The hubby and I were introduced to Paul Winter by my stepmother. We are now avid fans of his solstice concerts, held every year at St. John the Divine. In fact, we'll be getting up at 3am this Saturday to attend this year's Summer Solstice concert (one performance only!). Anyway, because I am on the Paul-Winter-fan mailing list, I received this, which I thought was worth sharing:
PARENTS PARTY
A Message for Father's Day
Paul Winter
Mid June, 08
The political campaigns of the last several months have given me pause. All the
divisiveness has inspired me to ponder more deeply one of my favorite subjects: the
universals – the things people care about in common all over the world, the common
ground where we might stand, and even dance, together. At this point in my journey I've become quite clear on what may be our most universal value. It's kids. So I have this vision of a Parents Party, an unofficial league of all parents of the planet, and not just parents, but everyone who loves children.
I came into the realm of parenthood somewhat later than most of my contemporaries. I
was 56 when my first child was born, and it wasn't long before I got a new name: "Daddy." I've been quite proud of this name. It has a special ring to it. Then, when I was 65, our second daughter came along, and now once again there's a toddler running around the house, calling me by my new name. So I think this title's going to stick. And what better one could I hope for? Governor? President? No thanks. "Daddy" is as good as it gets. It resonates of a relationship, a role. It's an honorific.
So now, wherever I am, walking through an airport or along a city street, and I hear a little voice calling out "Daddy," I turn around, automatically. And even though it's someone else's child, I feel some sense of relatedness, and it makes me feel glad. As I continue on my way, I wonder about that Dad, and imagine how, if we met, that it wouldn't matter if he and I disagreed on most everything under the sun; I'm absolutely certain that we would agree that what's most important in our respective worlds are these little persons who have come into our lives and awakened our fountain of love. And that the highest priority in each of our lives is to do what we can to provide a safe and healthy world for them, and their life-journey. I can't imagine there's a Dad, or a Mom, anywhere on this planet, who doesn't want that for their child.
Why can't we have our modes of governance based on this universal? In this realm, this common realm of love, there are no political differences. We don't have some people calling their love "liberal" and others saying theirs is "conservative. " It's beyond all that. Love is love. And I think that's where we all really want to live.
So I dream of this Parents Party, spreading spontaneously around the world. It will have no organization, no fundraising, no propaganda – none of that debilitating stuff. It'll just be a word-of-mouth thing, person-to-person. We'll just talk about our kids and get out the photos and have a good smile together. We'll know what to do then. And we'll keep this old Earth spinnin'.
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