We feed on lies. The lies feed on us.

I remember clearly the night John Lennon fell to an assassin’s deranged eye. When you’re sucker-punched to the point of tears, you tend to never forget it.

It was a chilly Monday evening in the season of cheer;
I was curled on the couch in my favorite spot
When the TV barked at me news out of New York:
John Lennon has just been shot.
”I don’t believe it—say it isn’t so—
Please, God, let the doctors find a way.”
But a flurry of hollow shells shattered any prayer;
Johnny Rhythm was D.O.A.

John was a lusty, shaggy libertine who had, seemingly, at long last found his center as husband, father, artist, and activist. He was crafting heartfelt music of wit and conscience and love, and it looked to me like he was perched on that rare precipice where art and social awareness create a force that pushes people to new understanding of — and connection with — one another. Now, in an instant, he was gone. Whisked away in a moment of insanity.

It was special from a fan-boy with a vision of fame,
a pudgy, self-styled Catcher in the Rye;
Lurking in the shadows and smirking as he sprang—
And the ghost that haunts us yet is “why?”

In what might be the bitterest irony of our time, the mind that wrought the poetic condemnation “Happiness is a Warm Gun” was extinguished by the very thing he warned us about. Now, 45 years later, we have yet to learn the hard truth that “easy guns” makes for easy violence and senseless loss. Especially in this time when the systems that determine who eats and who goes hungry, who receives healthcare and who does not —essentially who lives and who dies — are corrupted and pushing people to insanity. If only we had listened.

I think I have an answer, please don’t take offense
If it’s something you don’t want to hear.
But there’s a sickness spreading in the soul of this land
Like a cancer on the sugar of fear.
We feed on lies and the lies feed on us,
We buy in like it’s all just harmless fun.
And the lie that snatched our John in his 40th year:
”Happiness is a warm fucking gun.”

It’s tempting to say “damn it all” and retreat. To seek haven inside a shell of cynicism. I can even tell myself, “I’m not part of that.” But self-deception is a faux refuge. We’re all caught in the insanity. And it will take all of us working together to break free from it.

John Lennon Night is a chance to do something that makes sense. Call it a non-violent resistance to insanity. Granted, it may produce only a drop of what is truly needed. But it will do some good for someone. And every little bit of good done is a step toward defeating the insanity that plagues us all.

This year, as always, we ask for a $10 donation at the door, or whatever you are able to give. All proceeds from the event will go toward: 1) encouraging a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine (The International Peace Forum); 2) healing the wounds of war for injured and traumatized Palestinian children (The Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund); and 3) helping veterans struggling under the weight of addictions (Evansville Recovery Alliance).

In addition, VFP Chapter 104 is sending each of these organizations $1000 from our treasury. And all donations we receive during December 2025 via this website will go in equal measure to these three organizations. You can make a secure donation here: https://vfpevansville.org/2025-lennon-night-donations

Please join us on December 8 at Bokeh Lounge (6 pm to 11 pm) for an evening of music, poetry, spoken word, and human connection in a world that needs it now more than ever. In the words of a great poet and tunesmith:

“You may say I’m a dreamer; but I’m not the only one.
I hope someday you will join us and the world will live as one.”