imagine

At the risk of losing all credibility with my readers, I am admitting here and now that one of my most embarrassing guilty pleasures is that I like to watch American Idol.

Still there?

Last night was the guys' turn to sing. There isn’t a lot of talent that wows me this year, so I was actually doing some work on my laptop, leaving the show to simply become background (noise, music – depended on the contestant.)

The last kid to sing – and he is a kid… I think he’s all of 16 or 17 years old - caused me to turn off the computer. Then he brought tears to my eyes and, then, well, he kind of brought me to my knees, as they say.

David Archuleta sang John Lennon’s “Imagine.” When was the last time you listened to it and really paid attention to the words? When was the last time a very young person had you believing that everything will be OK if we just close our eyes and, well… you know the rest.

“Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one”

John Lennon, 1971

Take a couple of minutes out of your day to give it a listen . I don’t think you’ll be sorry you did.

(Oh, and when I got up off my knees, I watched the debate.)