In last Sunday night's entry, I spoke of Harry Chapin and how a number of his songs were so incredibly sad. On the other hand, he also performed one of the most upbeat numbers ever and ended his concerts with an audience singalong of Circle. It became known as his anthem of sorts even though it was actually written for his brother Tom's show on ABC called Make A Wish. There are a number of concert versions you can find on YouTube; above is one I really like. If I could go back in time and be at one concert, mine would be one of Harry's. I would have loved to have been there when he would bring everybody in the world up to the mike to sing the chorus and then finishing with the whole crowd belting out Circle as the farewell to a magical evening. To bring joy like that to strangers for even a few hours must be intoxicating, although I would doubt Harry's devoted fans would consider themselves strangers to their musical hero.
In my earlier blog, I mentioned how Harry composed all the music in Cotton Patch Gospel which I use in my Bible classes and how Dad, and I would guess a number of other ministers, preached a sermon with the subject being Cats In The Cradle. As I read a little bit more about Harry this week, I was constantly impressed at the manner in which he lived his life for others. The proceeds of half of his concerts each year went to charity; we don't see that kind of generosity from celebrities, or to be honest, with the rest of us, either. As Christians remember the Savior especially this weekend, I'm inspired by the selflessness Harry Chapin showed to the less fortunate in his too-short life time. May we all be such a blessing to the poor. And may we all share the love of Jesus, not just this weekend but every day of the year, the ultimate astronomical circle.
To hear this wonderful song, click or copy/paste the link below:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW0vjZiu_rw
*To read a terrific article on the impact of Harry Chapin's life, click here:
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/19/nyregion/harry-chapin-all-his-life-was-a-circle.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
No comments:
Post a Comment