Ross and the Opera... and My other Friend...

Ross liked good things... but he never hoarded stuff... He took whatever he needed and consumed and that was the end of that...
Ross loved the Summer... He was an outdoors person at all times... But you could not hold him inside during the Summer months even with heavy rocks... He wanted to out there and he wanted to rock... Event after event... and if there were no events that he fancied... then a long walk on river banks and in the woods were his favourite pass time... he loved to walk and talk all the time... 
But he had selected activities too... and he phoned me to tag with him... most of the time I did... at times I could not and he was disappointed... We made a point of visiting the Italian Consulate... They screened operas from Italian composers... Most of the time performed in La Scala... Ross loved these screening on Friday evenings in the yard of the Consulate... 

   

The Italian Consulate during the summer displaying the famous moose statues scatters throughout the city... and the Italian Consulate during the winter... The snow is beautiful too... It is in this yard that they screened the operas... and invited to public for a picnic and lovely operas...

Ross and I took wine and cheese and soft crackers with us... It was fun and musical... Before settling down Ross had to have a hot-dog or a hamburger from the organizers who had set up a barbecue and were selling them... He couldn't resist the aroma of the barbecue... He loved it... and then the other consideration was that it gave him more opportunity to talk with the people... His wonderful simplicity and contagious happiness made all around him happy...
But smart Alex people... at the school teased him... "Why you attend Italian opera... You don't understand a word of what they are singing..." They wanted to put him down because he was daring enough to do something that they will not dare in their lifetime... 
But Ross was simple at heart and sophisticated in mind... He said; "That's the beauty of it... I know the story... and I can imagine whatever I want to imagine while they are singing... The words become part of the music... and do not alienate me..." The clowns walked away... shaking their heads and Ross winked at me... with a childish smile...
He raved about the La Scala... and genuinely wanted to travel to Europe and see all that he had read and watched on screen... 
But he never did... He will never do... 
Maybe he will have fun in eternity... 

***

He was outgoing... He had many friends... and he made new ones every day... He had met two young people from out of town... Two artsy types and they had seasons subscription to the opera company in the city... 

One morning he came to my classroom... I had missed visiting the Chapel since I had a deadline to meet and lots of work to complete... 

"You know what...? I have two tickets for the opera... The sits are in the box... very good sits...and you have to come with me... It is for this Friday..." He bubbled out... 

And we did... 

 

The Four Season's Opera House... and the box seats... Marvelous...

Opera is always a larger than life experience... for me and for Ross too... It was beautiful... He could not stop bragging about the experience for days...

...And also... A Student-Friend writes...

I've been reading a book lately that someone gave me called Purpose Driven Life.  
I'm not a fan of it.  I'm reading it because I made a promise that I would read it.  It's about finding your purpose through God.  I find the book very hypocritical, and it leads people to follow the WORD of the bible literally as opposed to finding meaning and questioning to develop a deeper understanding.  Everyone can develop their own understanding of their faith, so obviously that really bothers me.  I think it is important to know the stories, but at the end of the day I always remember that the book was written by a man, and a man can have his own interpretations of God's will.  Anyways, once in a while I do find a line or two that inspires me to reflect for a moment or two.  
Last night I read something that I really like. 

"Often we act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule.  We talk about finding time for our children or making time for people in our lives.  That gives the impression that relationships are just a part of our lives along with many other tasks.  But God says relationships are what life is about." 

I love that way of thinking, and I believe that it's very important.  People forget that life isn't about making money to pay the bills or the rent.  Strange as it sounds, it isn't about what you eat and drink.  As I teacher I can even say it isn't about education and what you know.  Life is about the people around you.  I feel so blessed that going to work for me is like going to spend a day with my friends, I absolutely love my coworkers.  I am blessed to have a job where my PURPOSE is to build a relationship with my students to enlighten them about what THEIR purpose here is.  I am grateful to have the kind of personality where I can sit in the waiting room of my doctors' offices and just start up a conversation with the person next to me, or sit in church and get to make faces at the kid in the pew in front of me to make them laugh.  I agree 100% with this quote that our lives should be about our interactions with other people as opposed to stressing ourselves out about things like wasting time in a waiting room, lesson planning, marking, listening to a sermon that I don't understand (I just don't understand the crazy difficult Armenian words they use...but at least he says it in English after).  I have a rule about my work, I leave it at work.  I NEVER EVER bring work home.  Home is where I entertain, where I relax, where I catch up on phone calls, and where I can reflect on my day.  There is no stress allowed in my home.  While I was reading that chapter last night also, I came up with some of my own thoughts.  The book was talking about how God wants us to love him, and his children (which I interpret as every human being, but apparently this book interprets as every believer only). As I thought about it, I thought back to my readings of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and did some dot connecting...math without numbers you could say.

God completes us

God is love

We are only truly complete and truly happy when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and therefore love

When we love others, we find ourselves completed as long as those others are with us, unless we learn to carry on and pass on that love once they are gone

When we love ourselves, we are completed and filled with the Holy Spirit and we need nothing else to complete us

That is God

That is the purpose of our lives

That is how our spirits can find a peach that will allow our souls, mind, and bodies to enjoy their short time on earth before they disappear

Leaving on the spirit to move on

I tend to write out my reflections on my phone when I think of them, but even if I don't they get stored in a bank at the back of my mind and used to help me form a deeper understanding of my own faith.  I just gave you a glimpse into the vault ;)

Great...!
I would like to read from you more... I like your concept of doing the math without numbers... Ross loved it too... 
Ross loved relationships too... He could stay alone by himself for days... But the better part of him came out when he was with people... and when he was talking...

My friend concluded her email with...

By the way...Donald Trump is crazy.  He also has a crazy sidekick Sarah Palin now too.  Should I start helping you look for a place up here in Canada again just in case???? hahahaha

Any country is much larger that its leaders... The leaders may reflect a false image of the country... During Nazi time their was Schindler's List... too...
"Crazy" leaders will never be able to define a country... ? Crazy" sidekicks will never be able to feed their bigotry and lies to the people...
The people is always smarter than their leaders... and one day they will stand up and be counted... They will... Ross believed in that... and he was happier for that...