Monday, December 8, 2014

What Will We Leave Behind When We Leave This Mortal Realm!?!


I believe that more of us than not can remember what we were doing when we heard the news about the senseless murder of John Lennon.

I was in my bedroom surrounded by the Christmas cards that I was in the process of preparing to send out in so many directions when my friend, Linda, called me with the sad and shocking news.

She was living over here in Muncie at the time (and, of course, I was living on the family farm where I'd lived since I was a year and three months old and would be living until the wee hours of September 9, 2013) with her cat, Harmony, and she was afraid that she would really freak out if she weren't on the phone talking to me through the long night.

We talked about John Lennon--and alternated between talking about him and other things such as our opinions of the storylines on All My Children.

We remembered those days when The Beatles first arrived on our shore (to our knowledge, anyway) and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.




They came along at just the right time, as our country was still reeling from the assassination of a much-loved President, and watching and listening to those fresh-faced, moptopped lads from England really lifted our spirits.

With the passing of the time after that, these young men chose to use their fame as a way of getting their thoughts out to a wider audience.

Even though I was VERY unimpressed with the remark made by John Lennon that compared the popularity of The Beatles to Jesus (and still am if it were meant in a haughty, literal way--though I've learned some things since then that makes me believe that John wasn't really attacking Jesus when he said this, but I'm saving that for a future bit of writing)--and didn't agree with some of the choices they made, I believe that, overall, John, Paul, George, and Ringo have been good role-models.

The following song has become the song most associated with John Lennon, and it says a whole lot.

One part of the lyrics I hesitate to endorse without explanation:  about imagining that there was no Heaven.

My take on/explanation of these opening lyrics is this:  John wasn't asking people to see God as a crutch.  Instead, he was just asking people to stop starting wars in His name -- just as we shouldn't be fighting over where we live, what color we are, etc.  Instead, we should be living peacefully together.  John is asking us to IMAGINE what it would be like to not fight over our differences but, instead, to focus on what brings us together in positive ways.  We need to learn from each other, reach out to each other, empower each other!!!


Because I'm having to work my time at the library (and on the Internet) around the weather, how soon it gets dark (with the construction over here in Muncie making it best not to be trying to navigate a walk between the downtown library and my apartment building several blocks away when it's not only dark but, also, rainy), a resident council meeting I need to be to at five, etc., so I'm going to have to close this soon.

However, I want to share a combination of videos and links to writings in the closing section of this blog-entry to show you some examples of what empowerment is all about.  I'll share more next time I'm on...

A Rose With A Goal To Do Away With The Thorns!!!

During The Second Week In May, Three Earth Angels Flew Away

The Poem In My Mom's Autograph Book

Lillian's Law

Keeping Tabs On My Favorite Teddy Bear

"Half-Pint" Turns 50 Today!!!