A Moment of Sunshine - Part II

A Moment of Sunshine Part II

Well, I never . . . . . . Who'da thought? It's so simple that it's easy to miss. We're all so busy either creatin' or fendin' off the babble of the haters an' lovers alike, we have no idea of how to bring them together. My brother-in-law John posted a thing on facebook the other day that made such a lotta sense (at least to me) that I couldn't help but put it out here for all to see. He said something like: Ya can't all talk together at the same time (an' make any sense) but ya can all sing together. OF COURSE!  Don't ya remember them three hundred African firefighters who dropped in to the Edmonton Airport on their way to Fort McMurray just a few weeks ago. They didn't know each other that well but they did know the words to the music an' they sang an' danced up a storm like nobody's business in preparation to go to work as a unified team. It's just too bad they didn't get their employers in on the music. There's a big message to be read into that.

Well an' it's also a Mennonite tradition (or used to be) to sing some hymns out of the song book at social gatherin's or just ordinary visitin'. Everybody knows the words to them songs an' you can belt 'em out with gusto. An' think of the marchin' songs, the sea shanties to unify the participants into a work force, an' the frightenin' Waka war canoes. Think o' the Sun dance ceremonies an' the litany o' Powwows.

Here's the punch line. Suppose there was an amendment to the constitution requirin' all the political parties in both the commons an' the senate to gather together for a sing-song for a whole hour every mornin' before the start o' business of the day. Well they already approved the changin' o' the national anthem recently so why not approve this as well. I can just hear the whole bunch o' them singin' a rousin' version of "We Shall Overcome". That was a song that got my son Fred through washin' dinner dishes every day, so it has some merit. Well I don't sing no more cause I ain't got the breath an' my voice is too squeaky, but I sure remember the power a large choir had in moving all the singers to belt out their harmony until the boards under their feet trembled. It was remarkable.

If I was to suggest anythin' the government could do to work more co=operatively an more effectively, it would be to appoint a Minister of Music to the cabinet. His/Her mandate would be to replace that stupid question period thing with choral singin'. That in itself would be an improvement (unless everybody decided to sing off key). At least that's how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Just sayin'.