‘Peace House Community Journal’ Archives
Wouldn’t it be Good? Yeah, But it Isn’t
By MARTI MALTBY Those of you who have read these columns regularly have probably noticed that I like quoting songs, books, plays and anything else that strikes me. Yesterday I watched a clip from the Live Aid concert in 1985 and heard Nik Kershaw sing “Wouldn”™t It Be Good”. I don”™t know what he had in mind when he wrote the song, but on that day the song took on new meaning. Live Aid was, after all, a worldwide fundraiser to deal with a famine that was devastating Ethiopia and killing millions. Kershaw sang: Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoesEven if it was for just one day?Wouldn't it be good if we could wish ourselves away?Wouldn't it be good to be on your side?The grass is always greener over thereWouldn't it be good if we could live without a care? This was just the chorus. The verses add even more poignancy as they are sung by someone who is suffering an unknown fate, and are addressed to anyone who has better life. Kershaw may [...]
What Time for Forgiveness?
Peace House Community-A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBY As you probably know, a Japanese Olympic official was fired on the eve of the opening ceremonies because of comments he made in a comedy routine about 20 years earlier. The comments were determined by his superiors to be racist, and so he was relieved of his duties. (I haven”™t heard the comments so I can”™t comment one way or the other about the accuracy of that interpretation.) This is not the first time that someone has been punished for a comment or action from the distant past that resurfaced as the person took on more responsibility. There was a time when such comments and actions were often overlooked or excused, allowing perpetrators to continue to act in the same way without having any reason to change. While I am glad that society is doing a better job of proclaiming what sort of behavior will or will not be tolerated, I am concerned about how easy it would be to move too far in the other [...]
Life vs. People
PEACE HOUSE COMMUNITY: A PLACE TO BELONG By MARTY MALTBY I recently read “Ghost Rider,” Neil Peart”™s memoir, recounting a 55,000 mile motorcycle trip he took to help him deal with personal tragedy. His 19 year old daughter died in a car accident, and ten months later, his partner of 22 years died of cancer (although Peart claimed the real cause was a broken heart). Lost in grief, he left his house in Quebec and rode to Alaska, then south into Mexico and Belize, before returning home. Early in the book, Peart mentions how the deaths changed his perspective on life. Before that point he led a blessed life, untouched by death or disease, with a job he enjoyed as the drummer of Rush (arguably the most successful Canadian rock band of all time). As you might expect, being in a world famous rock band brought many people into Peart”™s life, who sought to befriend him superficially, in exchange for what his fame and wealth could do for them. His [...]
