I’ve done a bit of reminiscing today about the fives years that I lived in New York. Living in New York is at worst, dodging all of the tourists looking up and ogling all of the tall buildings. At best, if you are into the arts such as I am, it is the American version of Mecca! I was so fortunate to work for a company named Group Sales Box Office. The mission of this company was to provide discounted theater tickets to school and civics groups of ten or more people who wanted to come experience the offerings of Broadway!
One of the perks of working that job is that I got to experience everything that Broadway had to offer for free. Not only did we do Broadway tickets, we handled all of the theme restaurants such as the Hard Rock Cafe… Who could ask for anything more than free food and drinks and then a show afterwards? Myself, and a wacky cast of coworkers would do our best to put those restaurants out of business.
Okay, so you’re probably asking yourself where is Nick going with this column. I am here to bring to your attention to a novel written by Victor Hugo called Les Miserables. In the business, we just called it Lay Miz. Anyway, the principle character is Jean Valjean,who rises from a bread thief to become a very prominent man who is ruthlessly hunted by a French police officer, Inspector Javert bent on bringing Valjean down.
Valjean has adopted Cosette, the daughter of the deceased Fantine. Cosette falls in love with Marius who is severely injured in the French Revolution. Upon discovering Marius, Valjean launches into “Bring Him Home!” Which is the song that made me think again about my nephew Devyn! Please, bring him home…
The prayer he sings is moving and soul stirring. And, if those words are what you feel for your nephew, then it is profound love and you are a blessed man to love that deeply and powerfully in this lifetime. I though I might include the lyrics so that others may digest the words of Valjean’s beautiful prayer… God on high, Hear my prayer, In my need, You have always been there, He is young, He’s afraid, Let him rest, Heaven blessed. Bring him home, Bring him home, Bring him home. He’s like the son I might have known, If God had granted me a son. The summers die, One by one, How soon they fly, On and on, And I am old, And will be gone. Bring him peace, Bring him joy, He is young, He is only a boy, You can take, You can give, Let him be, Let him live, If I die, Let me die, Let him live, Bring him home, Bring him home, Bring him home.
Darling, you know where I stand with God. The song, which is nothing more than a prayer, is so beautiful that it strikes me to my core. While personally, I do not believe in prayer, the words expressed in this song, give me hope! Please forgive me, I wasn’t aware that love is divided. My love has no jurisdictions or boundaries! My love is unconditional and I give it freely to all that would accept it. Devyn may be my nephew biologically, but he is still the flesh of my flesh, no?
I do know where you stand with God; and for that reason, I didn’t comment or elaborate on God or prayer. I merely, presented the lyrics so that one can experience the beauty of the words that Valjean sings. Also, I am not talking about a “divided” love. Perhaps I should clarify and say that the intimacy which you experience is a blessing because there are many people who don’t experience that in their lives for a multitude of reasons. And yes, there are different kinds of love that shouldn’t be seen as a divide but rather a level, or dimension if you will. Finally, I do acknowledge that Devyn is, in your terms, flesh of your flesh–your DNA courses through his veins. But even if he had no biological attachment to you, that kind of love–intimacy, bonds and fuses you in a way that is very much father and son…