Fondazione Caritatevole

Something had changed in the air of Judge Virgil's 1985 Mustang. What was once silence became classic rock, and what was once classic rock had become casual conversation you might hear between two friends. Judge Virgil and Paul filled the 20 minute trek with "Queen's Greatest Hits" on low volume and tales of Judge Virgil's craziest court cases (with no specific details as to avoid trouble with the law) on very high volume. Paul had really come to admire Judge Virgil and thought that it would be cool if is his parents took an equally large interest in him and his life. Judge Virgil, though Paul had not interacted with him extensively until today, felt like a parent that Paul wished his parents had been.

Judge Virgil and Paul arrived at 4:29 PM to the charitable foundation and Paul was immediately struck by the beauty of the white marble of the building. A reclusive multibillionaire that lived up the river from their town had donated 95% of his wealth to starting the foundation, but was not a part of its operation, as he wanted people who cared more deeply than he did to help direct his revenue. They were greeted by a red-haired woman named Mary, who explained that the mission of the foundation was to end poverty through education, incarceration policy change, and freely giving of their resources to create "paradise on earth." Paul felt like he was in a really special place and was so wrapped up in looking around at the gorgeous building that he did not notice that Mary had stopped talking. Judge Virgil thanked Mary like two old pals would, and the pair of Judge Virgil and Paul was once again given access to the building to carry out Paul's sentence.

At the foundation, Paul was able to meet their workers and people they have helped. The workers, for the most part, were people that the foundation had helped in its early days and were hired to be empathetic and sympathetic to the cause of helping others. The workers were promoted based upon their obedience to the set guidelines in their employee manuals and were always forgiven for their misdeeds, as long as they were repentant, so to speak. Paul was able to see that people were saved by the foundation had not really done anything special to deserve it, they were just willing to believe that the foundation would help them and they put their trust in this system that would hopefully benefit them. Paul felt some sort of universal acceptance at the foundation that he could not really describe or really do anything to deserve, except realize that his actions in the past have just been ways to get his parents to accept and love him as he is. Paul knew that he had to apologize to his parents and also sit down with them and explain why he had been acting act. Judge Virgil, almost instinctively felt the realization that Paul was coming to and made sure to tell him that his parents are also at fault for not being present or consistent. Judge Virgil had grown up with similar parents to Paul and knew that he wished he had some guidance through this time in his life.

At the end of their trip, the ride back to Paul's home was again filled with silence. As they approached the home, Judge Virgil finally broke the silence. He told Paul to be repentant, brave, and forward when apologizing to his parents, and also acting in the same manner when asking for his parents to put in some effort to love and understand him. Judge Virgil gave Paul his business card with his personal cell number, in case he ever needs him. It was the start of redemption and the start of a great friendship.

Bibliography: Alighieri, Dante, and Mark Musa. Dante Alighieri's Divine comedy. Bloomington: Indiana U.P., 1996.

Author's Note: This portion of the story represents and mirrors the final chapter of Dante's Divine Comedy which is called "Paradiso" or Paradise in English. The charitable foundation in the story helps people who have done wrong and those who have done right, as long as their heart is in the right place, much like how God rewards and cares for his believers, regardless of where they are in their walk with Him. The foundation also rewards those with greater obedience more deeply much like how in Paradise there are "levels" of Paradise that correspond to their earthly status as a believer in Christ.

Image Info: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Logo_Charitable_Foundation_Winston_Churchill.png