Another day, another tragedy. Senseless violence. Blood spatter on video games so real, I want to puke. Rubbernecking at a gory interstate multiple car crash. Civil wars, genocide, infanticide. Refugees from Syria, Nigeria, Rwanda, Myanmar. Endless media coverage of graphic footage of (insert recent violent act here). Talking heads debating who caused it, how to stop it. Finger pointing, turning a blind eye. A flurry of outrage on Instagram, FaceBook, Twitter, and at the coffee shop. Everyone wants to do something, but time marches on. We become even more numb, and we move on, back to our comfortable lives, satisfied that our posts and our well-meaning prayers adequately express our sorrow and indignation. Until the next time. Who caused it? Why? How could someone do this? Why doesn't God answer? Where IS God in all this? Blowing' in the wind...
Playing in my head right now are songs of the 60s, especially Dylan's, more specifically, the first one I learned to play on a cheap six-string guitar. Blowing' In The Wind was written almost 60 years ago, sung by Joan Baez, Peter Paul and Mary, and of course, Dylan. It was a staple at Vietnam war protests, rallies, and sit-ins. My generation took up the call as an anthem for change. We thought it was simple...congregate and sing some protest songs, resist, march. Anti guns, anti-war, stop poverty, civil rights marches, stop racism. Watts, John Lennon, Harlem, Woodstock, Guthrie, Charles Manson, Black Panthers, Patty Hearst, Ho Chi Minh Trail, Mekong Delta, communes, hippies, free love. We were so in touch, so passionately desperate for peace, and we thought we had all the answers. All we had to do was sing, wear flowers in our hair, and change the world. We tried to grasp the answers, hell, we tried to grasp the questions...blowin' in the wind.
I still don't have the answer. Many people think they do. Control guns. Mental health. Get to church. Read the Bible. Home school. Turn off your iPhones and disconnect from all the electronics. Go back to nature. Pray. Love. Do good. Confront. Don't confront. I don't have a clue. Dylan didn't either, he was quite cryptic about it, saying "There ain't much I can say about this song, except the answer is blowin' in the wind. It ain't no book or movie or TV show or discussion group, man, it's in the wind."
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