My friend Mike (Mihalis) passed-away last Saturday.
He had been suffering from prostate cancer which had metastasized to his bones. A long-practicing Anesthesiologist, he had no misconceptions as to the diagnosis, nor his prospects. What amazed me was the calmness with which he described his illness and how he had made peace with himself.
I remember when I had first met him at our parish church, following a Sunday service, while we were sitting in the social hall.
Greek Orthodox churches in the US are quite different from their counterparts in Greece. Here the entire Greek community comes together around the church and there is a whole social scene that plays-out in parallel to the religious experience.
When Mike had asked me what I did and I answered I was involved with Marketing, he went on to say he was going to seek my advice about how to best market his Foundation. We talked about many things over the years, however we never got around to discussing this specific topic.
This week, following his passing, we found out a bit more about Mike's Foundation: the Christian Orthodox Monastery Preservation Foundation. Mike had visited many monasteries throughout the world in the last twenty years and he had been truly touched by the monastic way of life. He had used a large portion of his net worth to create a perpetual endowment fund for his Foundation when he financed it in 2001. The goal of Mike's Foundation is "to provide the means whereby monastic communities can preserve, practice, perpetuate and proclaim their unique way of life through the development of tangible and effective projects, programs and activities of a philanthropic, educational and evangelistic nature."
A number of monasteries have already benefited from this Foundation and it's work will be continued, being carried-forth by our parish priest, father John.
I couldn't help but be awed by the calm, quiet and unassuming way in which Mike had made sure that he could continue to aid monasteries throughout the world, helping them create the basis, or groundwork, the foundation so to speak, for continuing to spread the message of Christian Orthodoxy.
May God rest his soul.
John, may I add my condolences for an unknown colleague, who obviously found spiritual meaning in his life and invested in making such a meaning available to others. I am amazed at the things we learn after their passing about people we thought we knew well. I attended a Memorial Service for an elderly patient of mine, with whose children we are very close friends, and learned from a speaker about works of philanthropy he had accomplished which were unknown even to his own family. Truly their left hand did not know what the right one practised.
ReplyDeleteAntoni thanks for your comments.
ReplyDeleteMike was indeed a great guy who led a full life and did great things -- what struck me the most about him was his humility (semnotita).