In church, our organist played Irish music—“Irish Lullaby,” the “Irish Blessing” and other songs that lend themselves to thoughts and deep longings. The minister spoke of fear vs. faith, and there were some new faces in the sanctuary. Outside it was a dreary rainy day and most of the county was reeling from storms and tornadoes. What a strange world. But then, I also think about Louis Armstrong’s song, “What a Wonderful World.” It makes things better to think about Armstrong’s lyrics than to think about climate.
Some people say the month of March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. What shocked me this year was that during the first week of March, I heard the chatter of wrens. I looked, and sure enough there were two wrens searching for a house. Generally wrens don’t come to our part of the Midwest until the last of April or early May. Oddly enough, though, I saw robins in February. So, I admit weather has changed our good earth, but then it’s been changing for the last millions of years.
When I think about the age of our planet and the fact that scientists recently have discovered the flat rocks on Mars have indications of having been formed by water, I long to think we on earth were graced by the Creator with the moon, stars, and planets to bring beauty to our lives and make us think deep thoughts. How naïve of me. Maybe Mars, that cold, dry, red planet, and the moon also, were inhabited long before we came along. The thought makes me know in the large scheme of things, I am nothing but a blade of grass.
Scripture tells us “we are as the grass of the fields that soon withers and dies,” and surely Walt Whitman, when he wrote Leaves of Grass, which he self-published in 1855, shocked the literary world with his assessment about an individual’s worth. His collection of poems was banned. But that’s another story. Fortunately, I was taught, or maybe I learned without knowing I was being taught, that every person’s life is valuable. We are not abandoned willy-nilly in this crazy world. But such a thought also leads to a whole different subject,-- that of suicide among young people. How can a young person feel so hopeless that he or she feels abandoned and worthless? It’s a question that really makes a person have deep thoughts.
A lecture I recently heard had to do with how man (mankind) lives in something of a triangle of conditions, overseen by spirituality.. The talk dealt with how a happy life is a balance between The Physical (excercise and relaxation); The Mental (emotional, values, mores, attitudes); and The Chemical (diet, food, drugs) . Even if these three are balanced, life is not satisfying, unless above them all is the awareness of spirituality, --and that does not refer to “preachiness” or ”religiousity.” One person at the lecture spoke how youngsters have to be taught from childhood to be resilient, thus to learn that not every bump in the road of life is a tragedy. We can’t wave a wand and make society healthy and resilient, but we can teach young people life is worthwhile.
Life is full of shocks, large and small, and it sure makes for an interesting world. Whether we’re nothing but blades of grass, “the fields are alive with the sound of music,” and especially this March, we need music that causes us to have deep thoughts and sweet longings. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Some people say the month of March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. What shocked me this year was that during the first week of March, I heard the chatter of wrens. I looked, and sure enough there were two wrens searching for a house. Generally wrens don’t come to our part of the Midwest until the last of April or early May. Oddly enough, though, I saw robins in February. So, I admit weather has changed our good earth, but then it’s been changing for the last millions of years.
When I think about the age of our planet and the fact that scientists recently have discovered the flat rocks on Mars have indications of having been formed by water, I long to think we on earth were graced by the Creator with the moon, stars, and planets to bring beauty to our lives and make us think deep thoughts. How naïve of me. Maybe Mars, that cold, dry, red planet, and the moon also, were inhabited long before we came along. The thought makes me know in the large scheme of things, I am nothing but a blade of grass.
Scripture tells us “we are as the grass of the fields that soon withers and dies,” and surely Walt Whitman, when he wrote Leaves of Grass, which he self-published in 1855, shocked the literary world with his assessment about an individual’s worth. His collection of poems was banned. But that’s another story. Fortunately, I was taught, or maybe I learned without knowing I was being taught, that every person’s life is valuable. We are not abandoned willy-nilly in this crazy world. But such a thought also leads to a whole different subject,-- that of suicide among young people. How can a young person feel so hopeless that he or she feels abandoned and worthless? It’s a question that really makes a person have deep thoughts.
A lecture I recently heard had to do with how man (mankind) lives in something of a triangle of conditions, overseen by spirituality.. The talk dealt with how a happy life is a balance between The Physical (excercise and relaxation); The Mental (emotional, values, mores, attitudes); and The Chemical (diet, food, drugs) . Even if these three are balanced, life is not satisfying, unless above them all is the awareness of spirituality, --and that does not refer to “preachiness” or ”religiousity.” One person at the lecture spoke how youngsters have to be taught from childhood to be resilient, thus to learn that not every bump in the road of life is a tragedy. We can’t wave a wand and make society healthy and resilient, but we can teach young people life is worthwhile.
Life is full of shocks, large and small, and it sure makes for an interesting world. Whether we’re nothing but blades of grass, “the fields are alive with the sound of music,” and especially this March, we need music that causes us to have deep thoughts and sweet longings. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
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