BED-IN
Written from my bed as Betty finishes
reading her Bible. Reminds me of John
Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed-In protest. I
guess in a way I am protesting this morning, I am in a mood to protest, to
throw off the shallow America that we have constructed and advocate for a
better one. Three things have brought me
to this point today; the tragic murder of nine of our brothers and sisters in
North Carolina, and listening to two great songs from my past this morning, The
Beatles All We Need is Love and Three Dog Night’s Easy To Be Hard.
These two bands and songs remind me
of a time in mine and Americas history when we were all convinced that we could
build a better world by simply adhering to the rule of love, a love I had grown
up hearing about and believing in as I watched my parents live it out in a
Christian context. There was no
difference in Three Dog Nights line “ especially people who care about
strangers, who care about evil and social injustice…” and the life I saw
modeled in front of me daily and spoken from my dad’s pulpit weekly. “All we need is love…” was just an anthem of
Christ that the Beatles were covering.
Social justice was going to be brought on by Dr. Kings Christian model
of non-violence, to turn the other cheek, to carry injustices in a just
way. Great men and women living out
their faith in Christ, music and action.
Today I don’t even recognize
America. Some of the most sincere voices
of that past have come full circle and try in every way to divide us. Hate and political correctness, violence and
the worshiping of the absurd have replaced all those great years of needing
only love. This latest tragedy will once
again give our media the opportunity to promote the very worst of us and our
politicians the stage to pit us against us and the blind faithful more of the
Kool-Aid they need to stir the pot of hate that they label progress while the
great aids to our culture, our Bibles and our old LP’s gather dust on our
shelves.
I would urge each of us to turn off
CNN and Fox News, dust off that old Bible and read Christ’s stirring mountain
protest found in Matthew 5-7. Then take
out those old albums, The Beatles second album, All You Need is Love and Three
Dog Night’s Suitable For Framing (I had the enclosed poster on my wall for
years) and have a personal quite time with God.
Afterwards walk across the street and help your neighbor and repeat
daily until we recognize America again.
