This Damnable Sin

May 23, 2017

This morning, I planned to publish an article about a regulatory development but I just don't feel that it's okay to ignore the murder of 22 human beings and the wounding of 59 others last night in a terrorist bombing in Manchester, England.  At a concert. Targeting kids. Unspeakable. Disgusting. Pointless.

Yes, I know, we must get on with our lives in order to show the terrorists that they won't win. I wholeheartedly embrace that response. On the other hand, on 9/11, I walked some ten miles from near Ground Zero to my home. I saw it all that day -- which is why I know how important it is to retain our humanity in the face of such ugliness. As such, we need to pause. Even if only for a moment.

Sometime around 1967, in that Summer of Love, I stumbled upon Fred Neil's "Sessions" album. Frankly, the tracks were just sort of okay but there was this one song, "Please Send Me Someone to Love" that moved me and has stayed with me all these years later: Neil's rich bass voice, his bluesy guitar pickin', the haunting lyrics by Percy Mayfield:

Heaven please send to all mankind,
Understanding and peace in mind.
But, if it's not asking too much
Please send me someone to love, someone to love
Show the world how to get along,
Peace will enter when hate is gone.
But, if it's not asking too much,
Please send me someone to love.
Please send me someone to love.
I lay awake night and ponder world troubles.
And my answer is always the same.
That unless men put an end to this damnable sin,
Hate will put the world in a flame, what a shame 
Just because I'm in misery 
I don't beg for no sympathy 
But if it's not asking too much,
Please send me someone to love 
Please send me someone to love

For whatever reason, "Please Send Me Someone to Love" is in my head this morning. For whatever it's worth and for whatever good it will do, here are some variations of that song: