The other day as I was listening to tunes on my mp3 player, a particular lyric from Canadian musician, Edwin, caught my attention.  The emotionally positive song, “Alive,” that deals with finding the silver lining in a life unavoidably mingled with bummers stated:

Every year another promise is made
A pint of beer raised towards a better day
[...]Ain’t it good to be alive?

Basically, the line seemed to indicate that one of the positive qualities of the fallible human creature is our ability to look ahead for better days; to attempt to see the glass half full.  Whether he realized it or not, Edwin linked the obvious:  Beer is complimentary to “better days.”  I think we all know this, but spend less time dwelling on it than we ought.

Beer not only lends itself to an experience, it is an experience!  It creates a common bond, and is a common bond.  Beer has always been equated with joy:  It is served at weddings, at graduation parties, and at funerals, as mourners celebrate the closing of a life on earth and look forward to life.

I feel sorry for Neo Prohibitionists who, while searching in a haystack for the evil needles of beer, miss out on the absolute joy of human bonding when moderate beer is added to a social setting, or is the focus of a gathering.

Of course beer is not the only common denominator to be found.  Yes, there are other things that can unite a group:  knitting, books, ideologies, etc.  But in my clearly subjective opinion, nothing is quite as positively positive and emotionally binding as beer.

As I listened to the song, I thought back on a recent vacation my lovely wife and I took to Kansas City, Missouri to visit my wife’s family.  I have always enjoyed a great relationship with my in-laws and extended family, and was looking forward to the visit.  When we arrived in KC, we quickly realized we were walking into what most would consider the bottom of the half empty glass.  My wife’s parents had just adopted a rambunctious 3 year old, were taking care of my wife’s elderly grandmother who has been struggling with severe pneumonia, nursing back to health my wife’s spirited aunt who was recovering from chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma, and trying to cope with a million other physically and emotionally crippling calamities .

At some point I pulled out some home brew.  I had never enjoyed a brew with my wife’s parents, and was unsure how it would go.  I poured about 2oz in small glasses for everyone.  Even my wife’s aunt, a lapsed beer enthusiast (due to the Lymphoma) came out for a taste.  You should have seen the appreciation on her face at the taste of the brew!  For the next few hours, we all sat around and laughed, moderately drank, reminisced, talked politics, and bonded like never before.  This is not a result of feeling “tipsy,” as each person had a maximum of 4oz of beer (after I poured another variety of home brew).  For some reason, the beer, just like in Edwin’s song, paired well with, if not facilitated, “looking forward to better days” and realizing, “it’s good to be alive.”  The stress of life disappeared for a few malty moments.

While there are so many wonderful qualities about beer:  the smell, the taste, the nutrient,etc., the greatest quality is found in the experience!

Feel free to share yours.

*photo credit