53 / Only Remembered

War Horse is a powerful play about World War I, which I saw in London. Birdsong is a powerful book about World War I, which I read during this around the world trip.

Both of these works explore (and celebrate) the power of memory as an essential and redemptive force in our lives. At the play, I was brought to the emotional brink by both the words and the melody of the War Horse theme music, "Only Remembered," which captures so well this essentially human truth:

Fading away like the stars in the morning
Losing their light in the glorious sun
Thus would we pass from this earth and its toiling
Only remembered for what we have done

The world we most immediately inhabit is the world we create. It is our glory, if there is any glory in what we do.

Today, as I visited both the Karnak Temple and the Luxor Temple, I thought of this music. Both of these Temples are incredible monuments to the desire of human beings, everywhere, and in every time, to be remembered for what they have done.