Every other morning, I would have been watching or listening to the news. Not this one. I was headed to a retreat about 45 minutes away from home. It was a beautiful fall morning. With the windows down, I dropped my wife off at school and headed out to the site.

The soundtrack I chose that morning was U2’s The Unforgettable Fire.

A Country Has Forever Changed.
This Man Has Forever Changed.
The Album Has Forever Changed.

Strange what can happen so quickly.

For the past five years, I choose this soundtrack to begin this day with. I am still struck by the strong lyrics and haunting melodies.

I find comfort in the music. Maybe you can too.

And you know it’s time to go
Through the sleet and driving snow
Across the fields of mourning
To a light that’s in the distance

And you hunger for the time
Time to heal, desire, time
And your earth moves beneath
Your own dream landscape

Oh, on borderland we run
I’ll be there, I’ll be there
A high road
A high road out from here

The city walls are all pulled down
The dust a smokescreen all around
See faces ploughed like fields
That once gave no resistance

And we live by the side of the road
On the side of a hill as the valley explodes
Dislocated, suffocated
The land grows weary of its own

Oh, on borderland we run and still we run
We run and don’t look back
I’ll be there, I’ll be there
Tonight, tonight

I’ll be there tonight
I’ll believe
I’ll be there so hold on
I’ll be there tonight
Tonight

The wind will crack in wintertime
This bomb-blast lightning waltz
No spoken words, just a scream

Tonight we’ll build a bridge across the sea and land
See the sky, the burning rain
She will die and live again
Tonight

And your heart beats so slow
Through the rain and fallen snow
Across the fields of mourning
To a light that’s in the distance

Oh, don’t sorrow,
No don’t weep for tonight, at last
I am coming home
I am coming home

A Sort of Homecoming
U2
The Unforgettable Fire