Today’s song is ‘Endlessly’. This was a 1959 single by Brook Benton. The song reached Number 12 on the ‘Billboard Hot 100’. ‘Endlessly’ also was Benton's first chart success in the UK, where it reached Number 28. In 1970, country singer Sonny James, who had topped the country charts with a remake of ‘It's Just a Matter of Time’ earlier in the year, released his version of ‘Endlessly’ as a single. It was James' sixteenth Number-1 song on the ‘U.S. Country Singles’ chart. The British singer Tom Jones also recorded a version on his 1965 debut album, ‘Along Came Jones’.
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This is a song that I can vaguely remember from my growing-up years, and I was so glad to have come across it again recently. I instantly remembered the beauty of the song’s words, its melody, and its message. I do not know whether it is a matter of age preference, but I am of the view that the songs written in my day were far superior in the construction of words and composition of tune than we have today. Don’t get me wrong, there are some beautiful songs recorded today, but just as poets are not defined by a sole ability to rhyme one word with another in measured beat and pace, it requires being much more than a wordsmith to blend two thoughts and give them one meaning in which to reside.
Although I love every moment of my life on earth, I know that one day life ends for each of us. Life is ripe with a fullness which none of us can ever taste. No matter how many good companions and close friends we make on our journey through life, we shall have missed ‘never knowing’ as many good people who have impacted and influenced our life’s events more than we can ever imagine. Consider the stranger who we stand next to in the same lengthy bus queue as a crowded bus in rush-hour traffic stops to pick up two standing passengers only. The person in front of us is younger, and more able than we are and offers to let us board the bus in his place while he awaits the next bus to come along. Then the following day, we discover that the bus we would have caught (had not the stranger offered you his seat was blown up by terrorists, killing thirty passengers! Or, alternately, we never learn of the horrific attack which might have killed us!
There are so many occasions in our lives when the real significance of the kind act of a stranger to us is never known, and the opportunity to thank them never comes about. That is why we should always take every opportunity we can to thank others for their kind thoughts, acts, and intentions, as the potential consequences in our lives, are often unknown and are ‘endless’ in their domino impact on the lives of others. Just as the kind stranger unknowingly gave up his place on the crowded bus and his selfless action saved your life, the bus he then caught and the position he was placed in, might also have been responsible for the saving of another person’s life. When the bus he travelled on was blown up by the terrorist bomb, his body might have been responsible for shielding a pregnant mother expecting twins. Without even knowing it, the bus stranger has already altered the course of the lives of four people who would otherwise have died had it not been for his one kind act in that long bus queue.
My life has been enhanced considerably by the known kindness and generosity of countless others. Indeed, my passage through life has been better understood by me through comparing it to a bus queue. If we are the type of person who goes through our life without ever being prepared to step out of turn, there is so much good we might have been primarily responsible for that we never are. However, if we are prepared to offer our place of privilege to others, our overall impact on the life of friends and strangers is immeasurable. The amount of ‘goodness’, and the degree of ‘happiness’ our impact on the world can have, along with any positive involvement with nature and nurture is immense.
So never imagine yourself, your presence, or your purpose in life to be so small as to not make a significant difference to the life and happiness of another, or your bus will have arrived and departed without your awareness of its presence.
I will never forget hearing about a person who was so unhappy with their life they became determined to end it by committing suicide as soon as they arrived back home. As they walked the last half mile to their small flat, their disturbing thoughts were upon how many tablets mixed with alcohol they would need to take to make their suicide effective. The day after, they awoke to start a new day, being pleased that they had changed their mind to commit suicide before arriving back home the previous day.
I wondered what could have happened to bring about such a significant change of heart, and the person relating the story to me said,” It was a smile, Bill. A smile from a stranger who they walked past each other!”
I replied, “Just a smile?” and was told by my philosophical friend, “A smile is never ‘just’ a smile, Bill. It costs so little to give, and yet, is capable of giving so much more than we can ever imagine. A smile can provide a chink of light in the darkest moments of our life. It can give out a radiance of warmth that brings an ever so lonely person in from the cold. A smile can even provide eternal hope and a reason for waking up tomorrow morning when it might appear much easier to sleep on.”
Please note that the words in the above paragraph are mine but the message belonged to my philosophical friend. I do genuinely believe that we are each born to this earth as flesh and bone to serve our apprenticeship of worthiness.
Have a nice day, everyone.
Love and peace
Bill xxx