Oh, the dragons are gonna fly tonight
They're circling low and inside tonight
It's another round in the losing fight
Out along the Great Divide tonight
We are aging soldiers in an ancient war
Seeking out some half-remembered shore
We drink our fill and still we thirst for more
Asking if there's no heaven, what is this hunger for?
Our path is worn, our feet are poorly shod
We lift up our prayer against all odds
And fear the silence is the voice of God
And we cry Allelujah, Allelujah
We cry Allelujah
Sorrow is constant and the joys are brief
The seasons come and bring no sweet relief
Time is a brutal but careless thief
Who takes our lot but leaves behind the grief
It is the heart that kills in the end
Just one more old broken bone that cannot mend
As it was now and ever shall be, amen
And we cry Allelujah, Allelujah
We cry Allelujah
So there'll be no guiding light for you and me
We are not sailors lost out on the sea
We were always headed toward eternity
Hoping for a glimpse of Galilee
Like falling stars from the universe we are headed
Down through the long loneliness of the world
Until we behold the pain become the pearl
Crying Allelujah, Allelujah
We cry Allelujah
And we cry Allelujah
~ Emmylou Harris
"A day that will live in infamy." So declared President Franklin Delano Roosevelt the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 76 years ago today. Although I do not know the inspiration behind Emmylou's "The Pearl," it seems to be a lament over the circumstance of war, so I thought it a fitting choice for today. Although Emmylou is known for her covers of songs by other artists, this is one that she wrote herself. It appears on her 2000 release, Red Dirt Girl.
In a surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy Air Service, the attack on the Naval base in Hawaii claimed 2,403 American lives and marked the American entry into World War II. Our military fought in two arenas: Europe and Asia. My dad was stationed in the Philippines with the United States Army, a deployment responsible for the malaria that left his bed pillow yellow with sweat whenever he suffered an episode. I remember being told not to go into his room during these attacks, the mystery leading to sadness, confusion, and helplessness for me. The seasons come and bring no sweet relief.
Although I was born after WWII, and the Korean War took up the early years of my existence, there was a period of nothing but a Cold War until the Viet Nam conflict changed everything. My point is that I lived during a brief time of relative peace. (I say "relative" because of the Cold War.) But check this out: America has been at war 93% of the time (since 1776)! For 224 out of 241 years of our existence, we have been living with war! (In my lifetime, there was no war involvement from 1976 until 1978, 1997, and 2000.) We are aging soldiers in an ancient war / Seeking out some half-remembered shore.
What to make of this? War is the norm? So many of us are not okay with this. All we are saying is give peace a chance. (Tune in tomorrow.)
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