thoughts on Pink Floyd, Atlanta, and the turning away...

Maybe it’s my cool, misty celtic mood today, which is kind of a mix between the power and strength of the proud-warrior pose and the wicked smash of a reality that won’t go away. A strange place to be and I’m writing to help figure out what to do with it.

I love Pink Floyd, although my husband likes to tease and say that I’m only a “recent” fan since I only started following them in the 80s after the release of A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Music, instrumentals and voice, have a way of centering issues hard to deal with. Issues that writers or photographers - the storytellers- struggle to fully encompass. I think this is true whether you wrestle with the right words to pray for forgiveness and discover a welcome solace in Bach or Beethoven, or find no words to speak your anger over a political or moral issue, yet find a nodding agreement to the lyrics or tune of _____________. The same is true of laments, those haunting melodies, whether by chant or instrument that carry our prayers and grief toward heaven. Music transcends.

And so it is that I tuned in to listen to Pink Floyd today. On the Turning Away, to be exact. I don’t know any other modern song that speaks so accurately to my feelings of outrage, hopelessness and a sleeping strength. When a news item catches my attention and I’m reminded for the nth time that day of how miserable the human condition is, I find a strange comfort in the music and lyrics of David Gilmore...

"Don't accept that what's happening

Is just a case of others' suffering

Or you'll find that you're joining in

The turning away"

"...Using words you will find are strange

And mesmerised as they light the flame

Feel the new wind of change

On the wings of the night

No more turning away

From the weak and the weary

No more turning away

From the coldness inside

Just a world that we all must share

It's not enough just to stand and stare"

maybe it’s because the words remind me I’m not alone. I don’t want to just gawk and stare, to shed a tear and move on. I want to be heard... I want to shine light on darkness, believing that there is much good in people to stand against dark winds.

I’ve been a fan of Covenant Eyes for several years now; their work is commendable and worthy of our prayers. There’s a lot of information to be gained through their website and podcasts and I find myself glad to be a part of their community, even if it means being made aware of harsh realities. You know, the kind of stuff that makes you wish you were ignorant so you wouldn’t feel responsible for doing something about it. Stuff like this:

Did you know that according to the non-profit, Street Grace, Atlanta is the #1 city in the USA for child sex trafficking? I sure didn’t...I would not have even guessed ANY American city was on that global Top Ten. As part of a large campaign to combat this issue, several organizations against the exploitation of children have banded together with Whitestone Motion Pictures to create a 30-minute allegorical short titled, The Candy Shop. I’ll be honest with you...the trailer was enough to prompt me to prayer and info seeking. I hope you’ll learn more and pray, too.

The trailer:

The Candy Shop Trailer from Whitestone Motion Pictures on Vimeo.

The full movie -- dark, but contains no sexual content:

The Candy Shop from Whitestone Motion Pictures on Vimeo.

No more turning away...

God bless those who work against the exploitation of children

-- to whom the Kingdom of Heaven belongs.

St. Matthew 19:14