Winds of Change

Today I am grateful for this morning's cool breeze and colorful sunrise. I appreciate the opportunities that are in the day ahead. 

Yesterday at the end of the school day, I joined others in a prayer service to commemorate the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. It had turned into a windy day, and was still very warm and humid, as it has been for a few days, 

As we held sacred silence for a few moments, I looked down and noticed the changing shadows and tree "helicopters" blowing across the concrete under my feet. This song, the Scorpion's "Wind of Change" came to mind: 

It seemed fitting in many ways. The worst of the pandemic may be behind us. Efforts to bring real solutions to racial injustice seem possible. The wind beckoned the cooler weather now here. 

This song is actually about the fall of the Soviet Union, and was written after the group performed in Moscow in August of 1989, among several Western heavy metal acts that were the first to perform there. Later that fall, the Berlin Wall came down. The Scorpions are a German band, so many assumed they had written the song about the fall of the Berlin Wall. "Wind of Change" was released in early 1991 and has become one of the best selling global singles of all time. 

Last evening, we went to watch our grandson Leo play soccer. The breeze kept blowing. The kids kept playing and smiling. Before I went to bed I stepped outside, later than usual, and appreciated the coolness and absence of humidity. The breeze was still up. I listened to this song a couple of times and took a trip back to the early 1990's in my own life. I was in early recovery, having quit drinking in 1989, the same fall the Scorpions performed in Moscow and the Berlin Wall came down.

It was an eclectic mix of global and personal history, emotions, and music. The "Wind of Change" continues to blow. Is it blowing in a meaningful direction?  What can I do today to channel the wind's energy and make small changes in my own life and my interactions with others?

If you watch the video through to the end, you will hear these words: "Our world is a beautiful place and we do need to take care of it." Fitting words with which to close.