Woodstock: Forty Years Later

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Well, I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, Tell me, where are you going?
This he told me

Said, I'm going down to Yasgur's Farm,
Gonna join in a rock and roll band.
Got to get back to the land and set my soul free.

We are stardust, we are golden,
We are billion year old carbon,
And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.

I wasn’t at Woodstock.

It’s not because I didn’t want to go. Being 15 years old, without transportation – and, although I don’t know for sure, I’d have been stunned if my parents would have given their permission, going to the event was impossible. I’m still fascinated by the event today; all the more so because the 40th anniversary of the final day of the “three days of peace, love and music” will have started by the time I have finished this reflection.

Well, then can I roam beside you?
I have come to lose the smog,
And I feel myself a cog in somethin' turning.
And maybe it's the time of year,
Yes, and maybe it's the time of man.
And I don't know who I am,
But life is for learning.

We are stardust, we are golden,
We are billion year old carbon,
And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.

What is it about that time that triggers so strong a response in me, even today? First of all, I know it isn’t the music – although, to be sure, it was the music of my youth, and the songs I enjoyed back then are still enjoyable today. The best I can determine, it is the fact that, for a period of three days, some four hundred thousand people lived side-by-side, sharing an experience, with virtually no friction arising: no fights; only two deaths – one as the result of an overdose of heroin, the other a young man killed while sleeping in a field when a tractor ran over him in his sleeping bag. People were hungry, as the organizers, who had planned for a maximum of fifty thousand people, were overwhelmed. People got soaked as a storm on the second day dropped over an inch of rain in about an hour’s time. People got sick; some "freaked out" as a result of taking drugs. With all of this, almost everyone who attended and has gone on record about the event comments about the peace and the smiles that were shared; how people responded to calls by the organizers to share what food they had with their “brothers and sisters” – who were identified as, “the people on your right, and the people on your left” – in other words, your neighbors. This has always been a point of focus as I reflect on the event: the Biblical connections that arise. There are echoes of the feeding of the five thousand in the call to share food; and there is the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ about who is our neighbor. For me, in part, at least, what I have seen and heard of what took place at Woodstock has a mystical component, and is a metaphor for so much of what seemed possible for us at that time. Even as wars raged around the world – the one looming largest at that time was the war in Vietnam, with its very real connections (and potential threat) to the larger, more ominous, if less immediate, “Cold War” – even as our culture seemed doomed to become spiritually dead through the pursuit of material possessions, status and power, the young people who gathered on Max Yasgur’s farm, and those who, like me, wanted to be there, yearned for a different world, a different culture; and we thought, for a time, that the power to achieve a new society of peace and love was within our grasp; a new world was a very real possibility, if only we could work together to achieve it.

That yearning stayed with me into the decade of the 1970’s. Among other things, I immersed myself in the various movements that grew out of the festival at Woodstock, as well as the tragedies that followed, not the least of which was the death of four students at Kent State University, shot by the Ohio National Guard during an anti-war protest. One of the four killed had graduated the year before from the high school I was attending. I didn’t know her; but I knew, and cared for, people who did, people who lost a friend that day – and their grief touched me, and ignited an anger in me. I was involved in a number of anti-war protests in downtown Washington, D.C., and resolved to go to Canada rather than be drafted, if necessary. I also was drawn to the beginnings of the environmental movement, and the “back to the land” movement that was spurred on when I discovered the teachings and philosophy in The Mother Earth News, and especially its reports on the Twin Oaks commune in Louisa, Virginia, not far from where we lived and worked and went to college. When an “outreach team” from Twin Oaks made a visit to our college campus, I was there to hear every word, and always wanted – but could never quite manage – to make a visit to the commune. I wouldn’t say that I did anything consequential. My protesting the war didn’t bring it to an end; and while I would never negate the importance of each person doing what they can to conserve energy and water, and to recycle, and so on, I doubt that my contribution, even to this day, has really made the kind of difference my heart has always yearned to make. As much as I’d hoped otherwise, this is the only honest assessment I can make.

