Happy Friday - Hard Rain's a-Comin'

Well, it's the third day of Lent and I can honesty say that the fasting has clarified some things.

It's amazing to me that when you supress some things that there are always others that pop up to occupy your mind.

I have decided to not watch the news for a while. It's deeeeppppprrrrreeeeessssssssing. I look at what our country is doing all over the world and I wonder who has their hand on the button.

And I know that I lean a little leftward because I believe in personal freedom and accountability and I believe in righteousness. But jeez. Everyone in the world is laughing at us and I can't really blame them.

1963 was the year. Bob Dylan was musing about life. This was before we become "engaged" in Vietnam. This was before JFK and our dreams were cut down. And as the most prolific observer in the history of observers he noted the problems we faced in his words.

It seems not much has changed - and yet it had to - didn't it?

Oh, where have you been my blue-eyed son
Oh, where have you been my darling young one
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

Oh, what did you see my blue-eyed son
Oh, what did you see my darling young one
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin'
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin'
I saw a whitle ladder all covered with water
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

And what did you hear my blue-eyed son
And what did you hear my darling young one
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin'
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one hundred drummers who hands where a-blazin'
Heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin'
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin'
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

Oh, who did you meet my blue-eyed son
Oh, who did you meet my darling young one
I met a young child beside a dead pony
I met a white man who walked a black dog
I met a young woman whose body was burning
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow
I men one man who was wounded in love
I met another man who was wounded in hatred
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

Oh, what'll you do now my blue-eyed son
Oh, what'll you do now my darling young one
I'm a-goin' back out before the rain starts a-fallin'
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest dark forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
Where the executioner's face is alwasy well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect if from the mountain so all souls can see it
Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin'
But I'll know my song well before I start singin'
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

Protest song? Social commentary? Hungry bard shouting at the wind?

Who knows? I don't. All I know is that truth is true. It always has been and it always will be. So as I fast during Lent and turn my heart towards things eternal I am praying for our country.

I find that our responsibility as the world's leader should put us out front in doing what is right and not just what is in our interest. We're making deals for nuclear stuff in India and threatening Iran. We're superimposing our values on the Iraqi people where they don't necessarily need them. There are thousands dying each day in Africa while we stand mute.

Therefore no news for me for a while.

There is so much good in our world. So many miracles that occur each day and yet we stand like deer trapped in the headlights looking for the next catastrophie to happen. We have become desenthisized to misery and we hold our compassion for ourselves and those closest to us.

Every game has turned political to the point where the rules we make for ourselves are thinly veiled to make sure that we can do what we want to do and still have that be within the rules.

Please vote. I don't care who you vote for but I would love to see each person vote for someone that has never been in office and just see what could happen if we started over.

Please don't push your own views and make everyone who disagrees with you stand outside and look in. Why can't we be more inclusive? Why isn't there room at the table for everyone?

Jesus was Jewish, wasn't he?

Oh hell..........
If my thought-dreams could be seen -
They'd probably put my head in a guillatine

I live a blessed life. I've truly got it all but I'm not naive enough to believe that it's because I deserve it. I'm lucky and because of that it's important that I go and return some of that to those that don't have it.

I think I'll start today. Why don't you join me.

Have a great weekend. I will!!

Peace.