No Peace On Earth, Longfellow Said?

[Gary Rice]

A Tale of the Rose of Sharon...

Dear Friends,

One hundred and fifty years ago this year, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published the poem "Christmas Bells", later to become the song "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"; concerning whether there ever would be peace on earth, in the face of such turmoil as the American Civil War. His son had been gravely wounded in that war, and he was suffering the passing of his dear wife. Through his trials, he was moved to write that famous song of hope in the midst of tragedy and dispair.

Here in Lakewood, as with the West End debacle a decade ago, Lakewood citizens are once again pitted against each other in a sublime struggle over the future of our hospital.

Now, as in the days of the Civil War, well-meaning people continue to rise to engage each other, whether for principles or for power, laying aside the olive branches of peace; while still others hope for a peaceful resolution soon for all of this.

Ordinarily, when I write these sorts of musings, they are either city or music related. This missive, on the other hand, relates to a faith-based experience that I had, just yesterday.

Does a loving God continue to bring peace to us these days? I truly believe so, and yesterday brought just one more example of that for me. I was out by the garage yesterday morning, and over by the garage door, the Rose of Sharon bush was in full bloom.

The Rose of Sharon was my mom's favorite bush, particularly because, like the dogwood, there are so many allegories connecting it with Christ. We had those bushes out by our camper in Brunswick, but one by one, over the years, they had died off after Mom's passing, back in 2004.

Somehow though, and in some way, a Rose of Sharon bush decided to grow up right by my garage door here in Lakewood, and it has thrived. These come into full bloom right around the time of Mom's July 19th birthday.

Mom's passing over a decade ago was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through. For years afterwards my soul ached, although I was absorbed with caring for Dad. He lasted another ten years and they were good ones for both of us, but in January of this year, he too passed on. As an only child, having no wife, children, or siblings, it has been a challenge to keep the positive attitude and smile and willingness to help others that my parents insisted that I cultivate. I have certainly tried to do so, but there have still been moments...

Seeing that Rose of Sharon in full beautiful bloom yesterday was just too much for me. I broke down completely. When those sorts of triggers happen, I have always found prayer to be a great comfort, and such was the case then. Within a short while, I was back in the swing of things and off to lunch and groceries. Coming home, I spotted a yard sale in Cleveland. After bringing the frozen food home and putting it away, something told me to go back and peruse that sale.Yesterday being a Tuesday, yard sales are highly uncommon, and I almost did not go back.

Anyway, the seller and I got to talking about our hobbies, and the topic soon turned to music. They indeed had a banjo to sell, although it was in the house. Would I like to see it? He brought it out and told me that it needed a great deal of work and had been refused as a trade-in at the guitar store for that very reason. We opened the case. It was a no-name banjo, but was otherwise very nice; having multiple inlays.

I asked his price, paid it, and we quickly shook hands on a deal.

It was only a half hour later, while in the process of repairing and setting up the instrument, that I had occasion to more closely inspect the floral inlays.

They were Roses of Sharon.

The banjo turned out fine, and more to the point, (and thanks be to God) so have I.

Peace on earth? Truly it will eventually come to us on an individual level, and if history is any indicator of the future, eventually it will return here to Lakewood.

Especially if we try and help to make it happen.

Back to the peace-making banjo,

Gary Rice

[Bridget Conant]

Lovely story and thoughts, thank you for sharing and many (((hugs))) to you today!

[Amy Martin]

I am crying as I read this . . . . so beautiful, Gary.

[Alex Belisle]

Gary - thanks for befriending me shortly after I moved here. One couldn't ask for a better friend.

[Gary Rice]

Alex, Amy, Bridget:

Thank you for those kind words.

The rhetoric regarding this hospital business, the presentations, the passions, the speculations, the second-guessings, have, in my honest opinion, likely already surpassed the rhetoric from the West End crisis, and I can well imagine that it's all not over yet. There are questions on the table that go far beyond what I, or I suspect, most Lakewood residents, would be able to answer.

When I post here on the 'Deck, I hopefully bring no greater agenda than a desire for greater communication and dialogue between all concerned, so that the inevitable conflict-resolution process might transpire sooner than later. At the end of the day, we all must continue to live together.

Yes, I want a hospital, but this city is our home. We need to care for each other and work together.

As a person of faith, time and again (as happened yesterday with that amazing banjo story) I have seen what I believe to be God's grace in action. To me, the eight Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount are just as relevant today, as they ever were, and particularly here, Christ's statement that the peacemakers would be blessed.

Whatever faith (or lack thereof) that one posesses, there is a universal ethical and moral high ground in situations like the one we are facing.

It would be well if we could all arrive at that place together. In the meantime, we can only try to help our city, and each other, in whatever way that we feel that we can.

Back to the banjo...

[Brian Essi]

Yes, I want a hospital, but this city is our home. We need to care for each other and work together.

Whatever faith (or lack thereof) that one posesses, there is a universal ethical and moral high ground in situations like the one we are facing.

"High ground
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

High ground is an area of elevated terrain which can be useful in combat. The military importance of high ground has been recognized for over 2,000 years, for example in Sun Tzu's The Art of War, in which military leaders are advised to take high ground and let the enemy try to attack from a lower position.[1] Fighting from an elevated position is easier for a number of reasons. Holding high ground offers an elevated vantage point with a wide field of view, enabling surveillance of the surrounding landscape, in contrast to valleys which offer a limited field of view.[2] General Ji Ling of the late Eastern Han Dynasty used this principle to his advantage by sending lookouts to positions of high ground to scout for and provide early warning about enemy troops.[3] In addition, soldiers fighting uphill will tire more quickly and will move more slowly, while soldiers fighting downhill may not get tired as quickly, and may be able to move faster. Furthermore, soldiers who are elevated above their enemies can get greater range out of low-speed projectiles like rocks, javelins, and grenades. Likewise, low-speed projectiles will have less range when thrown uphill."

Gary,

I love your banjo stuff.

Summers wrote in the LO about "people charged with envisioning" our future, i.e. people he claims are taking care of us. I think he is referring to LHA and the Clinic. The problem is, they are not taking care of us and we did not charge them to do so--they are charged with running a hospital to take care of us.

One of my goals is to get those folks to do their jobs or get them out of the way and install new ones.

Come join me on the "high ground" atop the mountain of truth that the bad actors can't hope to climb. Many have helped build this mountain of evidence.

I can hear you playing a few chords of Van Morrison's "Higher Ground"--I'll hum while you sing and strum the banjo.

"If I speak in the tongues of men or angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal...love does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth."

I believe your banjo is not a gong or cymbal, but an instrument for rejoicing the truth.

I also believe that while us other Deck posters may appear harsh, we are using the Deck to build the "high ground"---the Deck is an instrument to rejoice in truth and not delight in evil.

It is clear most posters use the Deck for the Love of Lakewood.

[cameron karslake]

Sweet story. You were obviously meant to have that banjo and give it a new life, Gary!