I Dream A Song That Brings To Us This Joy

I dream a song that brings to us this joy
Renee Fleming singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”

I have written a number of posts about national anthems and the future world anthem. Sometimes a national anthem is written a good time before the birth/rebirth of a sovereign nation (Israel, India). Sometimes a national anthem is written a good time after the birth of a sovereign nation (United States). But they all have a stirring of the soul of hope for that nation’s best destiny. I now write about a song that seems to stir that stirring.

I dream a song that brings to us this joy

I dream a song that brings to us this joy. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” in 1945, as part of the Broadway musical “Carousel.” In the second act of the musical, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the protagonist Julie Jordan, sings “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the male lead, falls on his knife and dies after a failed robbery attempt.

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark

At the end of a storm
There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone

You’ll never walk alone

Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone

You’ll never walk alone

It is reprised in the final scene to encourage a graduation class of which Louise (Billy and Julie’s daughter) is a member. The now invisible Billy, who has been granted the chance to return to Earth for one day in order to redeem himself, watches the ceremony and is able to silently motivate the unhappy Louise to join in the song. The song is thus the resounding exclamation point of the musical for me.

I dream a song to help me face disaster

I dream a song that brings to us this joy. This song has entered the world’s musical vocabulary, being covered by many artists in every decade since its composition. But there is a particular cover version I wish to consider. The Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers recorded this song in 1963. They changed the meter from 4/4 to 6/8. That seems to be important to make it easier to sway to. It was more than a #1 song in the UK. Gerry Marsden presented the song to Liverpool FC (that’s soccer to my fellow Americans) manager Bill Shankly, and it was sung by the Liverpool fans before the 1965 FA Cup Final. It has since become the Liverpool FC anthem.

I dream a song that sings around the world

“You’ll Never Walk Alone” sung by Borussia Dortmund fans

I dream a song that brings to us this joy. It would be one thing if it was just a Liverpool thing. But it seems to be more than that. Celtic in Glasgow adopted the song in 1966. It has since spread to Borussia Dortmund of the Bundesliga in 1996, Feyenoord in Rotterdam, and FC Tokyo in Japan.

I dream a song that sings the greatest truth

I dream a song that brings to us this joy. I freely admit that when I first heard this song in a production of Carousel, I didn’t believe it. I considered this song to be a sentimental anesthetic to dull the pain of fundamental futility. A band-aid to put on the cancer of everyone I know going away in the end. But I reconsider when I see how people respond to this song. I reconsider as I study of Steps to Knowledge, the book of spiritual practice of the New Message from God.

In Step 45 of Steps to Knowledge, “Alone I can do nothing,” I am told that every accomplishment, every achievement is the product of relationship. Step 53, “My gifts are for others” declares “Alone you can do nothing. Alone you have no meaning. This is because you are not alone.” Step 78, “I can do nothing alone” not only declares this again, but puts an exclamation point at the end. “You can do nothing alone, for you are not alone. A greater truth you will not find.” I have never been alone. I am not alone. I will never be alone.

Should “You’ll Never Walk Alone” be the future anthem of the world? I don’t know. All I know is that people respond to this song, both in times of joy and times of trial. All I know is this brief song contains an essential truth of the human experience. I find that something of a miracle.

* * *

Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Some Small But Substantial Successes

Some small but subtantial successes

Step 84 of Steps to Knowledge is a review of the steps from Step 78, “I can do nothing alone” to Step 83, “I value Knowledge beyond all things.”

Some small but substantial successes

There were some seeds sown during this period. One seed that was sown was the idea that if I am going to advance, I’m going to have to be more accountable as to what I am practicing. This seed was sown in Step 80, “I can only practice.” Another seed that was sown was the idea that if I am going to advance, I’m going to have to have a certain awareness of my craving for social rewards. I’m going to have to develop a certain indifference to social rewards. This seed was sown in Step 81, “I will not deceive myself today.”

There were also some seeds that were sown earlier, but watered during this period. Step 78, “I can do nothing alone” is a watering of the seed sown in Step 45, “Alone I can do nothing.” Step 82, “Today I will not judge another” is a watering of the seed sown in Step 76 “I will not judge another today.”

Steps to Knowledge has mentioned the value of having a beginner’s mind, an attitude of humility, curiosity and enthusiasm toward the study of Steps to Knowledge. One of the good things about a beginner’s mind is not having expectations as to what kind of experience will occur in the study of something. It is as if Step 84 is answering the student’s question, “Is this how it’s supposed to look?”

“Review the practices and the instructions for the preceding week.Review your progress objectively. Realize how great your learning must be. Your steps now are small, but substantive. Small steps lead you all the way. You are not expected to take great leaps, yet each small step will seem like a great leap, for it will give you so much more than you have ever had before.”

Here is the word cloud for Steps 77 through 83:

Steps To Knowledge Steps 78-83 Word Cloud by Wordle. Some small but substantial successes

I have been using the website Wordle for creating these word clouds. I don’t know how Wordle creates these word clouds, but I don’t believe that Wordle makes any effort to put related words next to each other, or unrelated words far away from each other. Shortly after I made this word cloud, I felt an inclination to separate the words from each other, so that other people could arrange the words as they saw fit. Here are the separated words:

Steps To Knowledge Steps 78-83 Word Cloud with words separated. Some small but substantial successes

And since I am inviting people to do something, it seemed like a good thing to accept my own invitation, and make my own word cloud for Steps 77 through 83:

Steps To Knowledge Steps 78-83 Word Cloud Rearranged. Some small but substantial successes

I believe someone is reading this and thinking “I say, Douglas, you have a lot of time on your hands, don’t you?” Maybe, but I definitely thought about the Steps from which the words came as I rearranged the words. Who knows, maybe one day this will be a standard practice for engaging with the significance of a certain text. I can imagine my grandchildren saying “I have a clouding assignment in Language Arts class.”

*

* * *

Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

A Greater Truth Than This You Will Not Find

You can do nothing alone, for you are not alone. A greater truth than this you will not find.

Any student of Steps to Knowledge who has arrived at Step 78, “I can do nothing alone,” recognizes that from time to time, bold, forthright claims are made regarding certain ideas. The first time the claim is made, students sometimes wonder “Do they really mean that?” When the claim is made again a few steps later, students sometimes think, “Hmm…they really did mean that.” And when the claim is made yet again a few steps after that, students sometimes say to themselves, “Ok, ok! I get it! They really mean that!”

A greater truth than this you will not find

In Step 45, “Alone I can do nothing,” we are told that every accomplishment, every achievement is the product of relationship. Do they really mean that? Step 53, “My gifts are for others” declares “Alone you can do nothing. Alone you have no meaning. This is because you are not alone” Hmm…they really did mean that. Step 78, not only declares this again, but puts a sforzando exclamation point at the end. “You can do nothing alone, for you are not alone. A greater truth you will not find.” Ok, ok! I get it! They really mean that!

What do they mean by “great truth?” Back in Step 25, “I am at one with the greatest truth in life,” we were told that there was such a thing as great truth, and that it was the product of great relationship. When the physicists talk about great truth, they mean something that is true always and everywhere, at all velocities and at all energies. How does it feel to say these words?

I have never been alone. I am not alone. I will never be alone.

A greater truth than this you will not find.

* * *

Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.