The Railway Men Lullaby

 

O gentle sleep

O gentle sleep

Fill my eyes with sweet dreams

 

O gentle sleep

O gentle sleep

Take away these dark nights

 

Come to me, come to me

Take the night away, take it away

 

O gentle sleep

O gentle sleep

Fill my eyes with sweet dreams

 

These broken dreams

Make them whole again

Together we shall

Make the dawn glow with bright light

 

We shall breathe again

Hearts will beat again

On the branches of hope

A little bird will sign again

This world will come to flower again

 

Come to me, come to me

Take the night away, take it away

 

O gentle sleep

O gentle sleep

Fill my eyes with sweet dreams

 

O gentle sleep

O gentle sleep

Take away these dark nights

 

Come to me, come to me

 

O gentle sleep

O gentle sleep

Fill my eyes with sweet dreams

 

O gentle sleep

O gentle sleep

 

Come to me, come to me

Take away these dark nights

Come to me

Come to me 

 

The Railway Men: The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984 is a moving portrait of the wide swath of human behavior, poignantly featuring compassion, courage, and integrity.

 

Thanksgiving in a Time of Conflict

 

I have been thinking long and hard about a positive Thanksgiving message. I am thankful for a great deal.

But I can not escape a feeling of sadness about the state of the world, past, present and future.

I am thankful that I don't live without food or water or housing or medical care. That I don't live under the threat of war and violence. That, with a few exceptions, I am not diminished as a person simply because of the color of my skin, my accent, my clothing, my circumstances, or my place within the power hierarchy.

I recently heard Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" after a long time. I'm struck by this passage in particular:

"Fools" said I, "You do not know

Silence like a cancer grows

Hear my words that I might teach you

Take my arms that I might reach you"

But my words like silent raindrops fell

And echoed in the wells of silence

Art Garfunkel apparently said during a live performance that the song is about "the inability of people to communicate with each other, and not particularly internationally but especially emotionally, so that what you see around you is people who are unable to love each other."

That was in 1966. It's even more true today.

I hope that everyone might take a moment to recognize that it should be possible to care for more than one group of people who are suffering, especially those whose voices and expressions of pain are met with silence. That we should be able to love each other.

Most of all, I'm thankful for people, dogs, and cats who make me feel seen, heard, and loved.