Lyrics for Lent

I am a Pink Floyd fan.  Their lyrics are timeless and their commentary on culture and the soul’s search for meaningful and peaceful existence is timeless as well.

“Learning to Fly”
A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reel
A fatal attraction is holding me fast
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can’t keep my eyes from the circling sky
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earthbound misfit, I

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything
No navigator to find my way home
Unladen, empty and turned to stone

A soul in tension, that’s learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
Can’t keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earthbound misfit, I

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,
My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
A dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

There’s no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, a state of bliss
Can’t keep my mind from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earthbound misfit, I

Connecting the Dots Between Money & Votes

We live in a news and information age.  The difficult part of this extraordinary time is filtering the shouting and propaganda to get to actual information that is fact checked, not trying to sell or market a product, and concerned for the common good.  It appears that Maplight.org is such a site.  This site tracks campaign contributions for our members of Congress.  So, before you take the word of your favorite talk radio personality or TV anger salesman I encourage persons to take the time to do the cross discipline reading necessary to be informed about issues that matter to the world as well as our nation.  If we are to emerge from this time in our nation’s history and bring intellectual honesty back to the conversations about how to solve problems it will take persons of goodwill putting the extremists out of business with facts and simply turning off the radio, TV, and not stopping by their websites.