“No matter. He is holy. He carries in his heart the secret of renewal for all: that power which will, at last, establish truth on the earth, and all men will be holy and love one another, and there will be no more rich nor poor, no exalted nor humbled, but all will be as the children of God, and the true Kingdom of Christ will come.” That was the dream in Alyosha’s heart.
This month I began reading another of Fydor Dostoevsky’s classic novels, The Brothers Karamazov. It is stated in the foreword of my FP Classics 2023 imprint of Prakash Books India PVT. Ltd that it was first published serially in The Russian Messenger from January 1879 to November 1880. It tells the story of the Karamazov family and their complex relationships with each other, as well as their struggles with religion, philosophy, and the consequences of their actions. It has been appreciated over the years by scholars and readers alike as a philosophical work that offers insights into the human condition and the search for the meaning of life.
The initial excerpt shared above is found on page 41 of my copy as translated by one Constance Garnett.
This month, another book found its way into my page turning hands. Actually my wife wanted this book as it was recommended by a Catholic monk she follows on YouTube. I confess that when it came in the mail I grabbed it and read it in seven nights. The title is JESUS and the JEWISH ROOTS of the EUCHARIST and it is written by Brant Pitre. I have a bible in my library. Actually, I have six bibles. Why you might ask? Is it because I am religious? No, not at all. I believe my spiritualism transcends any one religion. But having said that I annotated and read my bible, a copy I purchased for myself over twenty seven years ago, and as I wrote in the opening page, I bought it for my enlightenment. Did I find enlightenment? Well maybe not to the level of the philosophers living through the end of the dark ages! But it does help me know that the key to a new day is having a new question. The other bibles I own were found from countless hours of booking. I have obtained family bibles and religious books owned by nuns in the late 1800’s. Not only their handwritten family histories are of interest but so are the pressed flowers, pressed ferns, lily of the valley, and even a pressed four leaf clover found in their pages! All history, in most cases, over 150 years old. (The clover showed me that one family member believed in seasoning her prayers with a little bit of luck.)
I love history, in college I majored in it. One of the courses I took was focused on the bible, not to study it as a seminary student would, but to realize it as another primary and/or secondary resource. A guide to add to ones understanding of life lived thousands of years ago. One area of confusion was my lack of understanding the connection of the Old Testament to the New Testament. Yes, I knew that the Old Testament was before Jesus’s birth and life, and the New Testament was inspired from Jesus’s life, teachings and witnessed miracles, for the most part.
I was raised as a protestant, specifically a member of the Congregational church in Becket and Medfield Massachusetts. Baptism, sunday school, hymns, The Lord’s Prayer; the whole nine yards. As an adult, I spent about a decade living and working on the island of Nantucket. I was hired as a healthcare administrator, my wife and I joined the First Congregational Church. Our two young sons became part of the Sunday school. For a while I had the privilege of teaching there and becoming a deacon of the church. Why did I do all that? Well to be honest it was not because I had a religious calling, no, not at all. But it was good politics, I hate to sound shallow here, but in a rural community working in service of healthcare, I always felt that the more I was involved in community the more support we could receive. The skilled nursing facility, was owned by the Town of Nantucket. My work in the church and also as a volunteer firefighter helped our residents and employees, (and me) garner the support needed to maintain a service for many while thirty miles out to sea. ( Now all that sounds dramatic and maybe self serving on my part. To be sure good politics somewhat, but quality of our family life was the goal.) Sharing all this with you at this moment is to help you understand that any clarity I received this month from reading Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist helps me understand the history of the Last Supper better. Why is that important to me? As a protestant I really had sporadic practice of receiving Communion. In our church Communion was received a few times a year at major church holidays like Easter.
My wife was raised Catholic. Over the years I have been to many masses in a Catholic church. The Eucharist, of course, given and partaken of at every mass. This book written by a Brant Pitre, clarified to me how Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, understood the Eucharist through his rabbinical practice. It also helped me understand better the connections of the Old Testament to the New Testament. Moses, two thousand years before Jesus, and us two thousand years after Jesus’s earthly life. I’ve been blessed to have had Jewish friends, one who I lived with long enough to have shared many weekly shabbats. I was introduced to the Kabbalah. I tried to learn why the Jewish faith does not believe that Jesus, though a well know rabbi in his day, was not the messiah in Jewish faith. This book helps clarify a lot to me but the mystery of that remains.
This month I implore the lighthouse to shine and illuminate answers to questions I wake up with each morning. After seven plus decades of searching for answers and putting so many old questions to rest, two more come to light in the new dawn, each morning. The waves at my feet lap the song of asking the One Source, G-d, Universal Life Energy, or whatever name suits you, to find an answer in prayer, a faithful answer will follow. May be clarification with divining rods or the pendulum will help!
Thank you for reading.
Be at peace and joy!
Mark