A favourite U2 song of mine has the simplest of titles: One. It's a song rife with religious imagery, including the rhetorical question "Did you come hear to play Jesus, to the lepers in your head?"
Of all the numbers available to lyricists and writers, the number 1 seems to be particularly powerful or resonant. Sure, it does take two baby! And you can knock three times on the ceiling if you want someone! But there is something about the solitary, singular nature of one that reaches in and grabs a hold, both of the singer and the listener, the writer and the reader. Perhaps it's because of the inherent Power of One (now there's a title for a book)?
I have a brochure on my desk for a fundraising dinner being held next month. Promoted as The Difference of One, the dinner is being held to raise money - and awareness - about the Priceless Life Centre (http://pricelesslifecentre.org.au/), a venture which seeks to offer "hope to women, their partners and families" at a time of unexpected pregnancy. The brochure invites "people of goodwill to join with us as we seek to make a difference in lives, one life at a time".
The difference of one, hey? Go one step further on any journey and you are nearer to your destination; increase your effort at the gym, by one kilo, by one push-up, by one extra minute on the treadmill, and you reap the benefits of improved strength and health; tell that special person in your life that you love them, one more time, and you keep the spark of romance alive.
Of all the numbers available to lyricists and writers, the number 1 seems to be particularly powerful or resonant. Sure, it does take two baby! And you can knock three times on the ceiling if you want someone! But there is something about the solitary, singular nature of one that reaches in and grabs a hold, both of the singer and the listener, the writer and the reader. Perhaps it's because of the inherent Power of One (now there's a title for a book)?
I have a brochure on my desk for a fundraising dinner being held next month. Promoted as The Difference of One, the dinner is being held to raise money - and awareness - about the Priceless Life Centre (http://pricelesslifecentre.org.au/), a venture which seeks to offer "hope to women, their partners and families" at a time of unexpected pregnancy. The brochure invites "people of goodwill to join with us as we seek to make a difference in lives, one life at a time".
The difference of one, hey? Go one step further on any journey and you are nearer to your destination; increase your effort at the gym, by one kilo, by one push-up, by one extra minute on the treadmill, and you reap the benefits of improved strength and health; tell that special person in your life that you love them, one more time, and you keep the spark of romance alive.
I think it may have been Mother Teresa who said that you don't have to do great things to change the world, "just little things with much love". She was pointing to the power we all have to do the "little things" and do them well, with love. We don't have to play Jesus but, like Him, we can make a difference...the difference of one!
No comments:
Post a Comment