Jacqui Naylor is one of my favorite female vocalists of our time. A “jazz singer”, a few years ago she started writing her own music and she is an amazing talent. Tonight as I was straightening up the house, preparing for a monthly open house we have which is aimed at community building and the deepening of relationships there-in, I had Jacqui’s CD playing. The following song came on and before I knew it I was all caught up in the poignant nature of this community I have around me and the relationships I have in my life, that depsite all of the B.S. that so often threatens to pull me/us down, the bottomest-bottom-line for me is this…these people who I love.

Now I am the kind of person who is deeply effected by music, often without even knowing what the words are when there are words, so I hadn’t noticed these verses at this point. I was inspired to blog about how I was feeling when I began to listen to her beautiful lyrics. So I thought I’d share them with you.

-They say that time heals all pain
But I will not rest until children suffer no more
Cold and alone
Hungry and bare

Hope waits for no one
We make it so
Love, lend your heart, give us strength

Peace in our Lifetime
Suffering be no more
Don’t walk alone
There is light

Hope waits for no one
We make it so
Love, lend your heart, give us strength

Peace in our lifetime
Suffering need be no more
Don’t walk alone
There is light, there is light

-Jacqui Naylor/Art Khu

This week, my friends’ father died. There are a few things about what I observed in the experience of being near that that have inspired me. The gift she gave me of sharing her profound grief was something I won’t soon forget. That she allowed me (along with a few other close friends) to be with her as she experienced the shock and as the dawn of this deep loss set in amazes me. I am not sure I would be able to let people be around me in a time like that…to see me that vulnerable…to trust them enough to express such a clear version of myself, because I have no choice, because my walls I build around myself cannot coexist with this depth of grief….I felt the delicate gift of her “self” and did my best to take good care of it throughout that night.

I will remember how she was and I will use it as an example in my future; to reach out to those who love me when I’m in pain; to let people help me when they feel compelled to, rather than shutting them out because I feel nervous they will find out about my weak and tender places.

Another thing that really struck me about this night was the sense of community that crawled up energetically in the universe. Though only a few of us were in her house as she grieved that night, there was a sense that a whole host of other people who love her were waiting in the wings, ready to drop whatever they may have been doing if she should need or want another hand…if there was anything that needed doing. We have all had times where we have felt alone in this life. Hopefully, the truth for us is that we are not. and if you are in a place where you’re not, realize that, embrace that, be grateful for that, cherish that. These days I feel like it’s the only grounding we have.

Being, myself, a fallen Lutheran, a fallen Fatalist, a struggling existentialist…sometimes…my feeling that security is tenuous at best has been increasing lately in the current political climate, but when I hunker down and notice the goodness in my world, the community in my world, for a minute, all hope is renewed.

Deep heart love and thanks to any of you out there who are loving me or loving anyone. We need more love and less pain in this world, if any of us are to find or create the hope Jacqui is singing about.

By the way, Jacqui Naylor is singing tomorrow, 11/6, as part of the SF jazz festival.