Okay, I have to admit that I have never watched a Super Bowl. Not once. I’m really more of a basketball, baseball, and college football kinda gal, so pro football just never got my juices flowing. Having said that, back when I was little, in 1976, my mom let me watch the Super Bowl halftime show. A group that I absolutely loved was performing and mom thought it would be fun if I could watch the performance. We turned the TV on and off that day, waiting for halftime, and finally it came: Super Bowl X’s halftime show as performed by Up with People. This as the first non-marching band Super Bowl halftime performance and it permanently changed game day.
We sang several of Up with People’s songs in elementary school music class and then I’d sing them literally everywhere else. I tended to do that you know. Once I loved a song, I never stopped singing it. The two songs I remember from Up with People were, Freedom Isn’t Free and Up with People. I still love them (and even put these songs on my campaign playlist).
Up with People helped shape a lot of my life’s philosophy. The chorus of their keynote song goes:
Up, up with people; you meet ’em wherever you go.
Up, up with people; they’re the best kind of folks you know.
If more people were for people, and people everywhere
There’d be a lot less people to worry about
And a lot more people who care.
There’d be a lot less people to worry about
And a lot more people who care.
I love those lyrics. I’m singing them as I write, in fact.
When I was growing up, my dad knew every last worker in the grocery store. I’d go with him on the weekly shopping and he would stop and ask the butcher about his wife’s surgery, or the bakery worker about their kids. He knew the checkout clerks by name and knew something individual about their lives. It seemed as though there wasn’t anyone he didn’t know! And you know what, everyone seemed happy to see my dad when we went to the store, whatever store it was.
What if we all took a page from dad’s book? What if we rooted for the people around us to be successful, to help them when they are struggling, to rejoice when they are happy, and to listen when they need a sympathetic ear? What if we knew the people in the stores, our delivery workers, and our neighbors? How would life be different if we helped weave together the fabric of our communities so that when times were tough people knew they had people to lean on?
Up with People was formed in 1965 in response to division in the nation due to the Vietnam War and the fight for civil rights. The founder, J. Blanton Belk saw “the ability of young people to do what governments had failed to do: to walk across borders, see beyond race, and build bridges of understanding between people.” Their website states:
When Up with People was born in 1965 – formed out of a summer youth conference – our early leaders discovered the power of music for bringing together people of different mindsets, cultures, ethnicities, and beliefs. Up with People took to the streets and soon became a global music and education phenomena, inspiring communities with a message of peace and unity. Over time, Up with People grew to be known worldwide for bridging cultural gaps and participating in international relations and education.
This amazing organization is still fully operational and growing. Their mission statement says: “Through music and action, we empower young people to be positive agents of change for a more hopeful, trusting and peaceful world.” It adds that they strive to: “Increase understanding, respect and dignity for all; Foster engaged international communities; Empower youth as positive change agents: Build a network of global citizens.” This traveling group does more than perform, however. Comprised of youth age 17-29, they travel the world and learn about different cultures, provide substantive volunteer work – side by side with local community members – in every place they stay, participate in workshops after each community project to learn how to identify, understand, and act on the unique needs of each city, and work on projects in schools, with the elderly, dealing with poverty and homelessness, the environment, and many other areas. I encourage you to check out their website at http://www.upwithpeople.org.
Just as the group’s theme song says, I also believe that everyone has something valuable they bring to the table. Yes, that also includes people whom I disagree with, those who struggle, those who mess up, those who are hard to love. It includes people of every ethnicity, race, gender, and religion. Everyone is of inherent worth.
I love the fact that Up with People has performed for three Super Bowl halftimes. Their work around the world seeking to further understanding and foster peace, however, is even more impressive. They have remained true to their original purpose of believing in people and inviting everyone to join them in lifting those around them. What a wonderful legacy. I agree with them wholeheartedly in stating: Up, up with people, they are the best kind of folks [I] know!
Look to God and Live... Joyfully! 