The Best of George....Harrison

J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

As I continue to re-view my life in an attempt to put it all in an ordered written form, I see details that were largely hidden in their time and place.  Being a die-hard fan of the Fab Four for so long, it was easy for me to forget my first deep drink from the well of the Beatles' musical legacy.  It coincided with my first driving experience in the autumn of 1976.  We lived on Harrison Avenue and my brother's hand-me-down '68 Mercury Cyclone was my 'golden girl.'  Often a golden beer was in hand.
  

My Merc had an 8-track player and I purchased The Best of George Harrison from a record store in the Livingston Mall.  George Harrison...the so-called quiet Beatle.  Was he the deepest thinker?  Well, I listened as I drove and soon pared down this ad hoc collection of old and new to a short loop of three new songs: Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth), What is Life, and You. These were the tunes that I wore out. 

What message did I receive from these three?  Was it the Eastern mysticism?  Was it the odd man out?  Was it the hidden genius of George and his deep wordplay with the key words light, life and love?  How about these two lines for a start:

Give me hope, to help me cope with this heavy load.

Dying to touch and reach you with heart and soul.

And yet there was also the planting of a seed.
The name GEORGE
would play out in a profound way

in God's plan for my life.

Fast forward twenty years to I believe February 1996 and a tense moment of truth in Maryland when I received a guiding light 'it's not yet time to leave.'  I can recall the exact spot and circumstances of this event.  I can place myself there.  As I have related all these many years since, I also received a word, a mysterious word, GEORGE, as if the guidance was signed by an author and the author was named GEORGE.  I marked it then and what a beauty mark it was and still is. 

When the time finally did come and I made a cold turkey move from Maryland to Florida in December '97, I continued to listen to and obey 'the little voice.'  Rock music was still there (as a fading background track) but from then on, 'the little voice' was audible to my soul. His words kept me moving forward and pondering.  I followed his guidance all the way to my destiny in the Ark of the Covenant.

Thank you Abba Father, 

and thank you George!

What a great blessing it has been to know that George is the name of my guardian angel, a loving gift from God the Father.  After my earthbound journey is through, George will guide me home.

I pray for the eternal soul of George Harrison and for the reversion of the other baptized Catholic, Paul McCartney.

Now I find myself sometimes playing both Pisces Fish (some troubling lines) and Follow Me (Paul was spot on).  The truth demands considering the both/and of one being both very lost and yet found and hopefully bound for glory.

Pisces Fish : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mojrtlI9mVg
Follow Me :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR7ICehJrZM

PS. Like George Harrison I was born under the celestial Sign of the Fish.  Just saying...

The last words I wrote prior to my reversion?  Renowned for deep sea fishing. 

On June 13th 1999 another critical point in my life came in the Emergency Room of a hospital in Panama City. After an agonizing two to three hour wait, at exactly 3:33 in the afternoon I was shoved back down in my waiting room chair.  'You got it wrong, the alarm at this time is not for you to leave, but to stay until you complete EVERYTHING.'  With steady resolve and refusing to take no for an answer we stayed until we had photographic sonograph plates in hand.  It was around 7pm.  My son John Michael was born 11 days later, 1 lb 10 oz after only 26 weeks in Jen's womb.  And the location of this hospital...Harrison Avenue.

And if that wasn't enough, I'm compelled to relate the experience of the Beatlemania concert at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway in December 1979.  In the dawn's early light, Sunday morning, the command "Follow Me" was first planted in a mystical vision at the altar rail of St. Patrick's Cathedral.  A gray ghost of an image was beckoning me with his hand moving forward, high over his shoulder.  I wrote a letter to my uncle, a priest when I got back to West Point that evening.

Sincerely yours in Jesus through Mary,

Mike Rizzio

Imitate Mary

Become like Jesus

Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ

See you on the High Ground!

* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph;

O Beata Trinitas;

St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael