It was especially hard to understand how we could lose Ed Masry the first week of December at the start of the Advent season. After all, Ed was the first guy to light a candle instead of just sitting around wailing against the dark. And this dear man was truly crazy about babies. So how could he leave right at the start of Advent?
What is certain is that anybody whose life was touched by Ed could feel the true spirit of Christmas, all year round. He lived for others, so loving and giving and humble. I saw many times, in small ways and in ways that put millions of dollars on the line, how Ed would take on bitter things to make life sweeter for someone else.
He really didn’t think he was better than anyone alive, but that he was put on Earth to serve the last and the least. He had a huge faith that people can and must be delivered from injustice and oppression, and that he could help. No matter how ravaged by diseases himself, Ed put that faith into action every day with all his heart and resources.
Most beautiful of all, the justice he fought for was truly justice for all. Nobody was left out, or marginalized, in Ed’s vision of justice for all. He never quit working at justice for all. We respect him for it.
From now on, I will always light the first candle of Advent thinking of Ed Masry, because in its way, his life reflected so brilliantly the greater light that is the purpose of all our striving.
— Jan Osterhaven, Thousand Oaks
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