NEW "FAVORITE SONGS"

NASA photo of Earth from space



In the years that I have been a counselor/psychotherapist,
there have been two clients who have brought their guitars and sung their "agendas".  Several years ago, a man who was experiencing difficulty articulating in conversation his pain was eloquent when singing several of his original pieces.  Then a couple of weeks ago, a man who  articulately expresses his 50+ year perspectives sang a particularly poignant concern in a song that I had never before heard . . . but which has become my new "favorite song",  Mark Erelli's Passing Through.

I remembered the title before I did the artist's name and when I looked for it on the computer search engine, I discovered yet another by the same title, this one sung by Leonard Cohen. And, I claimed it as another new "favorite".
(Both are available via YouTube, so I will not include extensive lyrics here.)  While you may not care for the instruments used, I recommend focusing on the words.        

Perhaps a case could be made for a certain fatalism in both; but I hear instead a call for transcending the 'muck and mire' that seems often the human lot.  Many years ago, I heard a lecture entitled, To Hell with Posterity. Among the implications --we are owners, not tenants of this world and all that lies within. Along side that, I remember The late Rev. Dr. Fred Craddock saying  something to the effect that the person who can see no more than the timeframe of his/her own birth and death is an orphan in the universe. In neither version of Passing Through did I hear anything resembling "to hell with posterity". Nor was there a "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die" attitude.  More of a "make a contribution while here because it's not just about the Right Now".  A couple of illustrations from the lyrics:
Erelli: "This big blue ball keeps shrinking . . .  [and] for better or for worse now this whole world's our neighborhood . . . . we all need to get along and not just get our way --not only for each other but for our children's children too."  Then these potent LEGACY issues :"And I wonder sometimes what will I pass on . . . Sometimes injustice and indifference are the only things I see but I refuse to let my hope become the latest casualty. . . . And, if I can't change the world, I'll change the world within my reach and what better place to start than with me and you !"

HOPE  (according to an on-line dictionary) is a feeling or expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen."
The author of the Christian New Testament book of Hebrews called it "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" , suggestive of being unmoved by the circumstances of the moment.  This is , to me, quite different from Wishful Thinking that believes things such as "One day my ship will come in" , a kind of magical thinking.  My mentor, the late Dr. Harrell Beck, observed that he once thought Hope to be the icing on the cake but in time came to realize that Hope was THE CAKE that sustains life.  And, as Erelli noted, injustice and indifference do not necessarily get to have the final 'say', despite often compelling circumstances.

Cohen's words capture something within, what . . . the human spirit, the awareness of something transcendent, the limitation of 'logic', the power of the NOW.  (Again, for the full text listen to the songs)                                                  
"I saw Jesus on the cross on a hill called Calvary. 'Do you hate mankind for what they've done to you ?' He said, 'talk of love, not hate. Things to do, it's getting late. I've so little time and I'm only passing through."  And, "I was with Washington at Valley Forge, shivering in the snow.  I said, 'How come men here suffer like they do?'  'Men will suffer, men will fight, even die for what is right. Even though they're only passing through.' "   Then, in the final verse, attributing sentiments to President Roosevelt: "Yankee, Russian, white or tan,' he said, 'a man is still a man. We're all on one road and we're only passing through."

"Passing through, passing through. Sometimes happy , sometimes blue. Glad that I ran into you.  Tell the people              that you meet that you saw me passing through."       
                                                           
Satchel                                   

"DO YOU REMEMBER . . . ?"

Rodin, "The Thinker"

           How  often do you say 'do you remember ?' or 'let me think about it' ?

     I have been thinking a lot about Memory in recent days. 
It shows up everywhere in our society. Song titles and lyrics: "Try to Remember"; "What's too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget" . It is written on innumerable Christian communion tables: "Do this in Remembrance of Me". Everyday conversations: "I don't remember where I put my keys (glasses, briefcase, etc)."

     Lots of memories and associations are stored in a healthy brain.  E.M. Forster maintained that "unless we remember, we cannot understand" and Aeschylus claimed that "memory is the mother of all wisdom".

    The late comedian, Fred Allen, quipped that he always had trouble "remembering three things: faces, names, and ___ I can't remember what the third thing is".  Sometimes I can chuckle when I find the 'lost glasses' on top of my head and there are innumerable quips about 'absent minded professors'.  And Will Rogers spoke wisdom with his observation that "the short memories of American voters is what keeps our politicians in  office."

    However, there are dimensions of memory and an inability to think that absolutely are not humorous.  I just completed Lisa Genova's book, Still Alice.  Originally published in 2007, the novel has been made into a movie of the same title. It is the story of Dr. Alice Howland, a 50 year old Harvard professor, stricken with early-onset Alzheimer's Disease and the irreversible changes that come to her life.  I will forego a book review here since those are readily available on the internet.  I found it an elegantly and sensitively written book about a gut-wrenching topic.  With her own Harvard PhD in neuroscience, the author had entree into conversations and consultations with leading researchers and clinicians. I highly recommend her book. It has prompted me to think and to remember.

    In recent time, I recall at least two clients afflicted with the insidious monster.  One was an elderly man who in his early years had graduated from Yale, served with distinction as a military officer, then as a successful businessman.  Another, in his early 50's, had been diagnosed with early-onset AD, ending his career in a medical profession. 

   A few months ago, I became aware of Ike's death from AD.  When we had lived near each other in the 1970's, I knew him as a witty, astute Georgia Tech graduate whose insights into human behaviors were extraordinary.  More recently, one of my high school friends has been robbed of her memory.  The wife of another high school friend has begun to experience forgetfulness and disorientation.  In an earlier post, I wrote about a former parishioner's transformation. And now, I have learned of a second one. A local friend, long adept in the utilization of words no longer can express himself.  Not unlikely, you are acquainted with someone facing comparable struggles as brain cells die, causing memory loss and cognitive decline.

    Reading this book confirmed my own worst 'end of life scenario'.  Yesterday I had my annual cardiology check up and everything was "normal"; about six weeks ago, my urologist found my PSA to be zero and no concerns about a recurrence of the cancer removed ten years ago.  (Forgive all this personal health reporting.) And, while there are, of course,no guarantees, there are actions that can possibly provide some degree of protection for these and other diseases.  AD, on the other hand, strikes without warning and seemingly with little regard for one's life habits. I choose not to live life in fear but in cherishing relationships, meaningful work and in making new memories that I hope to enjoy. 

    While more is known now about this insidious affliction than was just a few years ago, the need for  Aggressive research continues. For information about AD and clinical trials, go to  http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_clinical_studies. asp.   And the Alzheimer's Association provides extensive information on their website and is a worthy recipient of individual financial gifts. 
   
    Think about it.

         Satchel