A Time for Peace, I Swear It's Not Too Late

The events of the past 36 hours have been horrific beyond description. I don't have children, so I cannot begin to fathom the pain of the parents who lost theirs in yesterday's senseless slaughter.

As a rule, I don't post political material here. But I will make an exception today.

Here is what I wrote to my Congressman:

Congressman xxx:

Thank you for being one of the very few members of Congress to use the word "gun" when discussing yesterday's tragedy in Connecticut.

But the time for words is long past. When will SOMEONE in Congress stand up to the NRA? How many more children have to be murdered? How much blood has to be spilled? How many lives have to be shattered needlessly?

So I ask you: what are YOU going to do to make gun control a reality? And when? Because YOU are in a position to make it happen. And because every day that goes by without it is another day closer to the next tragedy. With all due respect, we don't need our leaders to issue another press release, no matter how heartfelt; we need our leaders to LEAD.

So, I ask you again: what are YOU going to do? And what can I do to help? Because we can't do this alone, but we CAN do it together. WE can end this madness.

Thank you.

Respectfully yours,
<my boy name>

***

Today was an intense, emotional, draining day on several fronts; I will write about those events in my next post.

For now, I want to share the songs that have been in my thoughts today.

First is the Byrds magnificent version of "Turn! Turn! Turn!", adapted by Pete Seeger from the Book of Ecclesiastes:

Those harmonies are breath-taking. And Roger McGuinn's incredible guitar solo on his trademark 12-string Rickenbacker still gives me goosebumps every single time I hear it.

My second song is from the great Canadian songwriter and guitarist Bruce Cockburn, another favorite artist of mine. It is a gentle, healing song about the redeeming power of nature, and a quiet, thoughtful statement about the importance of faith in oneself:

And finally, the penultimate track from what may be my favorite soundtrack of all time, Peter Gabriel's score to Martin Scorsese's 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ. Its depiction of the possibility of rebirth in the face of unspeakable tragedy is sorely needed:

Peace.