In his masterpiece song about the latter half of the 20th century, Billy Joel concluded his sixth verse with a reference to President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
In a dramatic crescendo, Billy finished that verse about the early 1960's with this line:
"JFK blown away: What else do I have to say?"
For those of us Americans who were alive and aware in 1963, Billy's profound question stands completely understood even though he offers no explanation. Our President's assassination on November 22, 1963 is one of those moments where we all remember where we were when we heard the news. . . like how we remember where we were on September 11, 2001.
Today, April 27, 2023, I was reminded of President Kennedy while I was strolling along the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This memorial triggered the remembrance of a Statesman whose Presidency was a profile in courage, a memorable landmark in our American history.
These words of President Kennedy are still a timely message today:
Yes, my fellow Americans, the question is still as profound now as it was in 1963, when Kennedy posed the question only five months before he was gunned down: Are we willing to treat every one our fellow-Americans the way we ourselves want to be treated?
This was JFK's timely rephrasing of the message that Jesus spoke long ago: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
That high standard of compassion is indeed a principle with which many wise men and women have challenged all mankind throughout the ages of history.
Don't forget it. Try to live it if you can. We are all of us, when you get right down to it, to be held accountable for how we live out the meaning of that golden rule.
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