Oh, let us turn our thoughts today

By Paul Roberts

Oh, let us turn our thoughts today 

to Martin Luther King,

And recognize that there are ties between us,

 all men and women living on the earth.

Ties of hope and love, of sister and brotherhood.

I found myself doing some time travel over the last several days, reliving some moments, some strong memories triggered by so many disparate events that it left my thoughts and the accompanying emotions rather disjointed. Fortunately, serendipitously, Carol put out a writing assignment in our Monday's Mulch newsletter this week that helped bring some semblance of order to those thoughts.

Martin Luther King Day was established in 1983. Every year, for the thirty years of my teaching career, I shared this time with my students. By the time this is published, Martin Luther King weekend will have passed for 2022, and the timeliness of my thoughts may be missing some of their significance. For years, as a literature and communications teacher in the public school system, I often had similar concerns. I was always trying to tie in the work of our day with the events of a wider world, hoping to encourage my students in this small rural Idaho mining town to recognize that “there are ties between us.” But the timing of MLK weekend in the school calendar often made that problematic, coming as it often did at the end of a semester, and so soon after returning from the holiday break. Nevertheless, my typical Tuesday after the MLK holiday was spent sharing the James Taylor song “Shed a Little Light” with my students, taking our time to enjoy the harmonies and the lyrics.

We are bound together

In our desire to see the world become a place

In which our children can grow free and strong.

We are bound together by the task that stands before us

And the road that lies ahead

We are bound and we are bound.

I lost a teammate this week. 

We are bound and we are bound. 

For me, the word teammate carries almost as much meaning as the word family. What about the word friend, you ask? Well, growing up my friends were teammates first. Craig was a teammate, a classmate, and in the strange world of high school football, one of my personal protectors. Any success I had in that odd battle was because of young men like him who paved a path before me, allowing me to run free. Teammates.

There is a feeling like a clenching of a fist

There is a hunger in the center of the chest

There is a passage through the darkness and the mist

And though the body sleeps the heart will never rest.

Our home here in the Silver Valley attained a not so dubious distinction this past week. COVID arrived. First me, then Carol, then our oldest daughter Molly. Fortunately, so far, somewhat mild cases, but no fun. It’s not hard to feel quite mortal, to turn inward and self-centered when sickness hits. I’ve been stuck at home, feeling retired, unable to say a proper goodbye.

Shed a little light, oh Lord, 

so that we can see, just a little light, oh Lord. 

Oh, let us turn our thoughts today 

to Martin Luther King,

And recognize that there are ties between us,

 all men and women living on the earth.

Ties of hope and love, of sister and brotherhood.

Have you ever heard the James Taylor song Paul wrote about?  If not, or if you have, but just want to enjoy it once again, click on the title Shed a Little Light, and hear James Taylor and the Lowcountry Voices sing a beautiful version of this song.

Music can be one way to deal with grief and the loss of someone we love.  Have you ever used music to help with your grieving process?  Share about this in a comment below, or email us at [email protected].