By the time we got to Woodstock,
We were half a million strong
And everywhere was a song and a celebration.
And I dreamed I saw the bomber death planes
Riding shotgun in the sky,
Turning into butterflies
Above our nation.

We are stardust, we are golden,
We are caught in the devil’s bargain,
And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.

By the time I finished seminary, over twenty years distant from the Woodstock festival, I had started to figure out why we hadn’t been able to change the world, and why the communal life exerted such an attraction. The two are related; and Joni Mitchell’s song about the festival, which was a monster hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, gave me valuable clues. My thoughts along these lines were triggered in part by an invitation a group of us received on the eve of graduation from seminary to consider becoming part of an ecumenical community of Roman Catholics and Episcopalians living and working and worshipping together in rural Maryland, not far from our campus; and by a chance event that took place a few years later while driving along California Highway 99 near Merced, while on my way to a youth ministry event. I happened to look up, and was shocked to see a B-52 flying at a relatively low level overhead. My thoughts immediately flashed to the line in the song: And I dreamed I saw the bomber death planes riding shotgun in the sky… There it was – but it didn’t turn into a butterfly. Within a year’s time, I was the vicar of the mission in Atwater, at the time the home of Castle Air Force Base – closed a few years later. Castle Air Force Bases was home to a squadron of bombers; and one of the lay leaders of the mission, and a good friend, was a B-52 pilot.

The song begins: I came upon a child of God, he was walkin’ along the road… There are hints of the road to Emmaus, being traveled by two of the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, who are traveling from Jerusalem after His passion and death on the Cross. They are not aware that He has risen from the dead, even when they meet Him walkin’ along the road. It is not until He accepts their invitation to stay with them for the evening, and reveals Himself when He blesses and breaks the bread, that they realize what has happened. This is what is missing in the song. This is what Twin Oaks didn’t have; and this is why our hopes and dreams for a better world did not, and could not, materialize. Can you hear it? It’s in the last line of the chorus: And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden… What garden? Why, the Garden of Eden, of course! The Garden, the place of Paradise, where we lived in the immediate and intimate presence of God, Who would walk with us and talk with us, and we could, presumably, see Him face to face. We lost our place there by our disobedience – as the song says, We are caught in the devil’s bargain… An angel with a fiery sword was set to guard the entryway to prevent us from trying to get back; and the only way a return is possible is through our Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing else will work; our strength alone is not sufficient; nor are we permitted to enter, unless we are joined to the Son of God Who gave Himself to make this possible, because of His great and unfathomable love for us; and Who, having risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, has done so with our human nature still joined to His divine nature – restoring us to living once more in the immediate and intimate presence of God.

Can we change the world? Maybe. The task of doing so begins by changing ourselves; by grasping what has been done for us by our Lord Jesus Christ. By His incarnation, our humanity has been united with His divinity. By His death, the power of death has been brought to an end. By His resurrection, we, too, are raised from death to life. We have been buried with Him in baptism, and raised by Him to a life that will not end. When we accept this incredible gift of God’s love, and yield ourselves to Him in love, and take responsibility for how we live, with the intention of allowing the life of Christ in us be seen in us, through what we say and what we do, in who we are – the hope and the dream of a better life is possible. Woodstock is only the beginning; and the joy of the kingdom of heaven awaits!

We are stardust, we are golden,
We are caught in the devil’s bargain,
And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.

What Welshmen Do for Fun

I laughed so hard I cried!

Speaking with Conviction

This one is worth sharing...

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

I found this at Steve Robinson's blog, Pithless Thoughts - a site worth your time to investigate.

Here's an explicit question that arises from this presentation: What does your life say about your conviction? Do you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior? Does the way in which you live say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior?

We all need to think about this...

Bits and Pieces

Item: This Day in History

On June 22, 1941, the forces of the Axis powers, led by the German Wehrmacht, invaded the Soviet Union, their erstwhile trading partners, with whom a non-aggression pact had been less than two years earlier. The treaty had divided Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union, and, with the swift victory of the Germans against Poland, secured Germany’s eastern frontier against attack, making possible the “blitzkrieg” in the west that led to the fall of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. The fighting in this theater, which ended May 9, 1945, was unbelievably savage. More people fought and died on the Eastern Front than in all other theaters of World War II combined. Of the estimated 70 million killed in World War II, some 30 million, including civilians and those in the death camps of Nazi Germany, were killed on this front alone.

