Tuesday, May 11, 2010

My Philosophy, Cat Stevens Style


Well I think it's fine, building jumbo planes.
Or taking a ride on a cosmic train.
Switch on summer from a slot machine.
Get what you want to if you want, 'cause you can get anything.

I know we've come a long way,
We're changing day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well you roll on roads over fresh green grass.
For your lorryloads pumping petrol gas.
And you make them long, and you make them tough.
But they just go on and on, and it seems you can't get off.

Oh, I know we've come a long way,
We're changing day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?

When you crack the sky, scrapers fill the air.
Will you keep on building higher
'til there's no more room up there?
Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry?
Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?

I know we've come a long way,
We're changing day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?

This is all a poetic call to a return to life and nature, away from the sparkling seduction of technology and advancement, back to the God-given gifts we miss in our striving for the multitude of insignificances that we foolishly label great, and ultimately to the saving simplicity of the heart of a child. A prayer from George MacDonald applies the provided perception:

"O Father, thou art All-in-all, perfect beyond the longing of thy children, and we are altogether thine. Thou wilt make us pure and loving and free. We shall stand fearless in thy presence, because perfect in thy love. Then shall thy children be of good cheer, infinite in the love of each other, and thy eternal love. Lord Jesus, let the heart of a child be given to us, that so we may arise from the grave of our dead selves and die no more, but see face to face, the God of the Living."

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