today, but when I red this, i knew I should post it. This is definitely a "
thought Provoking" message and it will likely change your perspective. I
enjoy reading heartwarmer's and Mountain Wings daily and you may too. So,
after grabbing your morning coffee, look at your e-mail, these types of
messages and start your day off right. I have been subscribed to " Mountain
Wings" for a long time now,years but just recently a member to
"heartwarmer's" . Thanks to Jeff for bringing this to my attention. Hope
it changes your life as well. Take care and read below.
The best thing to happen to mornings since the Sun!
Your morning thought for the day:
Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here!
-- J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter author
Steve provides us today with a very thought provoking story
about a movie he saw that got him thinking. We've wondered the same
thing many times ourselves.
Please read today's Heartwarmer and let us know what you think.
(Just click Reply to respond) and we'll print your opinion in next
week's Mailbag
THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
by Stephen Banko
I went to a rather unusual movie recently.
It was unusual because there was no sex or violence or anything
we good Catholics would even have to confess, except for the
occasional swear word. The movie was called "Once" and it is little
known, but critically acclaimed.
In essence, the story is about two complete strangers, one Irish
and one Czech, who meet on a Dublin street and forge a bond because
of their mutual love of and commitment to music.
Throughout the movie, an odd mix of characters come together,
bond and blend their talents through the universal language of music.
It was one of those movies that makes you feel strangely good about
having seen it.
In thinking about the movie, I was taken by the extraordinary
gift that is music. Even when language separates, music unites. The
hero plays a beat-up old guitar and sings sad dirges of love lost.
The heroine plays Mendelssohn on the piano with gifted fingers. They
recognize the beauty in each other's song and they blend their
talents to make the song even richer.
And somewhere along the way, it made me thing that religion is
supposed to do the same thing.
The moral core that is our essence is also the essence of most
religions throughout the world. Our understanding of a just and
loving God transcends the depth of our human understanding and calls
us to unite in our love for one another. That call is not the
singular call of Christianity. Virtually every religion in the world
is based on that single premise -- that our earthly world is made
more perfect through our love and caring and commitment to each other.
Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims all believe in
the inherent goodness of man and search for a way to a more perfect
life of peace and harmony. They all strain for peace and for the
fellowship of human kind.
So why can't religion act as a unifier instead of a divider in
our world? If music can provide musicians with a universal language
of beauty and harmony, why can't our belief in peace, our commitment
to lead ethical and moral lives and our dedication to the love of
humanity serve the same function? Why does religion, instead, serve
to divide the people of our country and of the world?
Why do people kill in the name of their God?
Beliefs may, and do, vary. Buddhists seek nirvana. Hindus seek
the ways of action and of wisdom. Christians are commanded to love
one another. Our Jewish brothers and sisters embrace not just a
religion, but a way of life to guide them on a moral path. Muslims
are also seeking eternal reward through peace and ethical life.
But repeatedly throughout history, these major religions of the
world have been used as tools to turn people against one another.
Jews and Arabs kill each other over a patch of desert. Muslims kill
Muslims in Iraq because of slight differences in religious belief.
Christians and Catholics have killed each other for centuries in
Northern Ireland. Hindus and Sikhs kill each other on the Indian
sub-continent. This prostitution of religious belief to feed war and
death and destruction is a sad and heinous perversion of what we are
called to be.
Strange, isn't it, that we never see blues musicians at war with
classical musicians? Rock and roll artists never fight with jazz
players.
Music is a universe unto itself. Music is what religion is
supposed to be.
-- Steve Banko <stbanko3 at adelphia.net>
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Steve lives in and writes from Buffalo, New York. He spent 16 months
in Vietnam combat and 30+ years in government service.
___________________________________________
REMEMBER
by Frank P. Cotter
Remember orange sherbet served in a white paper box.
Remember family TV with Sandy Becker and Sonny Fox.
Remember wax lips and candy dots, waxy juice bottles that you bite off the
top.
Remember those mimeographed copies we loved to smell so.
Remember transferring Sunday comics with balls of Play-Dough.
Remember when playing Cowboys and Indians didn't offend.
Remember when school chums were your best friends.
Remember when it was ok to ask for a ride.
Remember when it was cool to have dad at your side.
Remember the smell of a new baseball mitt.
Remember the thrill of a new sneaker fit.
Remember making Kool-Aid as a special summer treat.
Remember running the hose over tanned, tired feet.
Remember when any grown-up could help you to cross.
Remember when every kid believed in Santa Claus.
Remember when stores were closed each Sunday all day.
Remember when parents knew just what to say.
Remember when you knew just what you would be.
Remember when a Band-Aid could cure a scrapped knee.
Remember when everyone had just one phone.
Remember when it was possible to just be alone.
Remember your bicycle with streamers and tails.
Remember when parents and nuns would not let you fail.
Remember when clean was one bath a week.
Remember when it was fun to hide, but not seek.
Remember for just one minute all the fun that we had.
Remember how safe we felt with Mother and Dad.
-- Frank P. Cotter <fcotter at andromeda.rutgers.edu>
_____________________________________________
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