Life, Light and Love

My personal physician is an Egyptian by birth, an Orthodox Coptic by faith; a family man by choice and an Internist by training.

He shared with me the other day the three priorities advocated by an ancient Coptic religious leader for optimal well-being. Life, Light and Love.

These are not only Christian values; they are also ancient historical suggestions and current priorities. They are the essence of all religions.

Take for instance the first one-LIFE. Obviously it does not merely refer to natural birth, breathing and growth. Henry Ward Beacher was graphic in saying: “God asks no one if they will accept life. That is not our choice. Our only choice is what we do with the time we have.”

The reference is to the quality of one’s life. No one has a guarantee of a certain amount of years. One writer puts it this way: “Be a life long or short, its completeness depends on what it was lived for.”

A few years ago Randy Pausch received a lot of national publicity. He was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon. He was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. He wrote a book with Jeffrey Zaslow entitled “My Last Lecture.”

Written for his children, he wrote, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt; just how we play the hand.”

Knowing he was near the end, he further advised his kids: “Always have fun; dream big; ask for what you want; dare to take a risk; look for the best in everybody; make time for what matters; and let kids be themselves.”

This is a great legacy for LIFE AT ITS BEST.

The second challenge is LIGHT. In this context light is referred to as insight, comprehension, enlightenment, awareness.

It is the opposite of the darkness of ignorance; of close-mindedness; of obstinance to new ideas; of conservative rather than liberal exploration of truth. It all boils down to antiquated thinking.

Thinking “outside of the box” is the only viable answer. Challenging the status quo. Robert Kennedy has often been quoted. He said, “I see the world as it can be and not as it is.”

A common adage often said today is, “The world, sheezachangin.” It certainly is and we the people better get with it.

For example. The populace of the Inland Empire is currently made up of a majority of Hispanics. Check out any fast food or exercise facility. My circle of friends has Egyptian, Lebanese, Mexican, Ethiopian, Costa Rican, German, Italian, Slovakian, Cameroon, India, Native American, Chinese, Canadian plus others.

This is but a shadow of what President Obama refers to as a “global economy.” A global view reaches beyond the economy. It encompasses culture, education and religion.

With our shrinking world, we are no longer isolated. Take for example restaurants. All of us can travel a short distance for Chinese, Thai, Italian, Jewish, Arabic, Irish, English foods. And of course, Mexican. We are truly living in a time of internationalism.

The third challenge is LOVE. It’s the fundamental value in Christianity. Jesus called it the number one law. To love God totally; our neighbors as ourselves. (Mathew 22:37)

Judaism advocates the same priority. (Leviticus 19:18 and Deut. 6:15) Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism and Zorasterism all place love as the first value in their religious faith.

To love is more than an academic expression. Eric Fromm says of it, “In loving we are expressing our sense of aliveness.” The importance of love should be obvious.

A great example of the influence of love is expressed in George Eliot’s classic story of Silas Marner. In the style of Charles Dickens, there is a villain and a hero (Silas).

Silas is unjustly accused of a monetary theft and he leaves his home, deeply depressed. By accident, a small child wanders into his home. Her opium addicted mother dies in a snow storm.

Silas decides to keep the child-this was a time before Social Services-and he raises her to become a beautiful, well-mannered young lady. Now here’s the kicker.

For the love of the child, the miser, eccentric, recluse Silas becomes a different person. For the love of Eppie, he becomes a scholar, a musician, a caring citizen and a devout Christian.

LIFE, LIGHT, LOVE. All these, but the greatest is love.

Amen. Selah. So be it.

 

WORDS TO THINK ABOUT

G. W. Abersold Ph.D.