Mario Keriakedes

Transcript

my life has no purpose no aim no direction and yet I'm happy I can't figure it out what am i doing right that quote is from Charles Schulz creator of the peanuts cartoon strip who at the time when he said this was trying to understand his life's secular purpose let me ask you do you believe that your life has a purpose that's a question that we're all going to want to answer at some point in our lives and the catalyst many times is unfortunately tragedy I was only 11 years old when I became acquainted with tragedy when I was living in Greece as I became

a caregiver and observer to my mother six-year battle with cancer her Rocky Balboa like spirit never gave up until the very last moments when death took her from my arms at the age of 49 five years later death and cancer came from my father but he went down during the first round because he died within two months of diagnosis he was 59 and at 22 I was all alone in this world or so I thought we ever had a friend that had your back no matter what well that friend for me was Spiro he was a shoulder that I cried on and the guy that

knew exactly what to say when the moments were tough I'll never forget the day after my father's funeral Spiro saw me he was when I was feeling down he came up to me put his hand on my shoulder and with a smile on his face and with a very Greek Way said to me Mario what the hell did you ever do to piss off Zeus that was Bureau only thing Spiro would be dead four weeks later killed in a car accident along with his younger brother and when I found out the news it was like a bullet went through my heart and all my sadness

all my anger that night surfaced and I demolished my apartment I went from room to room tearing everything apart and that one moment I came across a Bible in the bedroom and I picked it up and I screamed at it why why and then I threw it the Bible hit the wall and landed face open on top of the bed and I must admit I felt remorse after I did that so I went over to the Bible and I picked it up and I read what was on the open page the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want it was Psalm 23 and as

I continued to read a strange sensation came over me a peaceful sensation It was as if at that moment God's hand somehow had to reach through the pages of that Bible and had wiped away my tears that night when I eventually fell asleep with a Bible in my arms spero came to me in my dreams and he said to me do not weep for me Mario for within my soul's classroom of life there were lessons chosen lessons learned and lessons taught have you ever had an aha moment come to you in your dreams because that is exactly what spirit delivered to me that night because

he answered the why question affirming that we're spiritual beings having a human experience in the classroom of life where were sometimes students and sometimes teachers to one another and as I have come to understand if I was to look at my life through the narrow perspective of a secular view as Charles Schulz was doing I can understand why he couldn't see his life's purpose but if we look at it from a souls perspective then how we live our lives and yes even how we die has a purpose and with that knowledge I started in my own difficult steps in life and as I was doing

that I started to hear my own Souls voice some people call that passion and that voice turned my gaze up towards the heavens as I started my career first in the high tech and aerospace industries and then when I started my own company working with Orthodox churches doing the interior work for them all over North America but more miraculously than that I also married an angel and it was and it was her light Alex's light that came into my life and took away my darkness because you see it doesn't matter how dark things get how difficult the lessons are there's always light always light so

now as I stand before you today let me give you the one secret that all Greeks know and that Charles Schulz did not figure out never ever piss off Zeus

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.