"We all crave a simple order."

I have the good fortune to be able to listen to audio books on a regular basis and the Phoenix Public Library has an easy system to use to reserve the books as well as a fairly good selection. Although I have found Louise Erdrich's book "The Painted Drum", darker than I prefer, one passage caught my attention for it spoke to my own recent experiences...
to set the scene...
"... soon there were no pauses, no relief. One song now led straight into the next and it was as though they were all caught - drummers, singers, dancers, drum itself - in a dark outpouring of energy."

"All we crave is a simple order. One day and then the next day and the next after that, if we are lucky, to be the same. Grief is chaos. Death or illness throw the world out of whack. The drum's order is the world's order. To proceed with and keep that order is a gesture of desperate hope. Protect us. Save us. Let our minds remain clear of sorrow so that we can praise the world.

When the songs go backward, when they don't stay in place, when the men strike the drum out of time, things should stop. We should ponder the event."
p. 183 pp. 3 - or disk 6

dark
stop
light