The third most loved language [1], below Rust and Elixir, uses the JVM: Clojure.
[1]: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2022/#section-most-loved-dre...
[1]: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2022/#section-most-loved-dre...
The best use of Java is implementing Clojure. Of that (Clojure) I am a fan.
As countless others have said before me, the parens really do cease to be an issue over time (and not really very long of a time either). The power and flexibility gained by writing code in Lisp/Scheme/Clojure or other Lisp dialects really is worth the effort, in my opinion. I'm not saying there are no bumps in the road - there definitely are. However, I have zero regrets about taking the time to learn those languages. Even if I never write another line of code in any of them again, it will still have been worth the effort.