Other Events on this Day:

1. 1633: Galileo is forced to recant his belief that the Sun, rather than the Earth, is the center of the solar system.


2. 1848: The “June Days” uprising begins in Paris, France.


3. 1898: U.S. Marines land in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.


4. 1969: The Cuyahoga River catches fire, due to oil pollution in the river.


5. 1976: Canada abolishes the death penalty.


6. 2009: The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) meets in Texas as it seeks to organize individuals, parishes, and dioceses who withdrew from the Episcopal Church over moral issues, and to be recognized by the Archbishop of Canterbury as a part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

This last entry is one that I have watched from the fringes, although I’ll be the first to admit that I really don’t know a lot about what has been happening since we left the Episcopal Church for the Orthodox Church in November, 1995. There are at least three groups that I’ve heard of that withdrew from the Episcopal Church, plus one other body that withdrew back in the 19th century: the ACNA; the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA; the oldest of the 20th century groups, which was organizing itself during the last few years of our time in the Episcopal Church); the churches of the Southern Cone (if they have an acronym, I haven’t seen it!), who have aligned themselves with a number of the bishops and archbishops of dioceses in Africa; and the Reformed Episcopal Church, the group who left in 1873 in order to preserve its Protestant and evangelical beliefs in the face of the rising Anglo-Catholicism of the “Oxford Movement.” I have good friends and classmates who are caught up in what is taking place. One remains in the Episcopal Church; one has left it for one of the other groups (I’ve forgotten which); and some are in the diocese in which I served before resigning to be baptized and chrismated. Although there are a goodly number of priests and deacons who left the Episcopal Church for the Orthodox Church, I wish more would come our way.

Item: You Aren’t Serious – Are You?

The Church of England – the “mother ship” of the Anglican Communion – now has alternative worship services that feature disc jockeys, music by the Irish band, U2, video clips from YouTube, and offers prayers for Google, Walmart, and other large corporations, according to a report at the Telegraph.com website. The aim of this program, called, “Fresh Expressions,” is to reach young people who are otherwise uninterested in the church, boosting church attendance with what the article describes as “more relevant and exciting services.” Comment: Really? Of course, these are also the folks who have given the C of E “rave” services and other “relevant and exciting” programs. More than anything, this trend is disturbing to me; and I cannot fathom why those whom I know, and know of, who are fighting the good fight in defense of the Faith once delivered to the saints, and are involved with, or, at least, watching to see what happens to ACNA, want to be in communion with an Archbishop of Canterbury whose office is responsible for programs of this type…

Item: The UK Bureaucracy Allows No “Conscientious Objectors” for Same-Sex Marriages

Theresa Davies, who began working for the Islington Council 18 years ago as a receptionist, and who, over time, earned promotions to the position of registrar, was offered the choice of either being demoted to an entry-level position as a receptionist, or be fired, because she has religious objections to performing ceremonies for same-sex civil partnerships, according to a report at the Telegraph.com website. Apparently, while some councils allow those who object to shift the performance of these ceremonies to colleagues who do not share these objections, Islington has adopted a policy that all employees will perform these ceremonies. Rev Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of Britain's Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, said, "It is fine for people to hold opinions but you can't use views to discriminate against other people.”

Repeat after me: “It can’t happen here…”

Item: Why Didn’t I Think of this Strategy for Boosting Church Attendance?

