This one always has me near tears.
My 4th of July post.
And yes, this year we’re going to watch fireworks with family. Because kids love fireworks.
Bob Dylan "With God on Our Side" 1964
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4 responses to “Bob Dylan "With God on Our Side" 1964”
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I do understand that the context for this song is about the early years of this country and the destruction of the Indians. But as I was listening, I was also thinking about some reading I’ve been doing lately. If it doesn’t sound too bizarre, I’ve been reading the Bible. No, I haven’t gotten religion in some major way, just decided to treat it like a book and read it from the beginning, see better for myself what it says. What strikes me about what I’ve read up to now is the parts that have to do with repeated wars and conflict and the idea that recurs, which is that you know who is “right”, who has god on their side, because they win, because they take over this place or that. Of course, one has to remember that the Bible was written sometime after those battles, where you’d have to underscore, I suppose, the fact that god was on your side based on the outcome, which was already past. And of course that our current administration seems to be using a similar line of thinking in order to justify war in Iraq, and that we will know, I guess, that god was on our side because we’ll be victorious. Blech. What a way of trying to justify agression.
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Hey, I was thinking about you the other day, wondering how things were going.
Speaking of religion, we got lost on the way down to McDonough and were driving around a few back highways and you know how those back highways are with those little churches holding down every intersection. I was looking at the names. Zion. Mt. Olive. Not like I’ve not thought of it before but this afternoon it was the way it is some times when things strike you a certainy way, and I was thinking about how there’s not an olive tree in sight and it’s just kind of strange to have all these places named for things that have nothing to do with the surrounding area. I was especially attuned to it probably because it was the 4th of July. The place our relatives were taking us to see the fireworks turned out to be closed down this year. We ended up at a church which had a huge fireworks display for a church, as big as the one in Decatur. Was packed with cars for blocks and blocks.
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Hey, thanks for thinking of me. I’m sorry to be so out of touch. I will spare the details but things had gotten more difficult with my Mom in the weeks leading up to the Memorial Day weekend. Whatever is wrong with her, her behavior was getting more difficult for everyone to deal with. I just sort of hit some kind of wall, just felt like I was about to melt down. The situation got somewhat under control but I’m not sure what happened to me, just got in this really weird place where I felt like I had nothing left, like there was almost no me left. I felt like I wanted to retreat from everything and everyone. I mean, I kept working and all but I’d think of talking to people and felt like there was nothing of interest I could contribute to any conversation, felt like my life was at once compelling in the stuff I tend to and of no interest to anyone else, like I must be a huge bore to be around. So that’s where I’ve been. Nowhere, sort of. And busy at the same time. Somehow I think you will understand.
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I’ll email.
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