By Susan G Parcheta
(Pub. @ www.thelivingstonpost.com May, 17, 2012)
Ten years after Sept. 11, 2001 I wonder, “Have we made any progress on this planet?”
Each Memorial Day we think of such marker events in our history. The following is a reflection I wrote in the months following 9-11. Reading through it again, a decade later, I find still haunting reminders -- besides the lyrics of Paul Simon’s song -- that we’ve a long way to go on our journey toward peace in this Age of Aquarius.
So the music lives on…Bridge over Troubled Water. See what you think. How much has changed? Is there time for building bridges? What happens if we don’t?
I’m thinking that, in 2012, it’s time to ramp up the construction. May each of us be the bridge we seek over troubled water. One by one, we can make a difference in our corner of the world.
The ripple effect builds into a tsunami; and together the waves create a cleansing and renewing global shift, where peaceful waters flow beneath those bridges that we’ve built.
On Sept. 11, 2001, there was a call for unity and love to prevail. There was a collective will to transcend the divisions. Why, then, does our world seem even more volatile in 2012? Why is everything either black and white or red and blue? Why this polarity in our culture? Haven’t we been there, done that? When, for heaven’s sake, will we take the quantum leap?
Yes, there is much work to do, miles to go before we sleep… bridges to build, bridges to trolley across -- together.
May we daily be inspired into action; and, so inspired -- imagine. Imagine what extraordinary thing might we do?
Over Troubled Water
By Susan G Parcheta
(Pub. In the May/June 2002 issue of Horton’s Mid-Michigan Reader)
Paul Simon’s haunting lyrics in Bridge over Troubled Water washed over our souls again during the celebrity telethon for the victims of Sept. 11, 2001. Topping the charts three decades ago, it continues to sooth our collective cry for a bridge to some place safe…somewhere to ease our minds.
