<><

Bob Dylan – “The Times They are a-Changin’”

It’s almost as if this song could have been written this week. Dylan tells the universal story of social change and the struggle to move society from one paradigm to the next. I always play this song to my college political science classes to assure them that things do not have to stay the way they are. But it’s an even more important message for my generation. (See “Come mothers and fathers …”) We are the ones who generally hold up the movements for equality and justice because we don’t trust the new paradigm. As Dylan writes, we can’t admit that the waters around us have changed; we’re about to get drenched to the bone; and we better start swimmin’ or we’ll sink like a stone.” That could be what’s happening today!

Every single word of this masterpiece is prophetic, and gets right to the heart of the struggle for social change. I encourage you to take some time to read this very slowly, and reflect on it personally. What side are you on? 

And, of course, Dylan closes with the gospel! He tells us we are in the midst of a spiritual movement, and I love the way he uses Jesus’s words to compel us to get on board. For, “the first one now will later be last” Face it … “ … the times they are a-changin’”         

Come gather ’round, people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
And you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin’
Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’

Sisters & Brothers ~ Let us heed the call of our prophetic voices: Keep your hearts pure and claim the change that is happening … and let it begin with you!

Pastor Bob <><

1. I have a white problem – not a black, brown, yellow or anybody else problem. They’re not the problem. I am. And I need to admit that so that God can help me change.
2. I have a male problem – not a female problem. They’re not the problem. I am. And I need to admit that so that God can help me change.
3. I have a straight problem – not a gay, lesbian, transgender, transsexual, or any other sexual orientation problem. They’re not the problem. I am. And I need to admit that so that God can help us change.
4. I have a Euro-centric citizenship problem – not an immigrant. undocumented, illegal alien, or foreigner problem.  They’re not the problem. I am. And I need to admit that so that God can help me change.

In sum, I have a “me” problem. (And by the way, I think for those like me, our country has a “we” problem.) The truth of my story is that I have not been a good neighbor to people who aren’t like me. I have spent too much of my life crossing over to the safe side of the street where my preference and privilege protect me. And I have failed to understand that because of the power of my preference and privilege, I have a unique God-given calling to help my neighbors. 

Like you, I celebrate the principles and ideals that this country is founded on. I think that they give our nation the best chance in the world to see a great diversity of peoples live in peace and harmony with justice and freedom for all. But the time has come for me to understand that just because I can celebrate those ideals and principles in my heart, because I have experienced them directly and personally, that until my neighbors can also do that, then those ideals and principles are hollow promises and empty slogans. Now I can see how I have lived my life based on my self- “white-tiousness.”

I want to thank God for being so quick and clear (after all these years!) in showing me the truth of my life, compared to my neighbors, in such a compelling and convincing way. I now know that this new path of my spiritual journey has just begun. I now know that there are many more things that I don’t know about this journey than I do know. But I also now know that if I stick with God on this, and don’t rush to get out in front of God, then I too could someday be as “good” of a neighbor to others as the Samaritan was to the man in the story. 

Lastly, I can’t help but wonder if God has been trying to speak to your heart as well. My spiritual intuition tells me so. That’s good! I cannot walk this walk path alone. I know that God is walking with me … but I wonder if you would be willing to join me. I wonder what that path might look like, and what it would entail. I know that there will be a lot of learning to be done … but also some real action. Let’s pray about it. Let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas about this … and let us be led by the Holy Spirit, who can teach us everything we need to know if we are willing to listen.

No Jesus ~ No Peace                                                                                                                                          Know Jesus ~ Know Peace,

Pastor Bob