love is the higher law

...This, I think, is how people survive. Even when horrible things have been done to us, we can still find gratitude in one another...

...Then the lights go down and our concert instinct kicks in. Because there's still the undeniable thrill of the silence before the opening chords, anticipation turning into intensity, awaiting release...

...and we all rise to our feet and start singing along... and even though, we both have awful voices, we shout our parts...


...The next song starts, and we're singing together. We all understand that this is just music...But the songs ring true...


...In the best concerts, the band is moved as the audience, and this is the case tonight. We all realize this gathering is about much more than the music, and what we're getting from it is much more than sounds...


...But now I realize it's even more general than that-it's about life itself...and we sing with him. Because we want to believe the world will turn. We want to believe we will 
survive...


...We are jumping and dancing and cheering so much we can't see the empty seats. We can't hear the silences. We've become part of the music. Not only the music that's being played. But the music of living.
     I need that...

..."I guess it's a choice we make," she said.
   "What's a choice?" I asked.
    And she said, "How much of the world we let in?"...