Climb Ever Higher– At the West End Gallery, Corning, NY
Student: Unhappy is the land that breeds no hero.
Galileo: No, Andrea….unhappy is the land that needs a hero.
–Bertolt Brecht, Galileo
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live a land that had no need for heroes?
A land with no hatred and racism. No injustice. No inequality.
A land without corruption, dishonesty, and greed A land without violence and conspiracies perpetrated by those who seek absolute power by any means.
A land without fear.
A land of cooperation and the acceptance of our responsibility for one another.
Wouldn’t it be great?
Unhappily, we live in a land in need of heroes.
And I don’t mean heroes in the way that we often use the word when speaking of celebrities or sports stars.
They have their place but here I am talking about the average people who put it on themselves to do the right things, day in and day out, so that this land might move even the tiniest bit toward being a land that no longer finds itself in need of heroes.
People who seek to help others in need without any thought of benefit or glorification for themselves. Who are willing to call out and fight ceaselessly against injustice, corruption, and hatred.
The interesting thing here is that anyone can be a hero. Happily, it’s a choice we can actually make.
Unfortunately, one can also choose to not be a hero. They can look out for themselves alone and not give a damn how others fare.
I’m just saying that we need a lot more heroes.
We have more than enough of those who have chosen otherwise. Way too many.
Okay, sermon over. Get up and get out, okay?
As you head for egresses, here’s some exit music for this Sunday Morning Music. Yesterday, I played a piece of music from a symphony by Philip Glass based on David Bowie’s Heroes album. I was unaware at that time that yesterday would have been Bowie’s 75th birthday. So, let’s honor him with a rendition of his song Heroes which is high among my favorite songs. This semi-acoustic performance is from the 1996 concert to benefit the Bridge School.
We can be heroes just for one day…
Redtree Times 