I was entirely fascinated
with something Rosalind had mentioned about finding a mate. Listen to this:
“When I was in college, I had this long checklist [of what] I was looking for
in a significant other. The list had quite a few superficial characteristics
that I realized really didn’t amount to anything, if the guy I was dating
didn’t make me feel like I wanted to be a better person every day. So, finding
someone who challenged me to do better, to treat others better, to be that
better person went to the top of the list.”
Now, Rosalind, I hope you
understand that even where you started is far ahead of where most guys are in
college. It’s usually not a checklist, certainly not a long one, and it is 100%
superficial. Seriously, though, I love that idea of the most important
attribute in a mate, being one that would make you a better person,
specifically in your interpersonal relations with others.
Now, friends, it probably
won’t surprise you that someone who says that this is what she is looking for
in a guy, already has this attribute (in spades) herself. Listen to how Gillis
describes her: “Rosalind is the kindest, friendliest, smartest, most fun, most
level headed, non-judgmental and beautiful person I know. She is always willing to go out of her way to
make other people feel better or more at ease.”
This is not something that
happened by accident. This is where Rosalind’s heritage led her. As she says,
“While participation at church was at the forefront in my life as a child,
perhaps most important to my spiritual growth was the example my parents and
grandparents set for me. They express their love not only verbally but also
through acts of service, whether it be volunteering in the community or taking
care of loved ones who have fallen ill… This expression of love and
understanding is one of the family traditions that has helped shape my
spirituality, which is constantly evolving and growing today.”
Rosalind vividly describes
how she met Gillis, through an acquaintance. When he described Gillis she says,
“None of the superficial characteristics on my ‘checklist’ were listed…
Instead, he described Gillis as one of the most considerate people he knew. It
made me realize that Gillis was someone I wanted to meet even before he arrived
that night… He is one of the most compassionate, loving, and considerate people
I know. Gillis has a way of helping and teaching people that leaves them
feeling that he truly supports and cares for them, and he does…”
In Gillis’s case, this was
no accident either. As he says, “While I was raised as and identified as being
a Jew, I was always taught [that] being a good person is more important than
practicing any single religion… I think being a different religion than those
around me, while growing up, played a significant role in my religious beliefs
today. I still feel and think God cares infinitely more about what we do than
what we believe.”
Well, Rosalind and Gillis,
though a rabbi I am, I cannot contend that I speak for God. That said, my
studies lead me to not only feel and think that God would care more about what
we do, than what we specifically believe; they lead me to know it is so.
Continue, therefore, to build your relationship with this understanding in
mind, and through your kindness and compassion, as individuals and as a couple,
you will, in the words of John Gillespie Magee, Jr., “touch
the face of God.”
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