The Story of a Life

             “Two’s company, Harry’s a crowd.” These are the words of Tom Chapin describing his brother Harry.  A force of nature, Harry Chapin packed a lot into his 38 years of life.  The documentary, “When in Doubt, Do Something,” (available for purchase from Amazon and HarryChapinMusic.com, and streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Pluto TV, tubi TV, and perhaps elsewhere) recounts his early days growing up in a family of artists, musicians, and intellectuals; tells of his filmmaking and forays into the songwriting and performing arenas; and highlights the social activism and advocacy – primarily around the issue of food insecurity – that consumed him.  All of this is underscored in the film by excerpts from his numerous memorable songs such as “Taxi,” “Cat’s in the Cradle,” “W*O*L*D*,” “I Wanna Learn a Love Song,” “Circle,” and others.

            Inspired by the folk group The Weavers, Harry and his brothers Tom and Steve formed their own band, sometimes backed up by their father, drummer Jim Chapin.  After a six-month journey to Ethiopia to work on a film about famine in that country, Harry returned to find that his brothers changed the makeup of the group and there no longer was room for Harry.  After lack of success as a solo act, Harry added three other musicians and his star began to rise.

            Story songs became the stock in trade for Harry, with many of his songs considered too lengthy for radio play.  His popularity grew, however, to the point that his eleven albums resulted in sales of sixteen million records, Grammy and other industry awards, and a grueling concert schedule.

            Along the way, Harry lived into his personal credo, “When in doubt, do something,” not only by performing as many as half of his concerts as benefits for charities (a point of contention with his fellow band members), singing at backyard barbecues to raise funds for local food banks and other non-profits, establishing organizations dedicated to education and action related to hunger, and attending a White House meeting at which he pressured Jimmy Carter to establish a Presidential Commission on World Hunger.   According to the film, after Harry presented his case to Carter, and Carter bought into the idea, Harry continued to push the issue until the president finally said Harry could stop, that he was sold.  According to the person telling the story, Harry did not want President Carter to simply accept the idea, he wanted a commitment to it.

            As co-founder of World Hunger Year, Harry led the group in a hands-on way, and in fact told the board members, regarding the group’s budget, “Give it, get it, or get off (the board).”  Harry’s own generosity was summed up by his wife Sandy, who said, "Harry was supporting 17 relatives, 14 associations, seven foundations, and 82 charities. Harry wasn't interested in saving money. He always said, 'Money is for people,' so he gave it away." Subsequently, upon Harry’s death in 1981, Sandy and her five children, two with Harry and three from a previous marriage, were left with little in terms of financial resources.

            In recognition of his humanitarian efforts, Harry Chapin received numerous awards, including the rarely given
Congressional Gold Medal, presented on what would have been his 45^th birthday.  Near his Long Island home, a number of sites and buildings were renamed in his honor, as well.

            The documentary “When in Doubt, Do Something” is, in my estimation, worthwhile viewing.  The story is inspirational, and the music is pretty good, as well.

A Tough Assignment

 

As a baseball guy I was amused by a recent incident during a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox.  It seems there was a runner on second base for L.A. and a count of one ball and two strikes on the batter, Trea Turner.  Trea is a good player, and he gets his fair share of hits.  The next batter for the Dodgers was Max Muncy, who is coming back from injuries and is having a tough time this season, not hitting for a high average.  The White Sox manager, Tony LaRussa decided to intentionally walk Turner – even though he already had two strikes – in order to pitch to the struggling Muncy.  Well, Muncy hit a home run, giving the Dodgers three runs.  Bad decision, it turned out.

For me, the amusing part was what happened next.  As Muncy crossed home plate after hitting his home run, he pointed to the sky in an all-too-common gesture by baseball players, in effect saying “You da Man, God!  You got me to hit a home run!”  Then, seconds later, God’s guy Muncy directed expletive-filled outbursts toward LaRussa, who insulted him by intentionally walking Turner.  How dare LaRussa think Muncy was an easier out!  F-bombs and other descriptive adjectives let LaRussa know his managerial strategy was NOT appreciated!           

So, we went from praising God to cursing another person in a matter of nanoseconds.  While I thought it was funny (I dig irony), given the unimportance of baseball games and who wins, this is not an uncommon occurrence among church folks.

If you’re reading this, you likely are familiar with the tragic reality that church worship services can devolve into celebrations of ignorance and hatred directed toward those who are different.  Some of God’s praisers go so far as to assume it is their responsibility and duty to shame, exclude, oppress, and even incite and inflict violence against “them.”

Conversely, though, Jesus, the one whom Christians purport to follow, was having none of it.

Rather, he instructed, actually commanded, his followers to love:  the neighbor, the enemy, each other, God.  In his days among the disciples and the “crowds” trailing around behind him, Jesus demonstrated what he was talking about.  He spent a lot of time telling parables to make his point and touching the untouchable, including lepers, Samaritans, adulterers, even dead people.

It seems the only ones Jesus had difficulty with were officious, arrogant, narrow-minded religious folk…

These days there is so much strife, bitterness, and hatred spewed against the “other.”  Right-minded people, religious or not, can’t abide those with different politics, worldview, prejudices, etc. 

Recently, an armed man was arrested outside the home of Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.  Other judges and political leaders experience threats in retaliation for views, votes, and ideologies.

Many people on all sides are screaming outrage over abortion rights issues, gun violence and ownership rights, inflation, Replacement Theory and Critical Race Theory, transgender laws and other LGBTQ issues, voting rights…it’s exhausting to think about all the causes of such vitriol.

“But those people who make racist statements and laws…those people who shoot and kill indiscriminately…those price-gouging oil barons…those NRA gun nuts…those fundamentalists who pick and choose Bible verses to justify their bigotry…those ___________ (fill in the description of the people who really cook your grits)….”

Love them, said Jesus, yes, love even them.

Over the years it was a deeply cherished privilege of mine to meet and spend time with some of the key figures in the Civil Rights Movement.  It was inspiring to listen as they spoke of the horrific experiences they and their fellows endured, inspiring because bitterness was not part of the conversation.  Hatred was not part of the conversation.  Yes, there was pain and anger, but love ruled the day.

No, they didn’t like what happened to them. They didn’t like the people who sneered, spat upon them, threw bricks, bottles, and rocks at them, arrested them for asserting their claim on their rights or even for simply praying on the street, unleashed snarling police dogs on them, blasted them with fire hoses, bombed their homes, beat, shot, lynched their friends and colleagues, and so forth.  

Inspiration came in their unyielding hope that God would “make a way where there was no way.” It came in the hope that love would outlast hatred.  The quality of that love is to not harm the other, to want what is best for them (even if they resist it at the moment), to even pray for God’s Spirit to be present and active in their lives and in your own, guiding how you respond to them, to seek healing in your relationship with them.

None of this is easy.

It is so very tempting to lash out against the ones who offend you by their words and behaviors.  We find satisfaction in putting down, even diminishing the personhood of those people who clearly are evil.  Hating the right people makes us superior.

But do we really want to live that way?  For followers of Jesus, he taught and demonstrated a different way, the way of love, a love that recognizes and even honors the image of God in all people.

As difficult as it is to embrace and live out, it seems to me that infusing our words, actions, and relationships with the kind of love Jesus commanded holds better promise for the world than continually alienating, denigrating, oppressing and finding as many ways as possible to hurt others.

It’s not sentimentalism or even sentiment.  Rather, it’s practical, positive, and life-giving.

Isn’t that truly what we’re after, anyway?