Meditations on a Sunday Morning...
There but for fortune, go you...or I...

Show me the prison, Show me the jail
Show me the young man, whose life has gone stale
And I'll show you a young man, with so many reasons why
And there but for fortune, go you...or I...

I had to be up fairly early this morning, so I went to McDonalds and indulged myself with a couple of sausage-egg Mcmuffins...mmm, good. I'd say this happened about 9:30 this morning. And that's when I saw a gentleman in the booths over near the wall, only a lot of people wouldn't call him a gentleman, perhaps...

Show me the whiskey, which stains on the floor
Show me the drunkard who stumbles out the door
And I'll show you a young man, with so many reasons why
And there but for fortune, go you...or I...

He had on an old dirty olive-green army-type jacket...he was unshaven with a full beard...both his jacket and jeans were in tatters...and he had a big bedroll full of who knows what on the other side of his booth. And he was obviously homeless, trying to come in from the cold, looking for a little bit of warmth. As I ate my McMuffins, I was thinking about giving him $5.00 to get something to eat, but he left before I could do that, and ambled on down the street, dwarfed by the bedroll he carried on his back, on a cold Sunday morning.

Show me the person, who no one cares for
Show me a person that can't care anymore
And I'll show you a person with so many reasons why
And there but for fortune, go you...or I...*

So I didn't have a chance to give this guy any money. I was in a position to do some good, but I didn't. I see a lot of these kind of people around; homeless, wandering, lost, living off the land, and I see more of them as the years go by. I often wonder, "where do they all come from?" And sometimes, I'm amazed that I didn't turn out that way. I realized then, that in spite of everything I've done wrong, and no matter how much I've been hurt, somehow I've managed to make it this far in life fairly well. And I was thankful.

Finally, I dedicate this next verse to countries around the world, those who are bombed and those who are doing the bombing...in addition to the ever-increasing, aimless, wandering segment of homeless people in our society, we are in the process of uprooting a nation in the middle east, all in the name of so-called 'democracy'...I hope we're doing Iraq a favor, but I'm not really sure anymore...

Show me a country, where the bombs had to fall
Show me the ruins of the buildings once so tall
And I'll show you a young land, with so many reasons why
And there, but for fortune...go you or I...you or I...
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Of course, there are people who have "summer homes" in addition to their "main" residences.
Those people are definitely NOT homeless. Perhaps 'luck' is involved, or perhaps a certain amount of 'divine intervention' helps to determine one's fate. There's a lot of cruelty and coldness which is an underlying component of our society that often goes unaddressed and/or unseen. For sure, there's a whole lotta people who are living on the edge, just barely able to stay alive.



Here's an old picture of a summer home somewhere on CDA lake, from back in the '40s or '50s, and it's quite an idyllic place. I wonder if that structure is still standing today. If anyone can tell me where it's located, that would be great. There's lots of bays on the Lake, y'know. Obviously this picture doesn't have anything to do with the topic above, other than to provide a contrast between "having" and "not having". I thanked God that I've been provided for, over the years. Which is good, because my back isn't strong enough to carry a bedroll.
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I had no idea this posting would turn out so bleakly. I suppose posting is like life itself...totally unpredictable. The song featured here, "There But For Fortune", was written and recorded by folksinger Phil Ochs in the early '60s; later on, Joan Baez had a minor hit with it. I wrote the verse marked *.