Random musings Friday is on hiatus this week because there is something else I would like to talk about today…
I don’t watch the news…mostly because it’s all depressing and sad and, too often, filled with stories of hate. I don’t like to hear about hate. I don’t understand why there is so much hate.
We are all human beings. We should all have the right to live our lives according to our own beliefs and however we see fit. It should never be ok to hate someone because of their beliefs or their religion or their sexual preference or the color of their skin or a million other reasons that people come up with everyday.
Why is it that we can’t just say…ok, I disagree with you, but I respect you enough to agree to disagree and go on to co-exist in peace? One of my favorites quotes is from Hair…”Be free…be or do whatever you want…just don’t hurt anyone”. I truly believe in this philosophy.
The reason that I’m bringing this up is that tomorrow would have been the 70th birthday of a man who spent a good deal of his life fighting for more peace and less hate…John Lennon.
I’ve told you that my dad is a huge John Lennon fan and I grew up listening to his music and hearing his message…long before I could really understand or appreciate any of it. But I got the message and I will always hope that someday everyone will get it.
Happy birthday John…
Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
A beautiful tribute to a wonderful man. Thanks, Shana. *HUGS*
your best blog ever. peace and love to everyone who reads your blog today and everyday. all we are saying is give peace a chance. oh and yes i read your blog yesterday – baby time would be great – tell j to get moving. love, your father
What a wonderful tribute.
It’s so hard seeing so much hate in the world. I’ve never understood it. Maybe I don’t like someone because of something they did to me but I would never wish them any actual harm – and I certainly wouldn’t hate someone I didn’t even know simply because their skin color is different or they don’t speak my language. How are you supposed to learn when everything and everyone around you is the same?
Exactly. Everyone being different is what makes the world an interesting place.
He will always be one of my heroes. This is a beautiful tribute, Shan!
Great post about a great man! Nice work, lady
This was wonderful and I couldn’t agree with you more. It really hurts that there is so much hate in the world and that so many people that try to do the right thing don’t live to see their work finished. oxox
That was awesome. AND I have a photo of the Imagine memorial in Central Park hanging in my bedroom right this very minute. I took it on the last trip we made…when Neal proposed at the Top of the Rock. Something was going on that weekend because “Imagine” was covered in an unusual amount of flowers. Anyway, I amen your philosophy all the way to the hills and back. Be what you are, whatever that is, and don’t hurt anyone. Thank you for this fantastic tribute to one helluva man.
What a lovely tribute.
Happy sighs.
Since having children? I find that I can no longer watch the news. The images sear into my brain and will not be scrubbed away. And those images then change my perception of the life that I am leading . . . making me scared and timid and suspicious and paranoid.
That’s not how I want to live.
So I read the news instead of watching it.
And dream of a day when there is less bad news to tell.
Thank you for this.
Fabulous post, so appropriate for a tribute to John Lennon…A woman well over 65 years in age I cheer all of the posts left regarding your tribute.
Hate can only be dissolved/removed with the opposite force, “Love”. Each of us impacts those in our world, friends, family, but most of all strangers amidst them all we leave a message. Sometimes love is simple kindness, sometimes just a smile, a helping hand, it comes in so many forms but it is unconditional and overlooks differences.
My son once summed it up by saying, “there is good in everyone and it is my goal in life to identify that good and by acknowledging it through my actions or words that the other person will delight in displaying their good side.”
I CAN’T believe he’s 70! I so loved him and his music. I vividly remember the day he was shot. So sad. So tragic. Wonder what changes he would have made in the world if he had lived longer?