The Appeal Of Paisano Life

SAT., DEC. 4, 1999, 7:25 AM
FARM, STUDY

Last evening you spent some time, in fantasy, with paisanos, with a lifestyle quite different from yours. And though you have loved your lifestyle… and do love it now… there is something appealing about paisano life. I am with you in your life, and I often urge you to be responsible, but I also am a Friend to past and present-day paisanos. So this morning you have risen from a warm, comfortable bed and have come to a paisano-style desk to responsibly hear Me, your Friendly Holy Spirit, tell you about “another life.”

You have been a responsible, hard-working, concerned middle-class American, and this has shaped you as a Christian, even as a mystic. This has made for a good life. You’re proud of how you have lived, and rightly so. But, as is sometimes the case, in earth life, you can feel the appeal of a life quite opposite in style. I’d say that this desk… and this room… are evidence of some paisano tendencies in you.

Oh, you still feel the pull of responsibility, but as you watched the story unfold, with the quite appropriate background music, you also felt a pull to that “irresponsible” life, with few goals… and these quite short term.

You are sometimes over-concerned about money. Your parents, before you, had similar concerns. Your Dad invested well, and in what is now quite a healthy economy, they left you a sizeable inheritance. ( 7:55 / 7:58 ) You have some desire s to be “paisano-like,” spending it or giving it away… sharing it with your sons and their families, but these desires are countered by your more dominant “non-paisano-like” nature.

There is something appealing about “dying broke,” as Danny’s grandfather did, leaving only the two houses to his grandson. He was now a property owner… with responsibilities… this Danny. But this adversely affected his relationship with the other paisanos. The houses burned, Danny got married, and his friends went back to sleeping under the stars. You wonder what Danny’s life would be like. Would he be a responsible, hard-working husband and father, or would his early life experiences resurface and affect him, as yours have?

Consider My life, as Jesus, as described in the Gospels. I, and My twelve friends/disciples, moved around the countryside, apparently without working. Were we like paisanos, just being faithful to me, as God, and letting Me provide what was necessary?

The paisanos in this story were residual Catholic Christians, but only one, the Pirate, could be “outfitted” to be actually in the church. He was faithful to St. Francis, and his promise was kept, as his “friends” insisted. So, yes, there was honest dedication to Me, indirectly. They were responsible in this way.

You are pleased with the way you “are retiring” (and you’re sorry you missed that Departmental meeting), but you also envision finally “retiring” to this place, giving up virtually all of the responsibilities you have had. Oh, you do want to continue friendships, and this is a “form of responsibility.” You don’t anticipate a long earth future, so perhaps you should just live life as you feel it, more like a paisano? Yet you want to be sure that Lenore is left with sufficient means to live comfortably.

Danny, being married, could not continue with his friends. He had to be a responsible husband (and father?), but could he be such? You can be, because of your life-style and the values that shaped, and were reinforced, by this life. It shall be as hard for you to be “paisano-like” as it would be for Danny to be a hard-working husband.