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Pine Nuts: Three paths to world peace

McAvoy Layne
Special to the Bonanza

Sometimes when I’m out running and reveling in the scenic splendor of this incredible world we live in, I have to ask myself if there is anything I could possibly contribute that might be useful. Today I have the answer. No.

However, with a little help from our friends, we could create a placebo to allow over 7 billion people to see themselves as one, and that recognition would result in global harmony. So allow me to dream a little if you will…

One Sunday morning last summer, while driving down the east shore, I tuned in to Casey Kasem’s “America’s Top Forty” radio show from the 70’s. Casey piqued my interest when he asked, “Who holds the record for the oldest person to have a top 40 hit?” I had ample time to guess, as Casey took time out for a few commercials. I was thinking Tony Bennett or perhaps Aretha Franklin, or maybe Louis Armstrong…Willie Nelson?



I could never have guessed -Everett Dirksen, the senator from Illinois. He recorded a patriotic “spoken word” piece with orchestral background. The senator was 71 years old at the time. My first thought was, “With a little help from Shiloh, I bet we could tie Senator Dirksen!”

So I cobbled together a spoken word piece that embraces world citizenship, and asked Shiloh (Julie Machado & Tim Gorelangton) to give those words wings with an amazing bluegrass accompaniment. They agreed, and went right to work composing a perfect fit to, “World Citizen.”



So next month we will walk into a sound studio to record that little ditty and release it. We don’t want to beat Senator Dirksen, but respectfully tie him.

Now, in case you never happen to hear this top 40 hit, never mind. The good news is, there is something coming down the pike that is certain to deliver world accord, though it might take a little longer to evolve, and that is our polluting the planet to a tipping point where everybody from the cows in the pastures to the stones in the streets will recognize that if we don’t hang together we will hang separately.

As a species, we tend to look no further into the future than the tips of our noses, but if we smell a real doo-doo storm coming, and can collectively see ourselves as one, we will pool our resources to avert annihilation.

I do hope “World Citizen” cracks the top 40 and saves the world as a bonus, but if it falls short, well, we can say we tried, and find some solace in knowing that help is on the way.

There’s one other shortcut that might work that’s worth mentioning. If our various cultures would inter-marry, if Shia would marry Sunni, Jew marry Palestinian, Muslim marry Christian, etc., we would have permanent amity inside of two generations. But I don’t suppose I will live long enough, even with a personal trainer, to see that happen, so I’m holding out for “World Citizen” to turn the trick. Hey, we have passports all made up and ready to print for 7,330,695,802 peace loving people.

If you don’t have dreams, you can’t have dreams come true…

To learn more about McAvoy Layne, visit http://www.ghostoftwain.com.


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