Thursday morning.  I am existentially feel disoriented.  Just read an account of the war in Ukraine, a story about proximity fused mines left by the retreating Russians.  These mines explode when a sensor detects a person passing by, scattering shrapnel in a 50 foot radius.  My imagination conjures up a Terminator movie…  This is not an entertaining thought.  It makes me tremble inside.

How can we, America and NATO not give the Ukrainians every weapon system they have asked for?  In today’s globalized world all of us are connected.  We must do everything in our power to assist their ability to retain their sovereignty, to push the Russian army out of Ukraine, out of the Donbas region, out of the Crimea.

---

Last night we began watching the series Pachinko.  Pachinko Parlors are filled with rows of machines that use steel balls the size of a marble, flipped by a lever, to fall randomly.  The lucky winning player is rewarded by a selection from a variety of prizes.  The sound and visual effect is hypnotic, and no doubt profitable for the owner of the pachinko business.

This is the theme song for Pachinko.  The tune, Live For Today was a hit for the Grassroots in 1967.  I was eighteen in 1967.  Perhaps I and many of my contemporaries believed that we were exceptions to the rule, “others living for money, complicating their minds, chasing dreams that can’t come true, etc.”  We, who “knew better”, lived for what was worth caring for…  I can think of no better snap-shot of hypnotism, a generation mesmerized by the idealism of youth.

Nevertheless many years later, the tune remains compelling, persuasive to me.  1-2-3-4 Let’s live for today!

Let’s Live For Today

By The Grassroots

When I think of all the worries
That people seem to find
And how they’re in a hurry
To complicate their minds
By chasing after money
And dreams that can’t come true
I’m glad that we are different
We’ve better things to do
May others plan their future
I’m busy loving you

One, two, three, four
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
(Hey, hey, hey)
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
And don’t worry ’bout tomorrow, hey
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
Live for today

We were never meant to worry
The way that people do
And I don’t need to hurry
As long as I’m with you
We’ll take it nice and easy
And use my simple plan
You’ll be my lovin’ woman
I’ll be your lovin’ man
We’ll take the most from living
Have pleasure while we can

Two, three, four
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
(Hey, hey, hey)
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
And don’t worry ’bout tomorrow, hey
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
Live for today

Baby, I need to feel you inside of me
I got to feel you deep inside of me
Baby, please come close to me
I got to have you now, please
Please, please
Gimme some-a loving
Gimme some-a loving
To gimme some-a loving
To gimme some-a loving
Baby, gimme some-a loving
Gimme some-a loving
Got to have all your loving
Gimme some-a loving
I need all your loving
Give me some love now
I need all your loving

Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
(Hey, hey, hey)
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
And don’t worry ’bout tomorrow, hey
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today