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Click here to start "Morningside" (1.1mb mp3 file created at the Singing Elf Ranch)
The original song by Neil Diamond in 1972 can be found on his Moods album.

The old man in Niel Diamond's "Morningside" lives on in a morning light
he gives to people who never knew him or saw him depart. Goodbyes are
awkward, even when we are in our best of health and must simply go our
separate ways. In times of death, goodbyes seldom feel good. For this reason
and more, animals often choose to die alone. And sometimes, people die alone
because the world with all of its busyness has moved on to new things.
"Morningside" is an anthem to those who have much to give and die alone.
It assures us that an old man's love can bring delight, even after his death.

Even if one dies alone, one's gift remains. The worry is that it will be
unopened like a book abandoned on a high shelf. Our great fear is that
we may not be able to give all of our love. Blessed indeed are those who
are able to give. Circumstances, fate and luck all play a role in one's ability
to give. In a tiny town, with only a few hundred potential recipients, what
assurance does one have that one's gift will be opened? Perhaps, it is because
they have no obvious recipient for their love that the inhabitants of small towns
search beyond their borders for a mate to share their lives. It takes an astute eye
to see the silver lining in there being less on the shelf and to do well with a
limited selection. What is left can become all the more dear, because it is
precious and near.

There is much kindness in the human spirit. To make a table "for the children"
is a simple and pure act. Only a few of us, unfortunately, are able to leave
something concrete and practical. We instead try to set something much larger
and more complex. We try to pass on an art of living and pray it will not be
reduced to a mere epitaph. An unnoticed gift is tragic. It breeds loneliness.
At the heart of loneliness is a frustration in being unable to give something
significant. Loneliness is pent up love. In a small town, one has time and space
to release it. In a city, I don't know.

Are small town dwellers more lonely or less lonely than city dwellers?
The residents of small towns have possibly learned to cope with loneliness
and turn it into a virtue. Loneliness is natural, and yet so is also the
desire to commune with others and with the world & nature.
We are social beings. Imagine how much more lonely rural America
must have been before there was radio! At the end of the 1800's,
before we had radio (or for that matter, the Internet), rural America
had the Sears Roebuck catalogue bringing the splendor of New York and
Chicago to every back woods cabin. A family could spend a thousand
evenings pouring through its pages and imagine the riches of world coming
to its door. Back then, people cheerfully allowed 6-8 weeks for delivery.
Time flowed at a more gentle pace. It was their friend. It dissolved loneliness,
for good things come to those who are patient, even if it is a subtle
re-arrangement in the way one lives and gives.

The art of giving is matched by the art of receiving. In many respects,
we receive more from our children than we are able to give in return.
Blessed indeed are those who are able to receive. For Garrison Keillor
(of the Prairie Home Companion radio show), it is obvious that his
daughter Maia gives him a universe of joy blessed with laughter. In return,
he can coddle her and sing a few songs. He can't give her Dusty or
Guy Noir or the Ketchup Advisory Board or even Bertha's Kitty Boutique.
Lake Woebegon and all of Garisson's geographic wit are beyond her
ken. When she is someday able to comprehend the tapes from old
shows, she will be a different person. What she drinks in now as a young
child is near impossible to quantify. When she smiles and laughs, we can
only hope she is drinking deeply, perhaps our very souls.

"And the children who sat around this great table touched with their laughter ...
... Ah! ... and that was good!"

Thank you for listening.

Juke Box ... mp3 playback tips & tricks ..

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