Fire and Rain: Palangga
Fire and Rain: Palangga
(June 14, 2023)
One of my favorite pass times is to listen to music and watch music videos. Oh, I love the music of my time – modern classic now, meaningful lyrics with deep messages, simple soothing tunes and harmony that make my soul dance with the rhythm.
James Taylor is among my favorite musician artists then and now. His set of songs are to behold. His version of the Carole King song “You’ve Got A Friend” tops the list. But among his original compositions, “Fire and Rain” comes first.
Briefly, Taylor wrote the song as somewhat autobiographical. An article described the verses as "one is about a friend who committed suicide, another is about Taylor's addiction to heroin, the third refers to a mental hospital and a band Taylor started called 'The Flying Machine.” The True Meaning Behind 'Fire And Rain' By James Taylor (nickiswift.com)
Another description was that the song was “Gentle, plaintive, and compelling” and possesses “mournful lyrics of loss and redemption”. The Meaning of 'Fire and Rain' | Snopes.com
Here,
I simply want to share my thoughts and reflections on the song. This is not
meant to be a review or a critique of the song but just my musings on how it touches
my soul whenever I hear it played.
Just yesterday
mornin', they let me know you were gone
Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this
song
I just can't remember who to send it to
The death of a loved one, a friend or a significant other, always strike a special chord in our being. Especially painful it is when the departed person is truly a beloved, a PALANGGA.
Such painful reality brings tremendous hurt that no amount of consolation is enough to ease the pain a person feels. It will take some time to recover from the trauma. It will need a lot of understanding and acceptance both on the part of the one who grieves and those around him who try to comfort him. Patience, SABR, is of utmost importance.
I've seen fire and
I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a
friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again
Separation brings about an amalgam of emotions – fire, rain, sunny days, lonely nights, etc. One would never know. One time you feel okay the next time you just find yourself in tears. The memories of an awesome past with the departed beloved fill your being that you do not know how to describe your situation. It has become confusing, but you would not want to lose the memories. In fact, you want to re-live them and let yourself stay because only through those memories that you feel that your beloved never left.
During these times, a friend is needed. Someone who is present, not necessarily physically present, but is available at the click of a finger. One who makes you a priority especially at this time of need. Someone who can understand even the words that you were saying but not uttered. Someone who is patient and accepting of your silence. Someone who has a listening heart, whose heart can hear the whispers of your own weeping heart.
Won't you look down
upon me, Jesus?
You've got to help me make a stand
You've just got to see me through another day
My body's aching and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way
Without being criticized as too spiritual and too religious (I do not care anyway), it is always imperative to hang on to our spirituality. For a Christian and a Catholic, stay with God. Call on Jesus. God said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) In 1 Peter 5:7, the apostle reminds us to cast “your anxieties on him because he cares for you.” Furthermore, in John 14:1ff, Jesus said: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Troubles and problems are part of life. Pain and suffering are basically twinned with happiness and joy. Life is full of paradoxes. But keeping our faith in God is our source of strength to wrestle what life throws on us. Be it separation because of death or a break-up of a relationship, God will never abandon us. We only need to keep our faith. Trust in Him. Believe. Pray. He will show us the way. He will give us the strength and the courage, the patience and perseverance, to let go and move on. In time, we will gather ourselves together again and commence a new life, a new beginning.
Been walking my mind
to an easy time
My back turned towards the sun
Lord knows, when the cold wind blows
It'll turn your head around
Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line
To talk about things to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the
ground
Communication is an important factor in coming to terms with separation. While silence and solitude are one way, along with them should communication be not taken away. We need to let someone know what’s going on is essential. The other, in ways more than one, can assist us in looking at other perspectives. Oftentimes, the emotional sorrow blinds us and fails us to see the light coming from every direction. The heartache limits our weltanschauung. We are not alone.
Isn’t it ironic that in this time of instant availability of social contact through the internet and modern technology that we feel deeply separated from one another especially from the one near us? We must avoid turning our backs from the sun and walk against the wind. Sure, separation is hard. Who said it is easy? But we need to balance our desire for solitude and silence with that of the necessity to be conscious that there are people around us who deeply care and love us. Again, we are not alone.
Fire and rain. The reality of life.
Palangga. Someone who deeply cares and loves.
Be not afraid.
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