Imagine vs. The Impossible Dream

Last night, some of the secondary students at my school gave a presentation - they had gone to India the previous summer to work at an orphanage, and were now telling the school community about it.  They talked about the conditions of the orphanage and the area around it, the fact that the children had none of the toys and gadgets our students had, and how happy the people were anyway.  It was evident that the trip had a great impact on the students.  To end their presentation, they performed "Imagine" by John Lennon, because they echoed the hope expressed in the song that some day the world will live as one.  They want world peace, and really, who doesn't?

And yet, as I listened to the words of the song, I felt, well, uneasy.  I look forward to the day that we will be at peace with one another, but the world I envision is not quite the one in the song.

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

Totally agree with some of the sentiments - brotherhood of man, dreaming of a better world and a world with no war, yet I believe it will happen because of religion, not without it.  I'm not looking to start a fight with anyone, please just hear me out. What this song seems to call for is taking away everything from everyone and then spreading it out.  No possessions, no countries, no causes, no religion.  Is that really peace?  Is that really living as one?  

I like the idea of heaven.  It gives me something to hope for and work toward.  My hope of and in heaven (and God and Jesus Christ) are what lead me to have and act on charitable impulses - to treat those around me as if they were (or sometimes, better than) my own brothers and sisters.  I believe that by turning to God we lose our greed, we lose our selfishness, we lose our desire to put ourselves above other people.  God can change our hearts - or, rather, turning to God can and will change our hearts.  Governments cannot.  A change of heart cannot be legislated.  

Another line of lyrics gives me pause: "Imagine all the people/Living for today".  Again, this seems to do away with living for the future - hoping for heaven.  I do think we need to live in the moment and prepare for the future, both temporally and spiritually - if you don't believe in a heaven, then be prepared for the next natural disaster, or in case you lose your job.  You help people by sharing what you have.  

So, in all of my deep thoughts, I wondered what song I would have chosen, and I settled on "The Impossible Dream" from "Man of La Mancha", written by Joe Darien and Mitch Leigh.

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest, to follow that star
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far
To fight for the right without question or pause

To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

I don't mean to be sentimental or romanticize things, but if the world were filled with people like this - who believe in duty and honor and doing the right thing, who are hoping for success and doing their best to achieve it - well, the world would be a different place.  I also like the idea that the one singing the song isn't doing it for glory - but to make the world a better place.  To right the wrongs, to have a cause and commit to it, to never give up.  That's the kind of world I think I'd rather see.  

Both are very singable songs, and as a teenager I loved both.  They both express a dream.  I'm (more) grown up now, and I can see the different worlds that would be reached by following each song philosophy.

So.  I'm really not looking for a fight.  I just wanted to share some thoughts.  If you disagree, I'd like to hear why.  Keep it civil, please.