The Perfect Gentlemen
Legacies of Selfless Love and the Resurrection
Eyes on Christ | Vol. 18, Issue 17 | April 23, 2025 | Easter Week (Octave of Easter)
Dear readers,
A version of this reflection was published on March 13, 2003. I re-wrote it during Lent, a fitting time to reflect on love that vanquishes death.
In reading The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel in 1991, I found inspiration for my own writing aspirations. Kanigel notes that he faced the "barriers of two foreign cultures, a challenging discipline, and a distant time" with no expertise in either. This biography became one of my favorites because it captures elements of the world in which I grew up quite authentically. For Ramanujan, mathematics unveiled the Infinite Divine, or as he put it himself, "An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God."
Ramanujan’s biography has inspired me to consider writing one of my own, not about a famous person, but rather about a humble, ordinary man who demonstrated extraordinary character. It would be a biography that points to God, the creator and source of love, and inspire the billions of us who live lives of great ordinariness. We often forget that it's neither achievements nor accomplishments but rather love—sacrificial and self-giving to God and others—to which all followers of Jesus are called.
I would call it The Man Who Knew Perfect Love: The Life of a Gentleman