"Pharisee" - Stan Rogers/Good Neighbors

I used to be a Pharisee,
Cynical and wise, telling rich, ungodly lies of humanity;
And in the marketplace was seated
A cripple with a lyre,
I looked at him and said, "I've been rich, but so unhappy,
What sets you so on fire".
And he said, "Look upon me brother,
I'm a man with peace of mind.
You know I've never been much good at nothin'
But the words I've wrought in rhyme,
But I've a good woman to feed me,
And friends to share a brew,
And evenings we will sit around and sing together
And it could be the same for you, if you just

Hold on to young friends you made of old,
And cleave to the woman that keeps you whole,
Keep a warm fire
For all your friends who come in from the cold.
I love you as a brother
And I don't even know your name.
I know this must sound different,
But for me it's always been the same.

Tonight the smoke is rising from all around the room,
And judging from the warmth of the smell from the kitchen,
There'll be supper ready soon.
And our table's set for twenty,
Room for more if they should come,
And later on we'll pass around the pipe for our pleasure
And sit and take a little rum, and we will

Hold on to young friends we made of old
And cleave to the women that keep us whole,
And keep a warm fire
For all our friends who come in from the cold;
We love them all as brothers
And we don't have to know their names
We know this must sound different,
But for us it always stays the same.

Hold on to young friends…etc.
I used to be so different,
Now I know I'll always stay the same

("Pharisee" - Stan Rogers, from his CD, From Coffeehouse to Concert Hall.  Unfortunately, Amazon does not have clips from this CD, and I couldn't find any online.)

We had our annual court party this evening, and this song came into my head as we were sitting around the edges of the court watching and cheering fireworks.  We've done this about every year since the houses were built.  Nothing fancy - each family brings their own main dish to grill and a side dish or dessert to share.  We grill, sit and talk, chase small children, watch as the older ones do water balloons.  My older son usually draws a large maze in chalk in the center of the court for the younger kids.  When it gets dark, we do fireworks.  Younger son has been looking forward to this for weeks. 

Good food, good conversation...it's one of the best evenings of the year.

We are very blessed (or, as one neighbor put it, "We should all thank God for our neighbors, and I don't even believe in God.")