"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"

I've been listening to that song lately; the one by Paul Simon. "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes." It's carefree and ethnic in the way he does in "Goodbye Rosie,"
and can never fail to serve as a pick-me-up.
"Diamonds" is about a rich girl and a poor boy and how they "end up sleeping in a doorway." Eventually the boy learns to walk with diamonds on the souls of his shoes too, thus "curing these walking blues."
I like to think the song is about learning to live in a state of contentment with the world -and love being the vehicle to help you arrive at that mindset.
And the other day, as I was running into CC, and the skies were gray and it was cold and of the first of the true days of fall, I saw there, on the steps, just in front of the great sets of double doors, a girl curled up and sleeping on the lap of her boy. He was awake and staring out and stroking her hair.
I've seen them a couple of times before, but never without the other. The boy's face is impassive, and looks for all the world like a slightly Asian version of John Lennon behind his small round glasses. The girls face is round, beautiful, and innocent. I have never heard either of them speak.
Curled up in that doorway, they felt in love -both in the way of the very young and the very old, simultaneously.
Sometimes I'm tempted to listen to those who say we can cure this disease that ails man with love alone.
But then I remember that very few people have the capacity to hate with the intensity that former lovers and family members possess. Look at the headlines. Only in extreme circumstances does a brutally murdered victim not know their attacker. Ex boyfriends and husbands. Spouses. Siblings. Step children.
But I'd still like to believe in something as optimistic as love, or the idea of finding peace in the company of another. The fact that we are indeed capable of saving ourselves with our goodness.

But what is "good?" Can you define it by a universal standard?
What happened to the idea of morality? Ethics? These are honest questions.

The other day I actually got in an argument over the sanctity of human life. It was in philosophy class, of all places. It was easily the most worked up I've been in a while; and it truly felt good inside to have a belief actually worth fighting for.
Life is not cheap. The mind body and soul of another human being is no trivial matter. Is it so hard to reach within ourselves and find decency and respect for our fellow man? This is a question apart from my religion.
Relativism cannot give an answer. It cannot cure what ails us. It is watching our house on fire from the front lawn as our children and spouse burn inside with all of our possessions. It is a young man's luxury to hold it in contempt as I do.
But that alone does nothing to heal.
Stitch up our split skin. Our puncture wounds. Our hammered faces.


What can you do?