American Dream

Where am I? I know I was laying in a field of grass somewhere. . . Leaves of grass. . . leaves falling. . . looking around. . . in the autumn of my life, harkening back to the roots . . . the American dream. . . life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Philadelphia 1776 . . . now, today, in Boston. . . the old north church, “one if by land; two if by sea” Am I on solid ground or am I treading water as the waves of history roll in, crashing upon the sands of time? The contest of nature and man’s controlling of it. . . the contrast of order and chaos. . .the contest of harmony and invention is playing out far beyond the scripted documents of human events. . . all men and women being created equally, endowed by our Creator with life, liberty and the right to pursue happiness. . . the right to work toward fulfilling the American dream, on a lifelong journey to make the best of every opportunity to work hard, have a decent car to drive in the morning, have a house to live in, raise a family of three or four young’uns.. . . it’s all good, y’all. Born in the deep south, watching all the changes: Martin Luther KIng Jr., having come down from the mountaintop . . . https://www.micahrowland.com/carey/Mountaintop.mp3 . And yet. . . ‘‘the contest of harmony and invention is playing out, far beyond the scripted staffs of musical history, and the yellowed pages of history. . . presenting consequences more grave than the mere comfort of American citizens.

Still to be found in the world today is the ongoing contest of order against chaos. Here’s the ever-present duel between right and wrong; there’s the Establishment beating back dissidents, with frequent sightings of the powers that be, as they take advantage of the powerless who want to be. And we shan’t neglect to mention the plight of them who think they should be running the show, being perpetually put down by them who are in charge of it. And we do learn we have words that must be said; yet we have words that should never be spoken; but someone will pronounce those words sooner or later. Yes, we do encounter in this life lines in the sand that daren’t be crossed, and prohibitions that beg to be violated; we find rules that must be broken, and sometimes we encounter the terrible consequences of convention vs. contention.

King of Soul