Questions That Haunt Us

The year was 1967. Television watchers were tuning into the Ed Sullivan Show, among other vintage favorites. During his tenure on air [1948-1971], Sullivan managed to draw musical talent from all over the world. Elvis Presley. The Beatles. Herman’s Hermits. The Supremes. And it was in 1967 that the Young Rascals sang the lyrics of one of their biggest hits, words that begin with a question, one of the most significant questions that haunt us all: How Can I Be Sure?

Written by Felix Cavaliere and Edward Brigati, the gentle music of this song opens with the words, “How can I be sure in a world that’s constantly changing? How can I be sure where I stand with you?” Questions that haunt us. They tug at our hearts with that nearly irrepressible force we call doubt. They ping around in our heads like pinballs in perpetual motion. They prompt us to examine the trustworthiness of our relationships. They beg us to discern and decide for ourselves what is real. Honestly, can we be sure of anything?

We often give lip service to notions such as “We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow” and “We never know what the day will bring.” But it’s one thing to acknowledge these clichés with our intellect and quite another thing to embrace them in our living. Nearly eighty years ago, the launching of atomic bombs shattered human history with unspeakable horror. Almost twenty-five years ago, terrorist attacks on the United States rattled the confidence of citizens who grappled with the fact that the country is not immune to international assaults. Five years ago, the planet shuddered in the grip of fear in the wake of a stealthy biological killer that seemed to defy the grasp of science and medicine. How can we be sure in a world that’s constantly changing? Where do we stand with each other as neighbors, citizens, relatives, human occupants of this bulging planet?

The year was 1969. The words of another song cut to the chase with its disparaging view of the world’s future. Zager & Evans offered this trajectory, “In the year 2525 if man is still alive, if woman can survive, they may find… In the year 3535 ain’t gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies, everything you think, do, and say is in the pill you took today… In the year 8510 God is gonna shake His mighty head and He’ll either say, ‘I’m pleased where man has been’ or tear it down and start again…” Is that what’s in store for this world we’ve been graciously given? Will we always be haunted by such questions?