During the spring semester of my sophomore year in college (1977), I took an art appreciation class. I signed up for the class to satisfy one of the general education requirements for my major. The class had more than 100 students and was held in a large auditorium-style classroom. The teacher was a gentle, gray-haired man who was in his mid-50s. It was obvious from the way he taught the class that he had a passion for art and music.
Toward the end of the semester, the teacher announced that he was going to show the class a special slide presentation. Back then, if a person wanted to put together a slide presentation, the negatives from the film that was used to take the pictures that were going to be used for the presentation had to be taken to a local photography shop so the slides could be made from the images on the negatives. Each slide was surrounded by a cardboard frame. The slides were then organized and assembled in a carousel that was attached to a projector.
The person who was giving the slide presentation had to either sit near the projector and press a button to advance each slide, or use a unit that was attached to the projector with a long cord. As background music was played from a stereo system or other audio device, the person had to manually advance each slide.
The slide presentation that my art teacher prepared was presented to the class while the song “Vincent” was played over the classroom sound system. Although the official title of the song was “Vincent,” a more common name that was frequently used at that time to refer to the song was “Starry Starry Night.” The song, which was originally written and recorded in 1970 by Don McLean, is a tribute to the 19th-century Dutch painter, Vincent Van Gogh.
In the lyrics to the song, McLean laments about how no one appreciated or understood Van Gogh during his lifetime. For most of his adult life, Van Gogh was plagued with depression and mental problems. He committed suicide on July 29, 1890. If you’re not familiar with the song, it would be worth your while to look it up on YouTube and play one of the music videos that shows Van Gogh’s paintings while the music plays in the background.
The lyrics to the song reveal the genius of Don McLean and his ability to capture a listener’s imagination. The poetic language that he used to describe Van Gogh’s struggles and paintings includes several references to the images Van Gogh used in his paintings, such as “flaming flowers that brightly blaze,” the “swirling clouds and violet haze,” and “morning fields of amber grain.”
During an interview that McLean gave in 2010 when he was 64 years old (40 years after he wrote the song), he revealed to a reporter what was going on his life at the time he wrote the song: “I was in a bad marriage that was torturing me. I was tortured. I wasn’t as bad off as Vincent was, but I… I wasn’t thrilled, let’s put it that way.”
The one part of the song that jumped out at me when I recently listened to it was McLean’s reference to Van Gogh’s suicide: “You took your life as lovers often do, but I could have told you Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.”
It is believed that Van Gogh killed himself after he was rejected by a woman. Regardless of whether or not that was the case, McLean’s conclusion that lovers often take their own lives is blatantly false. In fact, the opposite is true. Rather than take their own lives, true lovers are willing to sacrifice their lives for the people they love. Suicide is not an act of love. In those situations where the person does not suffer from a mental disorder, it’s an act of supreme selfishness and revenge.
I have a prediction for you. Now that the Luciferian radicals in the media, the government, the corrupt public school system, and the institutions of higher learning have successfully convinced the majority of American students and young adults that gay “marriage” is an acceptable and honorable act of love between two individuals, they are swiftly moving to conquer their next challenge: assisted suicide.
Their first objective is to portray the killing of a disabled or elderly person as an act of love. They could easily borrow a line from Don McLean’s song by claiming: “He took her life as lovers often do.”
We are already being told that assisted suicide is a personal decision that is made as a result of the killer’s love for another person. The force at which the assisted suicide crowd comes at us will blindside us in the same way that we were blindsided when we realized that we were past the point of no return in attempting to convince our young people that their beliefs concerning homosexuality are sinful, harmful, and dangerous.
Mark my words. It will happen swiftly and will overwhelm us, the same way a tidal wave overwhelms a small village. While we are focusing our attention on the avalanche of new laws and court rulings that are set up to force us to subsidize and support homosexual behavior, the pro assisted-suicide radicals will sneak up on us and overwhelm us with their war against our disabled and elderly citizens.
Concerning the phrase in McLean’s song that says, “but I could have told you Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you,” it is important that we continually remind ourselves that the world as we know it was never meant for any of us. The world that Adam and Eve had before they sinned was the world that was meant for each of us.
While we have no other choice but to live and work in this world, it is important to keep in mind that we have an obligation to ourselves and our families to pray every day for the grace to defeat the evil forces that are constantly promoting the gravely sinful behavior of homosexuality and assisted suicide. In addition to our prayers, we are also obligated to insert ourselves in the middle of the battles that are taking place. We must be vigilant in our efforts to defeat the evil forces that have launched their multi-facetted religious war against us.
It’s time to get serious about defending our faith.
4 Comments
Hello Harry, A relative recently had a lengthy stay in the Hospital. They have some long term health issues, but always seem to bounce back. During their last stay, they seemed to be bombarded with the medical staff pushing for them to enter Hospice. One of the staff was quite vocal and stopped short of cursing him for not seeing it their way. I understand there is a time for Hospice and I praise the people that can give such care to those who need it. It shouldn’t be forced on a patient though. For now, my relative always seem to make it through. We know what their wishes are will do our best to see that they are carried through. I came away with the same conclusion you have. I think a trend for euthanasia is definitely coming our way and I started warning other people about it. I hope we can counter the trend. Thanks for the article today Harry!
Rich – Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, all of the medical facilities in this country have experienced a drastic reduction in reimbursements from state and federal agencies. While the facilities struggle to remain profitable, the agencies are in the process of implementing further reductions and, in some cases, are denying entire claims for payment. This is putting a huge amount of stress on the facilities to push patients out before they are ready to be released. It’s more important than ever for us to do our best to eat the right foods, exercise, and try to stay healthy. I hope all is going well for you and your family.
DEAR HARRY AND GEORGETTE –
THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THESE TRUTHS OUT IN THE OPEN. SO MUCH
IS “HIDDEN”, SCREENED SO THAT WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING ISN’T APPARENT TO THE ORDINARY OBSERVER, UNTIL IT’S TOO LATE. A VERY WELL
WRITTEN ARTICLE, AND VERY MUCH NEEDED IN TODAY’S WORLD.
ON DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY, MAY OUR LADY OF MERCY WATCH OVER EACH OF US! AND MAY OUR NEW SAINTS, POPE JOHN PAUL II AND POPE JOHN XXIII PRAY FOR ALL OF US, ALONG WITH OUR OWN POPE FRANCIS !
LOVE TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY! SISTER ROBERTA
Sister Roberta – I’ve been thinking about you lately, so I recently offered up some prayers on your behalf. Thanks for your weekly comments and support. I hope all is going well for you. Harry