Like me, Barbara Shisler, who lives in a small town in Pennsylvania, thinks a lot about what it means to be a human.

She sent two checks to my Post Office Box this morning, and it is letters like hers that are balm and fuel for me.

“Much of your philosophy of life rings true for me,” she wrote. “I’ve been a follower of Jesus my whole life and your quotes about his care for the poor and unjustly treated are the message for us to live by. It helps to have one way through your Army Of Good. Peace and joy to you and Maria and Bedlam Farm this Christmas and for the New Year.”

Thank you Barbara, the same to you. This Christmas, I start every day by looking at the new RISSE Amazon Wish List, which gives me the opportunity to help the poor, the needy, and the unjustly treated all in one place. There are 18 items on the Wish List, they offer gifts for refugee and immigrant families, who are in desperate need of comfort and support.

They range from warm clothing for the winter to games and dictionaries for the RISSE after school students to office supplies for the dedicated  teachers and staffers.

If you can, take a look, helping these people is not only in the best traditions of America, but it helps me to feel good, stay grounded and follow the call of some of the world’s most amazing and admired people: Dr. King, Jesus Christ, Gandhi, Pope Francis, Mother Theresa, St. Francis, Nelson Mandela.

These people are universally admired but only sporadically followed.

I am not a Christian, but like Barbara, but I do try to follow the call of Jesus to help the needy. Son of God or not, he was the real deal: “Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘come, you that are blessed..inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:34-36.)

For me right now, that means buying a gift from the RISSE Wish List every morning, there is no better way to start my day. For pennies, I began my day in color and light and in good feeling. They can’t take that away from me with their poisonous “news.”

I have been working with the refugees in the Albany area for nearly two years now, they are in greater need than ever before, our government has abandoned them and defamed them. They are good people, risking their lives and suffering greatly to pursue the American Dream. There is no one more American than they are.

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I also offer another option for following the call to do good. You can contribute to my Mansion/Refugee Fund, I can do some of this work for you if you can’t or choose to do this work in other ways.

That’s what the Army Of Good is all about.

The Mansion fund is focused on filling the holes in the lives of the elderly poor, those who are left behind. I am transparent, I document with word and pictures every single thing we do.

If you wish to contribute to my work, you can click on the “Support The Army Of Good” button at the bottom of the page, or contribute via Paypal, [email protected], or send a check to Jon Katz (note Mansion Fund), P.O.Box 205 State Route 22, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

And thanks. I will make sure your money goes precisely where it is supposed to go. I’m going to the Mansion this afternoon to do readings to the residents, a new weekly activity for me.