 20 billion years and that our universe has been expanding all that time, and is this moment expanding at unimaginable speed. It’s not really about being perfect.

In all creation beauty and imperfection go together. Every tree is beautiful, but if you get up close you will see that every tree is imperfect. The same is true of the human body. Every human body is beautiful, but every human body is imperfect. In creation, in nature, imperfection is not a sign of the absence of God. It’s a sign that the ongoing creation we are part of is no easy thing. We bear scars from the living process, and we can and must celebrate those scars, those imperfections.

                                                                                                                                                                        

Georgie's sister, Zoe.

 

My take on updating the idea of holiness includes thinking about how we accept imperfection, including our own, and about how we are growing, not to be perfect, but to be more complete, more whole, more caring for ourselves and others and more caring for mother nature and our place in the universe.

Yesterday I was visiting a friend who, when I said I was doing the Mass today, asked what my homily would be about and I said holiness. My friend said, I just finished watching a Ted Talk by Ann Lamont, a favorite author of mine. She said “Laughter is carbonated holiness.”

 

Question: How do you think of ‘holiness’ in our time?

 

Georgie's sister, Tori.

 

 

And Georgie's brother, Buddy. 

Readings:

Deuteronomy 4,  32-34, 39-40  Moses said to the people.

Psalm 33,    Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Romans 8, 14-17,   Those who are led by the Spirit of God are people of God.

 Matthew  28, 16-20, The disciples went to the mountain.

 

Says Harper, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in."

 

Deuteronomy observations:

What:  This work is the 5th and last book of the Pentateuch/Torah.  The first 4 books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, & Numbers.  Deuteronomy has basically 3 speeches delivered by Moses before the people enter the promised land.  He reviews all they have endured the past 40 years and how Yahweh has shown his care and power to save them.

Author: Moses may have spoken some of the ideas in the speeches, but others have put the work together.  In fact, in chapter 34 the death of Moses is described.  Someone other than Moses probably covered this episode.

Date: 700 years before Christ.

Our Selection: the end of the first speech.  Moses is reminding the people of how Yahweh cared for them and why they must honor him for this as their one and only god.

 

 

And says Harper's grandmother, Cathy, and Jackie and Rick,        "Welcome Folks."
 

 

A God of Relationships

Want to know what makes for happiness?  Old Stack will tell you this morning.  I have talked about some of this in the past, but it is so good it is worth reviewing.  I do this especially on the feast of our three person god.  Our god is a relationship god and that is what I want to talk about.

The ideas this morning come from a study of 268 male Harvard students starting in 1937, a 7 decade longitudinal study that is almost unique in its breadth.  The identities of the students are secret unless the student identifies himself.  Ben Bradlee, the editor of the Washington Post did so, and it was deduced after he died that President Kennedy was one of the students.    This write up comes from a June Atlantic magazine.

 

                   Emma the Candle Lighter with Georgie's help.

 

The question was not how much trouble or how little they encountered in life, but how and to what effect they responded.  How they adapted and became happy -healthy or sad-sick people.  Psychiatrist George Vaillant has spent the last 40 years organizing the data coming from the study.

He has come up with the following suggestions taken from the lives of these 268 men.  Here are 7 factors that contribute to happy-healthy people:

 

                           Cupcake of The Week to Mabel at 83.

 

    1.  Education.  For you kids who just finished a long school year, it may feel so good to be out.  However, your education is a big factor in you being a happy-healthy person, in the future and even now.  I would include ongoing education.  We never cease to learn new things, even how to dance, yoga, languages, history, geography, and so on.  In Plano, look up S.A.I.L., Senior Active in Learning, an excellent program

    2.  Healthy & mature adaptability.  Vailant identifies 4 ways of adapting, from psychotic, immature, and neurotic, to healthy, like humor, altruism, forgiveness.  See the link to get his complete explanation. Try 3 things, laugh, forgive, and accept.  And try it on yourself to start with.

 

 

                    Cupcakes of The Week to Ray and Brent

 

    3.  No smoking.  Never too late to stop if you already have started.  You kids, you will end up looking uglier than me if you start the habit.  Beware of copping out on the electric cigarette.

    4.  Moderate use of alcohol & no abuse.  College kids and even high school kids get caught up here so easily.  The culture of drinking excessively.  However, a new phenomenon is emerging as our population ages, geriatric alcoholism.  A bench mark?  2 glasses of wine or two beers a day.  More than that and look for two results: alcoholism and denial.

 

Cupcake of The Week to Renee for coming home with her degree after 5 years at Kansas State.

 

    5.  Exercise.  Want some exercise next week?   Come with me to the J tomorrow morning, 6:30 spin class.  Make it fun, make it daily.  At least a few times a week, like take a walk.  

    6.  Weight control.  My visit to McDonald's.  Kids loading up on layers of fat, salt, and sugar.  A very seductive place.  

 

 

               Cupcake of The Week also to Zaile, a week late. 

 

    7.   Relationships: loving and long term.  Vaillant suggests that this is the factor.  Loving is life-filling, it is motivational.  Because I love another, I exercise, I study, I approach life with moderation and spirit.  After all the data he has evaluated, Vaillant states that a relationship of love is the only thing that really matters in life. 

How are you doing with these 7?

Who is the person you love most in the whole world?  

 Source, Atlantic,   http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200906/

     

Not a cupcake to Kevin, but, from The Community, a $550 gift and a standing ovation for not only his high school graduation, but even more for his years of faithful, reliable help each week.             The Best to you, Kevin, because you are The Best.