Anthem
from the musical Chess
music by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus (formerly of ABBA)
lyrics by Tim Rice
performed by David Carrol
on the Original Broadway Cast Recording
No man, no madness
Though their sad power may prevail
Can possess, conquer, my country's heart
They rise to fail
She is eternal
Long before nations' lines were drawn
When no flags flew and no armies stood
My land was born
And you ask me why I love her
Through wars, death and despair
She is the constant, we who don't care
And you wonder will I leave her - but how?
I cross over borders but I'm still there now
How can I leave her?
Where would I start?
Let man's petty nations tear themselves apart
My land's only borders lie around my heart
(emphasis added)
Last year on September 11th, Jay wrote:
"My twin towers...you see them in my pictures...my westward view...
concrete things made to store wheat and grain and corn...
ten years ago...towers of ideas were brought down...
by men who fear ideas...
I like these towers...don't mind if they get in my pictures...
from time to time...
9.11.11
Wheat
Corn
Amber Waves of Grain
A note from my brother, The Rev. Bruce L. Carriker:
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to be contrarian today. Nor, do I mean to cause anyone pain. But, I choose to forgive. That doesn't mean I have forgotten, forget, but it might mean that at some point I chose to stop dwelling on (and in) the past. Just to provide some perspective, here are some one-day death tolls from the past:
Yellow River Dam destructions, June 7, 1938 - 800K+ dead
Tangshan China earthquake, 1
976 - 225K dead
Indonesia tsunamai, 2004 - 200K+ dead
...Firebombing of Tokyo, March 9, 1945 - 85,000 Japanese civilians dead
Hiroshima - low estimate, 70,000 Japanese civilians dead
Earthquakes, multiple - US Geological Survey lists 21 additional earthquakes with death tolls of 50,000+
Nagasaki - low estimate, 45,000 Japanese civilians dead
Babi Yar, Sept 29, 1941 - 34,000 Jewish citizens of Kiev executed
Fire bombing of Dresden - 25,000 German civilians dead
Korsun Pocket Massacre, Feb 17, 1944 - 20,000+ German troops slaughtered
Auschwitz, estimate - 20,000 concentration camp inmates (mostly Jewish) per day, multiple times
Fire bombing of Hamburg - 5,000+ German civilians per day for 8 consecutive days
Antietam - 3,600
D-Day Invasion - 2,500 to 4,900, estimates, exact figure unknown
For those who lost friends and family eleven years ago, their lives were irrevocably changed. We empathize. But, we owe it to them to move one. We make their lives immeasurably more difficult by re-opening their wounds every 365 days. It's time to heal.