The Telegraph.com website has been a great source for news that is both amusing (in a bizarre sort of way) and disturbing (in a very real and troubling way). Here’s the latest: Church Blesses Fathers with Beer website. That’s right: In an “alternative” blessing for Father’s Day, bottles of beer were given to the men in attendance at the Father’s Day services at St. Stephen’s Church in Barbourne, Worcester. The program has the support of the Right Reverend John Inge, the Bishop of Worcester.. The program drew objections from those working to help those whose lives have been negatively affected by alcohol, but these had no impact. The bottle of beer were given to fathers by the children of the congregation. Bishop Inge had this to say about the program: “Jesus created a lot more wine at a point in the party when some thought that there had already been enough drinking. He was all in favor of partying. We give wine away every Sunday, so giving away beer could be said to going down-market a bit, but it's an attempt to speak of God's generosity.” Comment: Saying that our Lord was “all in favor of partying” because of the miracle at the wedding in Cana? Equating the wine in the chalice that has been blessed to be the Blood of Christ with a bottle of beer? C’mon, y’all in the ACNA/AMiA/REC spectrum! Is that really the Church with whom y’all want to be in communion?

Item: Persecution and Martyrdom: The Future is the Present

According to a report by the Orthodox Christian Advocacy Institute (OCAI), some 176,000 Christians will be martyred this year; and the number is projected to increase to 210,000 martyred every year by 2025. This does NOT include those who are tortured, imprisoned, or otherwise persecuted for their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The OCAI reports that the worst offenders, according to the U.S. Department of State, are China and Saudi Arabia; followed by Turkey, and the situation in Kosovo. The last two affect Orthodox Christians directly. For example, in Turkey, there were approximately 200,000 Greek Orthodox Christians living in Turkey in 1923. Today, it is estimated that there are fewer than 2,500. In Kosovo, since the United States helped establish this region of Serbia as an independent state, the efforts to erase twelve centuries of Orthodoxy have been unrelenting. In the last ten years, 1,000 Christians have been killed, 250,000 forced from their homes, and 150 churches and monasteries have been destroyed – all under the watchful eye of 16,000 NATO “peacekeepers.” Each of the countries named in the OCAI report receive U.S. aid that reaches into the billions of dollars.

The author of the article asks three questions of the Christians living in the United States:

How do citizens, in a country that generally identifies itself as being Christian, reconcile the fact that their democratically elected government is facilitating the eradication of Christianity elsewhere? Why are they not protesting on behalf of their fellow Christians around the world? Why are they not demanding change in US Foreign Policy?

If we don’t act to speak out against the abuse and murder of our brothers and sisters in Christ, who will?

Item: Orthodoxy in America: Get a Grip…

Head on over to the blogsite of the American Orthodox Institute (AOI) and read the article, The Perplexing Problem of Obtaining an Accurate Census of Orthodox Faithful Living in America. Be sure to scroll down and look at the table with the number of parishes and people for each of the jurisdictions listed there. For ROCOR, it’s 128 parishes; while the Patriarchal parishes in the US add another 33. The largest group is the GOA, with 525 parishes; followed by the OCA, with 456 parishes. Also be sure to read through the analysis and insights offered in the report. We’ve got a lot of work to do, campers, before the Lord returns…

In the Image and Likeness of God

The following video -- just a bit under a minute and a half -- shows an understanding of the Orthodox teaching on icons; and is a powerful call to action.



I need to keep this in mind the next time I'm driving... Isn't it amazing how easily we can get caught up in ourselves? Isn't it amazing how easily we can reduce others to being less important by what we think and do and say?

We also need to keep in mind that, while the word, "Orthodox" means, "right belief," the Orthodox teaching on "right belief" carries with it the charge of acting rightly (orthopraxis). All too often, it seems, that this "right practice" becomes a concern about whether or not we (or those around us in church) are appropriately attired, or are making the bows and prostrations and the sign of the Cross at the right times during the service, or have read all 27 ingredients on the boxed or canned or frozen food we're planning to buy, and putting it back because ingredient #25 of 27 is sodium caseinate, and so it is not "lenten"; the list can go on for quite some time. This is not at all to suggest that we should not be careful, and do our best to do these things. But we seem to think that God will judge us on how well we kept these types of rules, when the reality is set before us in the 25th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, and also the point of this video: "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me." (Matt. 25:40)

FOCUS -- Fellowship of Orthodox Christians United to Serve -- can be found on the web, and on Facebook and Twitter.