Discussion Facilitators: Rosemary Brown and Jocelyn Furbush. December 21, 2019.
We discussed light vs. dark, sound vs. silence, action vs. acceptance, optimism vs. pessimism, etc.
The Sound of Silence
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools, " said I, "You do not know
Silence, like a cancer, grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells, of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence
– Paul Simon
Let it Be
When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Yeah, there will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me
Shine until tomorrow, let it be
I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
– Paul McCartney
Tao Te Ching
Chapter Sixteen
Human must achieve the ultimate void and maintain calmness with sincerity in order to observe the growth and flourish of all beings.
It is in this way that one can understand the law of nature.
All things and beings will eventually return to the original source.
This is called “peace.”
“Peace” means returning to one’s original nature.
This original nature is the eternal law.
To know the nature’s law is to be enlightened.
He who is ignorant of the nature’s law shall act recklessly, and thus will invite misfortune.
To know the constant law of nature is to be generous.
Being generous, one is impartial.
Being impartial, one is the sovereign.
Sovereign is the nature itself.
Nature is Tao.
Tao is everlasting.
When one’s physical body dies away, Tao still long endures.
– Lao Tzu
Excerpt from The Tobolowsky Files episode: "The End and an Introduction"
If you were to take a random survey of 100 people, and you were to ask them, "What do you think is the greatest play every written?" And then you were to subtract those that answered, "What is a play?" I would wager you would still have a sizable percentage that would say Hamlet. Why not? I mean, it's got it all. It's got great characters, great speeches, great problems. Okay, it's not so big on great solutions, but, you know, you can't have everything.
Now if you were to ask that same group of people that love Hamlet, "How does the play end?" I would guess a large percentage would say–and I hope this isn't a spoiler–"Hamlet gets killed." Right? I mean, that's true. He does. But, that's not how the play ends.
The play ends with the story about to be told. Horatio's. With his dying breath, Hamlet charges Horatio to tell the people what really happened. He says, "If thou didst ever hold me in they heart, absent thee from felicity for a while, and in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain to tell my story."
Fortinbras and his soldiers arrive. They clear the playing area of corpses, and escort Horatio and the body of Hamlet off stage to explain what happened to the curious public. The play does not end with the death of the noblest of minds, Hamlet, but with the hope that the people will believe Horatio's story.
Do the people believe it? It's never stated in the play.
Then during curtain call, it dawns on us as we applaud, "We are the people." Another generation of theatre-goers heard Horatio's story, and believe it, and applaud his efforts to speak from beyond the grave.
The difference between tragedy and hope is often nothing more than when you choose to close the curtain. Events continue. It's the arbitrary nature of our ability to organize that makes us optimists or pessimists.
– Stephen Tobolowsky