Our ability to feel pleased is impaired in this era by constant "breaking news" stories that are really just hot-button formulas to prompt us to click.
We have more in common with our political adversaries than separates us, but we are blocked from seeing how many of our interests are actually shared -- and how change and tradition co-exist.
Yes, there are real differences between left and right, but getting past the exaggerated differences is needed if we are to arrive at social and emotional health -- with opposition that includes empathy, and disagreement that includes respect.
These musical works of depth yet caressing genuineness help me get back to that state. When each of these songs finishes, I am less cynical than at the start.
I invite you to listen....
Flower children greet the day with this
sweet, unpretentious classic.
Whitney Houston performs Dion's song of national healing --
A salute to the good who died young.
The Seekers give us hope. If a group can be so good, and its members
so sincere, there's reason for optimism!
How could I describe the joy and power of this song? "It isn't easy but I'll try..."
Muslim altruist Yusuf Islam, aka Yusuf/Cat Stevens turned a 1931 British-written Christian hymn called "Morning Has Broken" into an immensely popular top 40 song. A sixties U.K. pop luminary, Stevens became spiritual after surviving a near drowning in 1968, and converted to Islam a decade later, exiting the music profession to co-raise a family and run Muslim programs for poverty relief and peace.
Another version, from the MonaLisa Twins:
Acclaimed, eclectic Greek singer Nana Mouskouri performs a German language version:
Danish jazz vocalist and composer Sinne Eeg does a particularly stirring job on Michel Legrand's "The Windmills of Your Mind."
Noel Paul Stookey kept his name off all credits for his "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" because he said it was given to him in 1971 from the realm of his god after he prayed. If any music could come from a supreme being, it is this joy and wonder provoking work of dazzling chords and loving words.
The Seekers, with the way we honestly saw love. This is recorded in a familiar '60s mecca.
One of the many Welsh pop music stars performs a timeless piece. Her version is the most moving I have ever heard.
In their native Australia, The Seekers, bountiful fields and venerable ancient texts.
