Depending on your generation, your take on Woodstock and the "hippie" gerneration will vary greatly. For my folks it was those dirty hippies, in an orgy type commune, with drugs and sex and nudity and general degenerates. For the people who attended Woodstock it was a different experience altogether. Yeah, there were drugs, sex, nudity but there was also love, compassion, cooperative spirits, sharing, people taking care of each other, old ladies making thousands of peanut butter sandwiches to feed the crowds...so much more than can be written here.
I was eight at the time, so my memories are through the lens of my parents and their generation.
I think about the Bible and the many ways that it was written; the letters of Paul written to certain groups for certain reasons, the unbelievable stories of the Old Testament, Johns Revelation. Many people read it literally, word for word. Others... the whole collection as a myth with stories to live by. Still others, like myself, see it as a wonderful story that happens to be true, not in a word for word way but in the realities of its message.
So WOODSTOCK...JESUS...THE BIBLE... events and stories and people, all seen from different eyes. As I go into this semester, I look forward to the different eyes. Yeah...I more than likely will believe even stronger in the message ( I HOPE)...but what a joy to see it in other ways, with other truths, other interpretations...DIFFERENT EYES. Those of you who know me will know that I love the image of God laughing and giggling at us trying to figure Him out. He gets Joy in our journey, our folly and our study. I hope that my years on Holy Hill will bring Him much Joy!
Just the fact that you are there has already brought HIM much joy ! !
ReplyDeleteAm I the only person who remembers that there was a Woodstock reunion down in southern Calif. in the 80s ? I was working in San Carlos, Calif. at the time and people were taking vacation days just to go for the long weekend>>>>>
Taking Woodstock brought me back home. Even though I have lived in Las Vegas for six years, I wonder if it will ever be my home. I still think of my life in New York every day and long for it. God brought me to Vegas for a reason that I often don't want to accept. He gave me the gift of teaching, and He wants me to use it with students who take me so far out of my comfort zone that I sometimes can't believe it. He has also led me to work with the next generation of teachers so that I can use the gift that he gave me to prepare teachers for future generations.
ReplyDeleteWho are you kidding! Your parents would probably not have "voted" to bring Woodstock to their little town, but your mom would have been the one overseeing all the peanut butter jelly sandwiches and daddy would have been the one directing traffic!
ReplyDelete