Lennon: Just Imagine for a Second

Here we are 27 years, 7 months, and 28 days after a moment that changed lives, and we still are feeling the impact. John Lennon was gunned down in a senseless act of cold blood outside of his apartment building. The loss was so monumental it still resonates today even with many who were not even old enough to understand its significance, including myself. I was five years old at the time.

Even at age 5, I sensed there was a gravity that descended on that day, the significance of which I am still struggling to understand. The world lost a voice that we had once known for its songs that helped sculpt a generation of song writers and countless artists to come. Lennon was a vital part of the most prolific song writing duo in history and a member of a band that brought the world together. That feat seems so foreign today in a music industry that seems so fickle and full of bands du jour. The Beatles' and Lennon's music showed the power of music as a uniting force the use of guitars and creativity instead of bombs and fear. All you need is love.

That fateful day, the world also lost a dreamer who preached the importance of peace and understanding. This was perhaps the one thing about Lennon that caused the greatest amount of cynicism from the media and government. Why was it so preposterous for a man to be so idealistic? President Nixon's administration went as far as to try and have John Lennon deported citing he was an undermining force that could lose him the 1972 presidential election. Why was human equality, something Lennon believed to be a crucial tenet of society, such a threatening concept? Despite the successful deportation of Lennon in 1973, their attempts to usurp the power of a dreamer ultimately failed. The order was lifted in 1975.

In the end, it was not any government that silenced the voice of a generation however. Four bullets from a gun in the hand of a crazed fan ended John Lennon's life on this mortal Earth. Four gunshots turned John Lennon into an eternally revered idol. He was taken from us too soon, but in his 40 years with us he contributed an entire lifetime of ideals and music that will live on.

I invite you to take a moment and imagine, if you will. The man is gone, but the ideals all live within us. Peace. Love. Understanding. There's nothing wrong with any of those. Even in the darkest days of a world fraught with conflict and struggles idealism will not solve the world's problems, but it is a foundation we can all build upon to begin making it a better place to live. If not in the name of John Lennon, then do it in the name of humanity, for dreamer's sake.

Dream on.