Each Peach, Cherry, Plum

... apricot, and our own greengages - which are the tastiest of the lot.
(Those with kids will recognise the title , as with yesterday's.)

Stayed up too late finishing I'm Your Man, a biography of Leonard Cohen, by Sylvie Simmons. Over 500 pages and very well researched and written. I was only introduced to Cohen in his later years, by my friend and fellow Blipper, Rainette, but immediately fell in love with the depth of his lyrics, his voice, his poetry. Mike and I were so, so privileged to go to one of his last concerts, in Birmingham. But don't think I'd have been so enamoured if I'd met him in his earlier, tortured years - I was generally a pretty upbeat teenager.

Anyway, here a quote of his that resonated with me (p319-320) about his 'Hallelujah' song: 
This world is full of conflicts and... things that cannot be reconciled, but there are moments when we can transcend the dualistic system and reconcile and embrace the whole mess... Regardless of what the impossibility of the situation is, there is a moment when you open your mouth and you throw open your arms... and you just say "Hallelujah! Blessed is the name."

To have been in that huge NEC arena, with thousands of people singing "Hallelujah"... hugely moving moment. (Wish I'd had that quote for the talk/sermon I did recently.)

Gratefuls:
- Yvonne, for the gift of this book
- Leonard Cohen, for the gift of that song (and others)
- Netty, for a great chat this morning