Life is People. Do You Care?

What to care about? What is the right equation? Is it a math, or a resource problem? If you care about everything, isn't it basically the same as caring about nothing? Who has that much care to give, or to not give?

Puts me in the mind of the "Serenity Prayer:" 

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

Right. And what "God" are we calling upon? What if the dirty little secret is that we can't really "change" anything? What if courage is irrelevant, and we humans just don't have that kind of wisdom at hand?

I mean, hell, what do I know? Too much caring can be detrimental. Caring is a business. It is not something in endless supply. We are not perpetual motion machines. We need to refresh, recharge, retrench, re-think.

Do we care about Humanity? Or do we pick some humans to care about? Do we care about the planet, or some things on it? How do we measure out our caring?

New idea. Care greatly about the things you love, and, well, the rest, parcel out your caring very carefully.

Take inventory:

What can I do?

What can I change?

Who can I touch?

How do I help?

How do I stay positive?

How to heal, both myself, and others?

Is healing even possible? 

Are we all in a sense "Doctors" to and for Humanity?

The Hippocratic Oath: “I swear by Apollo the physician, by Aesculapius, Hygeia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment the following oath: To consider dear to me as my parents him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and if necessary to share my goods with him; to look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art if they so desire without fee or written promise; to impart to my sons and the sons of the master who taught me and the disciples who have enrolled themselves and have agreed to the rules of the profession, but to these alone, the precepts and the instruction. I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone. To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug, nor give advice which may cause his death. Nor will I give a woman a pessary to procure abortion. But I will preserve the purity of my life and my art. I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the diseaseis manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners (specialists in this art). In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction, and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves. All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or outside of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal. If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.”

The a.m. soundtrack - Bill Fay's "Life is People."  (2012) - I think of this record as an obscure gem. A friend tipped me to this one. It is a healing record. Powerful. Spiritual. Even some of the titles will give you a clue: "The Healing Day," "City of Dreams" "Be At Peace with Yourself." There is also a fabulous cover of a Jeff Tweedy & Jay Bennet's "Jesus, Etc." Fay is charismatic, he is backed by a great band, perfectly realized tracks, a gospel choir, the record is a little church service. Good medicine for the soul. A humanistic manifesto, with great spiritual overtones.  Love.

"The Cosmic Concerto (Life is People)"

There are miracles,

In the strangest of places

There are miracles,

Everywhere you go

I see fathers,

Hold a little child's hand

I see mothers,

Holding a little child's hand

I see trees, trees,

Blowing in the wind

I see seeds,

Being sown by the wind

It's a cosmic concerto, and it stirs my soul

I see grandmas,

Blowing kisses into a pram

I see grandpas,

Scratching their head in amazement

It's a cosmic concerto, and it stirs my soul

It's a cosmic concerto, and it stirs my soul

Like my old dad said,

Life is people, life is people

In the space of a human face,

There's infinite variation

It's a cosmic concerto, and it stirs my soul

It's a cosmic concerto, and it stirs my soul

Like my old dad said,

Life is people, life is people

In the space of a human face,

There's infinite variation

Life is people, life is people, life is people

Life is people, life is people, life is people

Life is people

Bill Fay