Busy-ness is a measure of your importance;
Someone is going to win the rat race;
Hurrying buys time so we can do more busy-ness;
Downtime is wasted time!
These are four American axioms. Our pastor noted them late in July while discussing the story of Martha and Mary. Everyone is familiar, I presume, with the story of these ladies with one sitting there, Mary, listening to Christ and the other, Martha, busy being a good hostess. She, Martha, complains to Jesus. He is told that Mary has chosen the better part. This admonition to Martha is clearly un-American thinking. Everyone knows being busy is a sign of how important you are.!
These thoughts, and another incident in June, caused me to think of days of my busy-ness. The other reminder was in June when I saw and heard Governor Edward Rendell at Kelly Golden’s High School graduation. Ed Rendell was an assistant D.A. in a case I defended in early 1971. We became friends and chatted on occasions. He went on to be a two term District Attorney and Mayor. By the time of our trial in 1971 I had gotten some balance in my busy-ness but it wasn’t by pure chance. From the time I left the service and began practicing law in l958, busy-ness was my life style. By 1966 I was running for a seat in the legislature. I was serving as a Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner in different City departments under Mayor Tate. I formed a new law partnership with two friends, Ed Blake and John Purcell. My father had left the practice so we moved the new partnership to another office in the same building and we had spaces for renting to other lawyers. I had by then seven children to feed and clothe. So I was busy. I was so busy that by 1969 I was up in weight to 215/20 lbs. I was having constant headaches, which I tried relieving with booze, Valium, and aspirin, none of which worked.
My family doctor referred me to a headache specialist. After examination and discussion of my life style and activities, he remarked there are probably 400 reasons for having headaches. Then he asked, “Do you want to be Mayor?” I laughed not seeing any relevance to the headaches. But later those words made me think about it. It is the basic premise of the story of Martha and Mary. Where are my priorities? Where was the balance? He also pointed to the growth of fat around my neck and suggested it was probably preventing sufficient blood to my head and thus the headaches. He suggested exercise and limiting my painkillers to aspirin or something in that line. Thinking about exercise reminded me of my days in High School and College when I ran. So I started to jog in a neighborhood park and finally got up to almost regularly five days a week. Around that same time I was talking to a friend who worked in the City’s Recreation Department who mentioned that the department was sponsoring “Jog-ins” on some Saturdays and usually on the East River Drive. I would later participate and meet a lifetime running buddy and friend, Bill King. The next year Frank Shorter won the Olympic Marathon and for America it meant running was “in”.
In the meantime, the Mayor’s term expired and the newly elected Mayor, Frank Rizzo being no friend of mine did not reappoint me. A former boss of mine Bill Costello, the Property Commissioner whom I had served as deputy, was reappointed. I was surprised and asked him about it. He said he believed Frank thought “Costello” was an Italian name! So he was reappointed but he only stayed a while.
My busy-ness was coming down by these events but mostly due to the exercise. My weight started coming down as a dividend and I even got to read and see at a distance without glasses! I later learned that the stigmatism causing the need for glasses sometimes leaves with age, but for me the cause was the exercise. The most important dividend was a time alone, a quiet time, a “Mary” time, although in those days I didn’t think of it all as being there. It was there and looking back I see now the therapy it brought to my life helped me through a marital breakup. I never thought it as wasted time or “downtime” since the immediate and long term benefits were easy to see. I had gotten some balance in my life. It wasn’t perfect nor would it ever be but it was a start.
I forgot to mention I had lost the election. It pleased my father. His theory about running for office was to run and lose. He thought it gave a young lawyer good training in communications but winning was dangerous due to the temptations and challenges that a young man might not be able to properly face. I wasn’t a bit pleased with losing but over a lifetime since then I have seen his ideas unfortunately being confirmed among law class mates elected and appointed to the Bench. But at that time I saw no good in losing.
A few years later in the early 70’s I was the subject of a column in the then Evening Bulletin. It was very flattering about my successes in representing defendants in gang murder cases, but the picture they used showed the fat Paul of 1966 and was far from flattering. It made me even surer of the steps I had taken, so they continued for the rest of my life till 1996 when age required I step back from running.
The running became my quiet time and then blossomed into a social and competitive activity. My busy-ness was more controlled and with the aid of an appointment to the Jury Commission I had good financial help to my practice. I could pay the mortgage, feed and clothe the kids, and even assist in getting college into their lives. My practice by 1974 had moved to my neighborhood. I opened a storefront office on Rhawn Street in Foxchase, a busy street in Northeast Philadelphia. The partnership folded due to Ed being named assistant Common Pleas Court Administrator first and then, after appointment to the bench in 1971, as Court Administrator. John fell a victim to John Barleycorn and died at a young age. The lease expired and so I moved my office near my home.
These thoughts were not meant to be a memoir of my law practice but a looking back as to how my health problems made me seek a balance and the benefit I received from exercise and a quiet time. It was a lucky way to learn the lesson since I have watched contemporaries following those American axioms destroy their health and their relationship in the pursuit of “being important”.
“Much money will be expended, much riot will prevail; but there is no help for it. It is in some measure the unavoidable consequence of our liberty, which will every now and then run into licentiousness. — But still, take us for all in all, we are the happiest nation this world every contained”
This is a quote about democratic elections and it came to mind in this year of a Presidential Election. There is much money being spent, the media seems filled with controversy if not riots, but it is, as noted, an “unavoidable consequence of our liberty”. It is an statement applicable to today so you might be surprised to learn that this was written in 1768 by a friend and Lord to Ben Franklin regarding his complaints about the election that year to Parliament.
He complained, “… that the natural interests of country gentlemen in their neighboring borough, is overborne by the monied (sic) interest of the new people who have got sudden fortunes… In short, this whole venal nations is now at market, will be sold for about two millions;..” I read that in June Kerry had collected 36.5 million and Bush 13 million. However in the over all money gathering Bush still leads with 226 million to Kerry’s 185 million. Reading those figures reminded me of something I read that this year’s presidential election is between two rich guys from Yale. I wondered what Ben would have to say about our elections and the moneyed interest? The conventions begin in a week for Democrats and next month for the Republicans. The cost of security is some 130 million just for the Democrats in Boston. The Republicans in New York will probably be as much or more. June wondered why are we bothering with a convention at all since both parties now have their candidates selected? Obviously we need it to get some of that rioting that Ben talked about to continue the democratic process. I vaguely remember attending or helping at one convention that was the Democratic one in Philadelphia in the summer of 1948. I can’t say anything inspiring stayed with me accept the great numbers filling the convention center then at 34th Avenue near University of Pennsylvania incidentally founded by that same Ben Franklin. This year a grandson will be helping at the Democratic convention in Boston. He will assisting with the transportation to and from the convention of handicapped participants. He will even get on to the floor of the chaos in action. He is a part-time resident in Boston since during the school year he attends Harvard. He’s my son Tom’s son also a Tom, but usually referred to as Tommy. So I expect I’ll get a report on any of the riots or noises that democracy causes in the city once tagged as the “Hub of the Universe”.
August is a month of celebrating and thanksgiving for me. I remember my brothers Frank and John now in heaven born in this month. They were twins in that they had the same birthday, August 25, only ten years apart. Frank was born in 1913 and John in 1923. I have three children celebrating birthdays this month, Mary, Dan and Paul on the 5th,7th, and 16th respectively. I have the most grateful gift to be thankful for in that 23 years ago in this month I wedded June who has made a whole new life for me. So you can see why I celebrate and thank heaven for August!
Until next time, Pax Tecum!