Love songs of women and country
With regards to the 'Song of Solomon, a Jewish Rabbi of the 1st century stated 'The whole world was not worthy of the day in which this sublime song was given to Israel'.
This song is considered to be the best love song ever written, a song of utmost perfection itself.
The song refers to the relationship between a Shulamite woman, a shepherd boy and King Solomon. In this battle of love, rich king Solomon lost out to the poor shepherd boy.
Its of interest to note that all 3 characters used terms based on the natural environment to express poetically feelings of endearment. References are made to vineyards, doves, foliage, ceders, juniper trees, the saffron, the lily etc. etc.
Since time began song writers have extolled in their lyrics the beauty of the environment.
Remember 'Mull of Kintyre?' Let me remind you of one of the verses.
'Mull of Kintye, Oh mist rolling in from the sea, my desire is always to be here, Oh Mull of Kintyre.
Far have I travelled and much have I seen, darkest of mountains, with valleys of green,
vast painted deserts, the sunsets on fire as you carry me home to the Mull of Kintyre'
Do you remember this song from the United States - 'This land is your land, from California to the NewYork Island,
from the Redwood forest to the gulf stream waters, this land was made for you and me'
Trouble In Paradise
However despite such beauty these land are not truly beautiful in the full sense.
The American song over the years has suffered a measure of corruption.
Do you know these versions of the lyrics?
'I've roamed and rambled and followed the beer cans, from the toxic cities to the flooded canyons.
And all around me the billboards were reading, this land was made for you and me.'
Or what about this Indian version
This land is your land, it once was my land, before we sold you Manhattan Island, you pushed our nation to the reservations, this land was stolen by you from me'
Despite the obvious physical beauty of these lands not everyone is clearly content.
According to the British press some years ago it was reported that a plot to kidnap the McCartney family had been foiled by the police. It is a fact that George Harrison despite being security conscious, had his home broken into and he had to wrestle an armed attacker.
Inside Beauty Required
Its clear that a beautiful environment to live in is a normal desire but such cannot be classified to be a paradise while there exist fear of ones neighbours.
Back in the 1980's I had the good pleasure to visited the town of Odense in Denmark, the birth place of Hans Christian Henderson. I went to the tourist office and picked up a brochure, which read in part:
'Unconventional cloths are accepted in most places, with a few exceptions. The free admission to beaches and woods does not mean you can disturb the cottage owner on the beach or pitch a tent -help us to keep the country side clean. Nude bathing is permitted from a few beaches..its a question of tact in adapting yourself. Young people of a critical attitude to established society are welcome also to express their view'
It appears that this government was very concerned about maintaining physical cleanness and tidiness - but of what value is such tidy ness and physical beauty if the people visiting are not encouraged to be beautiful inside?
200 years before Jesus was born, a religious group called the Pharisees was formed. Over the years they developed many extreme customs regarding physical cleanliness. For example they would wash their hands in between each course of a meal. The name Pharisee means to be 'Distinguished or Separated' Certainly they considered themselves superior to their fellow man. According to Alfred Edersheim in his book 'The life and times of Jesus the messiah', the Pharisees undertook not to sell to a commoner any fluid or dried fruit, not to be a guest with him nor to entertain him as guest.
Sure, the Pharisees were super physically clean but what about the beauty inside?
Without the beauty inside, the outside will always be lacking.
Gossip
What about gossip? Gossip comes from within does it not?
When gossip comes our way are we a cu-de-sac or are we a computer gateway?
A cu-de-sac is a dead end - hence gossip stops at our door and goes no further.
Or does it?
A computer gateway receives information and then lets it through to specific networks.
Do we let gossip pass through us and onto our network of personal friends and colleagues?
Conclusion
In conclusion we all value a beautiful environment which is something that exists on the outside.
Unless the inside is also beautiful and worked upon - the outside no matter how beautiful, cannot be fully enjoyed.
Ask George Harrison - well we can't - he has since died, but I wonder if the intruder he tackled accelerated his death?
Cancer and stress are not good partners!
My blogs include:
be-cancer-disease-free.blogspot.com
be-pregnancy-weightwatcher.blogspot.com
