Journal entry by Julia Sibley-jones —
Ditto to everything my dear wife said. Now, let's all have a glass of celebratory wine. I'm on my third glass, about to start number four. Wait...that dear wife of mine is removing the bottle from my reach. Is she crazy? I've had cancer. I need wine.
Come to my aid! Defend me against the evil machinations of this vile woman. Do not be deceived by her beauty or gentleness or grace or charm. I need help here. WINE!
In all candor, my family and I thank you for your love and support. Especially in this time of social distancing, how could we ever think we can make it alone in this world without the love and support of dear friends?
At the end of the Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia, the Italian title which has a ring that the English lacks} , Dante imagines viewing a perfect circle (or "wheel" as some translators have it) bound and moving by the divine power of love: "But yet the [divine] will roll'd onward, like a wheel/ In even motion, by the Love impell'd,/ That moves the sun in Heaven and all the stars."
That old Italian master knew what he was talking about . He wasn't just talking about God. He was talking about you. About the divine spirit in you. In all of us. In all who understand the necessity of extending our love to the people we meet--and even to those we will never meet--by way of our charity, our giving, our prayers.
So thank you for enveloping me in that divine love which has held me up in these past few weeks. That love that will carry me through life, and will enable me to rejoice, even in that final moment when I am both welcoming and cursing death for interrupting my enjoyment of this beauty with which you enfold me, and with which you strengthen others throughout this frightful, strangely beautiful world.
--Mark
Come to my aid! Defend me against the evil machinations of this vile woman. Do not be deceived by her beauty or gentleness or grace or charm. I need help here. WINE!
In all candor, my family and I thank you for your love and support. Especially in this time of social distancing, how could we ever think we can make it alone in this world without the love and support of dear friends?
At the end of the Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia, the Italian title which has a ring that the English lacks} , Dante imagines viewing a perfect circle (or "wheel" as some translators have it) bound and moving by the divine power of love: "But yet the [divine] will roll'd onward, like a wheel/ In even motion, by the Love impell'd,/ That moves the sun in Heaven and all the stars."
That old Italian master knew what he was talking about . He wasn't just talking about God. He was talking about you. About the divine spirit in you. In all of us. In all who understand the necessity of extending our love to the people we meet--and even to those we will never meet--by way of our charity, our giving, our prayers.
So thank you for enveloping me in that divine love which has held me up in these past few weeks. That love that will carry me through life, and will enable me to rejoice, even in that final moment when I am both welcoming and cursing death for interrupting my enjoyment of this beauty with which you enfold me, and with which you strengthen others throughout this frightful, strangely beautiful world.
--Mark
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