In his classic love song, “If Tomorrow Never Comes”, Garth Brooks knows how to cut to the chase in his music to help us see some of the most important stardust on which we tread daily. In an uncanny fashion, his song poses the same conundrum as the scary childhood prayer some of us dared utter before bedtime: “If I should die before I wake…”
The song and the prayer remind us of the tenious nature our life’s timeline and imply a goodness in the past that will stand us good in the unknown tomorrow that might never come. That our portion in life thus far has been pretty darn good with more than enough blessing for one life to hold, like a cup running over with goodness and mercy. Inherent in all of this is the notion that we ought be grateful for every inch of life and especially acknowledge that this just might be as good as it gets should it suddenly come to an end.
Folksinger Susan Werner puts the poignancy and pathos of all this together in her song “May I Suggest”, which is the essence of gratefulness for every moment and morsel of life: May I suggest this is the best part of your life/ May I suggest this time is blessed for you/ this time is blessed and shinning almost blinding bright… There is a world that’s been addressed to you, intended only for your eyes/ A secret world like a treasure chest to you/ Of private scenes and brilliant dreams that mesmerise/ A lover’s trusting smile/ A tiny baby’s hands/ The million stars that fill the turning sky at night/ Oh, I suggest this is the best part of your life.
Out here in what seems like a God-forsaken time of Covid deaths and rampant racism [one requiring we wear masks while the other requests that we take our masks off], the very idea that this is the best part of our lives seems more like the comedy of the absurd. “Change and decay in all around I see”, and the daily news is dismally not worth watching anymore. We can either hunker down in paralyzing and irrational fear for the future or join the battle to change status quo. Werner adds a caveat of social responsibility based on our accumulated heritage from generations past: There is a hope/ That’s been expressed in you/ The hope of seven generations, maybe more/ And this is the faith/ That they invest in you/ It’s that you’ll do one better than was done before...
May I join Susan and suggest to you and all of us that above and beneath all of these pandemics is a Providence beseeching us to do justice and love mercy beyond our prowess to prevail. At the end of the day, as they say and as she sings…There is a song/ Comes from the west to you…comes from the slowly setting sun/ With a request of you/ To see how very short the endless days will run/ And when they’re gone/ And when the dark descends/ Oh we’d give anything for one more hour of light/ And I suggest this is the best part of your life.
SUGGESTION: why don’t you just take five, find a big screen and good speakers or earbuds and listen to Susan sing “May I Suggest”
Thank you Dudley for your beautiful words and insights…God Bless You and keep you safe…
Great one…..very thankful for Mountain View this morning
Art and I listening now to “May I Suggest” with tears in our eyes. Thank you, dear friend for sharing it with us and others.
I’ve listened several times, shared with people I love, and saved just for me. Thank you Dudley
CB
This morning I quoted you on our two pandemics, one requiring that we put on masks, the other requiring that we take our masks off. Where do I send the check?
I recently put up a post on my Facebook page, the day the music died, that ends with a quite from “may I suggest ” and a link to Red June singing it. Should I send it to you?
Please do.