MSI Press Blog

  Rio de Janeiro was a brief stop in my life, but it left impressions that have stayed with me far longer than the details. What I remember most is the sweep of the city—mountains rising abruptly from the sea, neighborhoods spilling down their slopes, and that great stone figure of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), often called Cristo do Corcovado (Christ on Corcovado) by the locals, referring to the mountain on which it stands, watching over everything. From my hotel window, He stood with arms outstretched, serene above the bustle and contradictions below. At night, Cristo do Corcovado glowed above the city, washed in shifting purples and greens that made the stone seem almost alive. I spent time on two beaches during that visit. The first was Copacabana, Rio’s famous crescent of sand. Its wide black‑and‑white wave‑patterned promenade ran the length of the shore, a bold mosaic between city and sea. Copacabana was beautiful, but I never quite relaxed there. Even in daylight th...

In the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s, many people know something is changing. They feel it before anyone else does—a word that won’t come, a thought that slips away mid‑sentence, a familiar task that suddenly feels foreign. This awareness, called insight , is part of the brain’s self‑monitoring system. At first, it remains intact enough for a person to notice the difference and quietly compensate: making lists, avoiding complex tasks, or withdrawing from situations that expose the gaps. Families often see this as resilience, and it is. But it’s also the first sign that the mind is working harder to stay balanced. Over time, as the disease progresses, that insight begins to fade. The same changes that affect memory also affect self‑awareness. A person may no longer realize they’re repeating questions or misplacing items. They may insist everything is fine—not out of denial, but because the brain can no longer register its own decline. By the later stages, awareness of the illness itself...

  If there is one teaching that appears everywhere, in every tradition, in every era, it is the call to love. Not sentimental love, but the disciplined, ethical, courageous love that reshapes societies. Judaism commands love of neighbor and love of the stranger—two categories that together encompass the entire human family. Christianity centers love as the very nature of God and the defining mark of discipleship: “By this everyone will know…” Love is not optional; it is identity. Islam teaches mercy as the first attribute of God and calls believers to embody that mercy in their dealings with others. Hinduism speaks of ahimsa —non-harm—as a form of love expressed through restraint, compassion, and recognition of the divine in all beings. Buddhism cultivates metta , loving-kindness, as a disciplined practice that expands outward from the self to all beings without exception. Sikhism teaches love through service ( seva ) and through the recognition that all people are equally wo...