Love Can Rock

Love can be as quiet as a 2 a.m. nursing of a newborn. As calm and casual as a hand resting on someone's leg. Love is in the last whisper before sleep... or death...

But,

Sometimes,

Love rocks.

Sometimes, Love roars with the chest-rumbling thunder and blinding light of a 254-ton rocket ship.



Sometimes, Love does not take a back seat, leaves no room for modesty, and stands up to be heard. This is a rare phenomenon, for sure. 70,000 people gathered with a common purpose doesn't guarantee it. A space ship doesn't guarantee it. We need someone leading the way, calling us forward.

Love's most passionate and compelling advocates are not pink-skinned cherubs, they are the weathered and worn faces of the prophets. The robust energy of young love dims in the fire of a plea for Love and Grace by the battle-scarred soul. No one rocks Love like one who has fought for Love till their knuckles bled.



From the first blast of Breathe, U2 was that force, calling us into the street, daring us, then begging us, to drop gravity and join them, reminding us why Love needs us, painting Love in LED, convincing us how powerful we can be...

Right now, let's go, let's lock arms and march out to advance Love. We won't walk far and there is a little boy cowering in fear in his closet. Another block and there's a young mother working her second job today. Look across the street and there is a man laying on the bench who has lost all sense of his indescribable worth, he hasn't had a hug in years, he hasn't even had eye contact with another person for days.

We can do it, feel Love's power and energy, we can change the world! Together. If I don't know what to say, you're here. If you start to feel foolish, I'm here. We get to carry each other. Sure we might get hurt, no we can't reach them all before we fall, and fall we will, but someone's hungry, someone's hurt, someone's angry, someone's dying. And tell me

How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long, how long?
'Cos tonight
We can be as one, tonight.

It Was A Beautiful Day

Saturday, September 12, 2009, a day that will live with me forever. Words will come later, but here is a quick chronology of one fabulous day, as captured on my phone camera.

Erick and I left Timbers Court, Columbia, MO at 4 a.m. and boarded the train in St. Louis at 6:20.

We passed through miles of Illinois prairie before we reached the foothills of the suburbs.


Then finally the glass and stone mountains and canyons of Chicago.


From Union Station we took a short walk on downtown streets.


We stayed with my cousin Michael and his fiancé Ling on the southern edge of downtown. Here's the view north from their building.


After an afternoon of cold beer and college football, we took a short walk to Soldier Field (a walk made much longer by cousin Fred's "shortcut"). We were seated directly in front of the stage.


The opening act, Snow Patrol, gave a passionate and rocking performance. But at 8:45, with a puff of smoke and a flash of light, the 254 ton, 164-foot-tall space ship took off.


I didn't have the space or time to capture every iteration of the magnificent stage, but here's a quick snap of the LED screen that hung from the center. The 500,000-pixel, 360-degree screen was 23 feet tall when fully compressed, but it could also stretch to a 72-foot-tall cone, as seen here.


The stage was part of the show, and always an extension of the message. For "City of Blinding Lights" beams of light towered straight into the sky.


The band performed "Sunday Bloody Sunday" bathed in green light and showing images of the latest "Bloody Sunday" events from the Iran protests.


After 2 hours and 10 minutes of an emotional and fantastic show, Erick and I were filled but exhausted. It was a beautiful day.


EPILOGUE:
I was up before sunrise on Sunday for a run on the shore of Lake Michigan. I ran with Man's majestic skyline on my left and Nature's simple yet elegant skyline on my right. Then it was time to leave Chicago. Having passed a Dunkin Donuts on every block, we eventually caved and bought a dozen for the train ride home.


I sank into my train seat, my soul still glowing and my heart still humming.