It begins with:
Oh the time will come up
When the winds will stop
And the breeze will cease to be breathin’
Like the stillness in the wind
’Fore the hurricane begins
The hour when the ship comes in
Have you ever felt that way, friends? Where you feel that catch in the air before the storm? Sometimes a storm brings trouble and destruction, but sometimes the old ways need to be destroyed to make way for the new.
There is so much darkness in the world, but there is also so much light.
The world is asleep, but the world is waking up.
The word is full of cruelty, but the world is full of compassion.
Being vegan, for me, is being part of the light. It means being fully awake to the needs and desires and rights of ALL others (animals and humans) and not just what benefits myself. It means choosing compassion over cruelty. It means leaving old ways of thinking behind and looking towards a better, brighter future.
The song says:
And the words that are used
For to get the ship confused
Will not be understood as they’re spoken
For the chains of the sea
Will have busted in the night
And will be buried at the bottom of the ocean
Every year on New Year's Day the Carmarthen Hunt parades through town on their horses wearing their "finery." They makes a show of themselves letting their hounds run loose, then collect money before they go out on a fox hunt.
Now, I should point out that fox hunting with dogs has been ILLEGAL since 2005. These hunters (and indeed all fox hunting associations across the country) routinely break this law. They are allowed to follow trails and often "accidentally" stumble across a real fox, and the hounds who have been starved for several days before the hunt tear the poor, terrified fox apart.
Recently, in Castlemorton, the Ledbury Hunt was chasing a terrified fox who tried to hide in a badger hole. The hounds were digging it out (which is breaking the law as it is illegal to interfere with a badger sett) and when hunt saboteurs tried to intervene one of the terrier men attacked a hunt sab and beat him so bad he had to go to hospital.
This is darkness. Senseless violence against animals and people.
The song continues:
A song will lift
As the mainsail shifts
And the boat drifts on to the shoreline
And the sun will respect
Every face on the deck
The hour that the ship comes in
What happened in Carmarthen during the parade was nothing short of a miracle. There were nearly a HUNDRED people there to protest against blood sports. I spoke to a man who was from West Wales Animal Aid who nearly cried when he saw the turnout. He told me that ten years ago it was just him and another bloke against 50 riders. This time there were nearly a hundred of us and only a dozen or so riders. I am also told that the numbers of spectators were down as well this year.
 |
| gathering before the parade |
The song ends with:
Oh the foes will rise
With the sleep still in their eyes
And they’ll jerk from their beds and think they’re dreamin’
But they’ll pinch themselves and squeal
And know that it’s for real
The hour when the ship comes in
Then they’ll raise their hands
Sayin’ we’ll meet all your demands
But we’ll shout from the bow your days are numbered
And like Pharoah’s tribe
They’ll be drownded in the tide
And like Goliath, they’ll be conquered
With the sleep still in their eyes
And they’ll jerk from their beds and think they’re dreamin’
But they’ll pinch themselves and squeal
And know that it’s for real
The hour when the ship comes in
Then they’ll raise their hands
Sayin’ we’ll meet all your demands
But we’ll shout from the bow your days are numbered
And like Pharoah’s tribe
They’ll be drownded in the tide
And like Goliath, they’ll be conquered
That is what it felt like. That the dream of a more compassionate world was coming true. That more and more people are waking up and finding their higher selves, their heart of compassion.
It made me believe that Love is winning. That someday soon, those who choose cruelty and callousness and selfishness will wake from their beds and realise that that world had turned against them. They will see that a life of LOVE and LIGHT defeats a life of HATE and DARKNESS. They will decide to join us in a more enlightened world, or they will go the way of the dinosaurs.
This is my hope for 2017:
May we be the light in the darkness.
May we defeat hatred with love.
May we make the world better for everyone who lives on this planet.
May we speak for the animals who have no voice and speak with the people who are suffering who do.
Our ship is really coming in.
Beautifully described. I didn't have to play the song, for it sang itself in my head as I read. Love and joy to you, my dear, this new year.
ReplyDelete