From A Distance

I listened to the Julie Gold song tonight, From A Distance. As a writer every time I hear that song, I think about something different. It is probably one of the most poignant songs I have ever heard.

I wish I had written it.......... every day there seems to be more and more hate and fear building in this country. The media is in a feeding frenzy, and all I can think about is that this must be Oz and some fool is behind the curtain.

I don't listen to the radio anymore, the only thing I read in the newspapers is my horoscope and comics, I only watch movies on tv, and occasionally take a quick look at the weather, if they are not showing their god awful what if series.

As I sat and listened to the lyrics of From A Distance, it just made me sad. Sad for our country, sad for the generations who are growing up bombarded by the propaganda from the right and left.

For the past several weeks I have given a lot of thought to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It is so strange that we all have the same basic needs and wants, and yet it seems we search out the differences in others so that we can destroy and tear down.

So tonight, as I heard the words, " from a distance there is harmony and it echoes through the land, It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace, It's the voice of every man." Is it the voice of each of us to want hope, and peace? If so, why so much hate and destruction?

I think fear has driven the whole country mad. Even during the cold war, I never saw the fear and felt it like I do now. Have we become one big cesspool, a breeding ground of fear?

I keep thinking about the song, "from a distance, you look like my friend even though we are at war" , when did we go from being able to discuss politics and other topics with intelligence to screaming obscenities at each other, because we don't think a like or share the same views.

I keep hoping that from a distance, one day, we will all look at each other through the same eyes, and see the connection, the human connection. We will see that we have more similarities than differences, that good and bad run through us all, and that we are all in this together.