"My Exalted Grandfather, whom I never had the privilege of meeting in the flesh, is sometimes quoted as having said something like, 'Love your neighbor as yourself'!" Quite a statement! Growing up, as I did, in a Land occupied by foreign invaders, the Mark that my Forebear had left behind was still fairly evident, though maybe, for the most part, underground as of yet. Things seemed to have calmed down to a low roar since His crucifixion, but passions, which had been roiling under the surface since even before His time, were getting ready to erupt again!
Up until the time of Jesus, the Romans had allowed us to worship as we wished; in fact, they had even left us, for the most part, to our own laws & customs. Obviously, they were still in control of the situation, but they had pretty much left us to our own devices when it came to living our faith. There had previously been issues with this, centuries ago, beginning with the Babylonians, all the way up to the Seleucids. Now the Romans had the ascendancy. Although there were many indications of the effects of both romanization & hellenization on our Jewish culture, we still had our Temple, such as it was & thus were still uniquely Jewish.
My name is Joseph & this is MY Story! As I was saying, my Exalted Grandfather had once said, "Love you neighbor as yourself". Unless, as the Overwhelming Majority tended to do, one took the stance that 'your neighbor' only constituted those of our own race, or religion, loving one's neighbor meant anyone with whom you came in contact. Long story short, that would mean, I guess, that we were supposed to love even the Romans as we loved ourselves. "Wow!" How do you love your conquerors, those who persecute you?!
Okay, so at this Time in OUR Story, 'persecution' might be a bit strong, though it had been VERY strong in the past. We had to pay all those stupid taxes, we weren't allowed to live exactly as we wanted, but like I said, we still had our Temple & they pretty much left us alone when it came to Who we worshiped. Things were escalating though, as they had in the past, because, along with OUR God, they wanted us to worship their Caesar as a God. This, of course, went over like a screen door on a submarine, especially among the Elders!
At an early age, though not as early maybe, as my Exalted Grandfather, I enjoyed going into the Temple to listen to, if not reason with the Elders. On one occasion, as I remember, I brought up this very subject: speaking of 'lead balloons', they were NOT impressed! "How dare I question or otherwise challenge their orthodox understanding of the words of Jesus!" To make matter worse, I challenged their notion of 'worship' when I reminded them that it actually only means 'to ascribe worth'! If looks could kill, I would have been in the same boat as my Grandfather, those many years ago!
For the time being, however, I managed to dodge that bullet. They weren't so lucky: History records that after the crucifixion of Jesus, things got steadily worse. The rebellion that had been fomenting since before His time continued to fester & the Romans, largely because because we WERE loving them as we loved ourselves ( not at all ), finally started cracking down on us! No longer was it simply OUR Temple; we had to worship their God, not just alongside of, but before ours. No longer were our laws preeminent, THEIR laws now held that position! This, of course, was not working for the Elders, so something HAD to give & that's when the rumors started to turn into more than rumors!
In Time, matters finally escalated to the point where the Romans had to descend in glory on our beloved City & Temple! Not only did they raise havoc in the City, they also razed our Temple to the ground ( though there ARE reports that Jews actually started the fire )! All because the Elders misunderstood what their Great Teacher had said. "Sad". Anyway, my mother & I dodged that bullet as well, having some years before escaped to our mountain retreat which her Exalted Father, my Grandfather, had provided for us those many years ago.
As the years went by & Time rolled on, things seemed to quiet down in the Land of my Nativity, though things were never quite the same after my Exalted Grandfather had His say & walked His walk! There was an occasional rebellion, even almost a revolution that seemed to threaten the Roman's grasp on power, but it never lasted. However, as always; Empires come & Empires go: the Roman's hold over us was not to last forever. Israel became an independent ( more or less ) nation/state many, many years later ( almost 2 millenia ) when the British Empire, in what might have been the throes of their power, won them their freedom, such as it was.
I said previously that this was MY Story! Well, this is how I grew up, this is partially what made me the Person I became. I chose, throughout all of the above, to look at even those who orchestrated our destruction as 'my neighbor', though I'm pretty they didn't look at me in the same manner. It was a very difficult choice at first ( still is at times ), but I often found that the more I did, the easier it was to look at them that way & to understand that it was because of their own choices that they manifested the destruction that you now read in the history books.
So, now you know a bit of my history, not just who I am, or was, but what events transpired that influenced the Person I became. Although I may not have cut the figure my Exalted Grandfather did, I WAS cut from the same Cloth, in a manner of speaking. I never knew Him in person, but I knew Him just the same: He has guided me on my own Journey through this world, this Life. If I learned anything from my experiences with Him, it is that when we love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we will receive the same in turn, WITHOUT FAIL!
Namaste' & Blessed Be!
Sage Charles
