Fabrizio De André
Preghiera In Gennaio

A flowery path, caressed by the wind.

Two great souls.

I like to think, and it terribly moves me to do so, that now somehow these two souls communicate with each other.

Who knows what perspective they have on today's world from up there where stars shine in broad daylight.

Fabrizio De André and Luigi Tenco love mankind; or rather, they love humanity, the human species as such. They love it in every aspect, no matter how raw, dark, sick, or precarious.

It is noble to love those who haven't smiled in life, those who face a tragic destiny every day. A fate that leads them to cross the last old bridge with a milk-white face.

Compassion, the Greek 'pietas,' is the highest act of love: it is the capacity of the strongest to love the weakest.

It's not a coordinated love. The "subordinate" position of those who are inferior or precarious requires an act of humility and benevolence from someone willing to love, to bring positions back to the same level.

And the God of this January prayer is a God that comes towards man from the sky, not the other way around.

A merciful God, who embraces every man as his son, like the prodigal son.

"There is no hell in the world of the good God".

This prayer almost sounds anachronistic for the days we live in.

Now man seems to love himself more than the humanity that surrounds him and of which he is the expression.

Man is more opportunistic and defiant than ever, and compassion is a rare commodity.

Behind every corner lie interest, profit, accumulation.

We are afraid of being alone and yet we don't find each other, as if an act of humility were a prelude to a missed opportunity or a waste of time.

"Hell exists only for those who fear it"

Man is born out of an act of love just as love is born from man, let him be listened to and every expression of him be understood.

"Listen to his voice now singing in the wind, God of mercy you'll see you'll be happy"

I imagine them walking along the flowery path.