THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JON

By Peter Vuono

  December and January were tough months for me; or so I thought. I contracted a sinus infection for the entire month of December and ended the month by falling down the stairs on 12/27 in our first snow storm shoveling snow. I had been trying to train around this for a powerlifting meet I was going to enter on 1/10.Little did I know, that the chemistry of the infection would render me powerless.

  Infections cause an increase of cortisol; a hormone that shuts down the HPTA- or the hypothalamic, pituitary testes axis. This is the testosterone making process of the body. I went from a total testosterone of 640 ng/dl to 482 ng/dl. Needles to say, I bombed at the contest missing ALL my attempts. I started feeling sorry for myself and my daughter Amy even contacted wrestler Jake Roberts to send a video to cheer me up! However, I finally became "woke" when I looked down at the shirt I was wearing that my friend Jon gave me. It had on it praying hands with the inscription "I'm blessed" on it. On the hand was a tattoo of the word, "iron". Jon got it from the famed Iron Addicts Gym of Long Beach.

 Jon is a bit of a renaissance man as he's a great football player, a bodybuilder, a dog lover, an ordained minister, a doting dad and grandfather and he is to computers what Barry Kasparov is to chess!! The first thing I could think of  as I looked down at it was the famous quote from Jonathan Swift's book- Friendly Conversations". It read, "There's none so blind as those that will not see". It's true; I couldn't see the forest for the trees!

  I survived a heart attack, open heart surgery, a knee replacement and two other surgeries only to go to and compete in no fewer than 9 power meets in 3 leagues after all the surgeries. I have a wonderful wife of 47 years, two wonderful kids, a magnificent and loving rescue pug, a roof over my head and heat. I had no right to feel sorry for myself because among the abovementioned blessings I also had my faith.

 So my message to you today is that you should try to contemplate the blessings that you do have when things get rough. If you do, you'll spend more time on the needs of others rather than on yourself. So take a look at this shirt and try your best to remember the Gospel according to Jon.

 IT WON'T BE LONG, WE'LL MEET AGAIN!

Story By Peter Vuono

Title by Howard Jones and Adam Dutkiewicz

   Recently, my friend Colleen passed away after having valiantly battled cancer. Whenever I think of Colleen, the poetess Maya Angelou always comes to mind. Angelou once said, "You may never remember what someone said, and you may never remember what someone did, but you'll always remember how someone made you feel ."  Colleen was the epitome of encouragement. Every time I saw her, she'd say something so very complimentary.

   In July we were in a park together. As Diane and I walked ahead of her, I could hear Colleen comment to her husband, Frankie," Look at the two of them; they look like two high school kids". About ten years ago, at one of her husband Frankie's weightlifting contest, my son and I did  an impromptu exhibition of Kenpo for Colleen. She was delighted and talked about it many times through the years. The irony, here is that Colleen had the kinds of qualities that would deserve constant accolades.

   She was a loyal and hard working daughter, mom and wife.She'd sacrifice anything for her loved ones.She actually competed in a national championship weightlifting contest. She delighted and made happy hundreds of people by raising and selling bulldogs. When I visited her home, I couldn't wait to be greeted by her two personal dogs, Zeus and Smooch. She was able to drive and commandeer gigantic dump trucks which would scare to death a common guy like me!

  She wasn't afraid to stand up for herself with firmness and class. She and her husband had a rude and antagonistic neighbor. Colleen confronted the man, stood her ground and was never bothered again. When Bruce Lee said, "Be soft, yet not yielding, be firm, yet not hard", he must have been thinking of Colleen.

  One of my and my son's favorite songs is called, "The Rose of Sharon". There's a special refrain in the song that reminds me so much of Colleen and so many of my friends who have left before me. It goes, "It won't be long, we'll meet again. Your memory is never passing. It won't be long, we'll meet again. My love for you is everlasting".

  Certainly her memory will never pass away to those that love her. However, it's the beginning of the refrain that is so very important for us to listen to. If we believe in the resurrection, it won't be long and we will meet Colleen and all our other loved ones again in the folded arms, the love and the eternity of Christ.