Occupy the World

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith For the Years of Winter…

Folk-singer Jim Manley and I go back a long way together, but I’m sort of sorry that I brought him six thousand miles to sing "Raggedy Band" at IL State U 45 years ago. Now he seems to think we’re kindred spirits, so he sent me his new environment-hugging CD, "Pilgrim on a Brave New Planet: Just and faithful living in a tough and changing world."

Apparently he is such a pilgrim. It’s also obvious he wants me to be such a pilgrim. But I’m too old to be a pilgrim. The problem with blaming old age is that Jim’s older than I am. Who does he think he is, Abraham? [1] Some Old Testament prophet claiming that “old men shall dream dreams?” [2]

The first track is Jim’s famous "Take Off Your Shoes." Great song. I hum it all the time. He wrote some new, very specific lines about taking care of God’s holy ground, but I didn’t pay much attention, because I knew the original lyrics. The second track is "Come, Old Pilgrim." That appealed to me. I figured it would be a nice ditty about old folks gathering around the fire to keep warm as we tell stories of our past victories over the forces of darkness. Wrong! What does he mean, “We’ve pleasured in green pastures as we’ve lived beyond our means?” Now he’s quit preachin’ and gone to meddlin’. [3]

On through the tracks he keeps meddlin, in very specific ways:

When “Drill, baby, drill,” turns to “Spill, baby, spill,” God’s counting on me, God’s counting on you.

This is how the world attacks, with car exhaust and chimney stacks.

Feel the temperature arising, no more time for compromising, endless data analyzing, what more do we need?

“Too big to fail” demands revising/New needs prove that “less is more.”

He even got Bob Dylan to let him use "The Times They Are A-Changin’" and add a couple of Jim’s own verses. So gather round people, rise up and stand, Unite with each other on earth’s shifting sand…

I thought old people got to rest a little bit. Shouldn’t young people be responsible for the stewardship of God’s earth now? Everybody? Sheesh!

For earth’s sake, don’t buy this CD or its accompanying songbook at http://manleymusic.com/index.htm, or you’ll be rolling your walker out to the barricades. On the other hand, if each of us bought a copy and sent it to our Senator or Representative…

Please excuse me. I have to stop occupying the sofa and go Occupy the World.

JRMcF

I have told the story of how Jim and I have interacted through the years in “Spirit of Gentleness,” the title of Jim’s most-sung song, in Christ in Winter for Dec. 13, 2010.

1] Abraham was 75 when God told him to leave his native land and strike out for “The Promised Land.” Genesis 12:4.

2] Joel 2:28. “Then afterward I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” NRSV

3] Old preacher joke about the evangelist who condemned booze and the old farmer yelled Amen. He condemned gambling and the farmer yelled Amen. He condemned chewing tobacco and the old farmer yelled, “Now he’s quit preachin’ and gone to meddlin’.”

{I also write the fictional “Periwinkle Chronicles” blog. One needs a rather strange sense of humor to enjoy it, but occasionally it is slightly funny. It is at http://periwinklechronicles.blogspot.com/}

(If you would prefer to receive either “Christ In Winter” or “Periwinkle Chronicles” via email, just let me know at jmcfarland1721@charter.net, and I’ll put you on the email list.)