There were two things happening in America at the time in the late 60s. One was the counter-culture movement whose mantra was “Peace, Love, Dope”, and the other was the Jesus Revolution, born of the Charismatic Renewal;
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. John 14:27
Ever since I was born-again in the 1990s, two songs have haunted me. They are “Somebody to Love”[1] by the Jefferson Airplane, and “Woodstock”[2] by Joni Mitchell as sung by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. They were secular songs written for a secular age, but from within comes a cry from the heart.
These two songs came out in the late ‘60s. There were two things happening in America at the time. One was the counter-culture movement whose mantra was “Peace, Love, Dope”, and the other was the Jesus Revolution, born of the Charismatic Renewal. The Jesus “freaks” were to come to know the peace of God, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Take a hard look at the other and one is struck that it is a counterfeit, a facsimile of what God was doing in the hearts of young people. God moved; the Devil counter-moved.
We know that it was a counterfeit, because the songs reveal a longing, a cry from the heart that was not fulfilled. Those in the Jesus movement came to know the love of God, peace, and hope epitomized by songs like “In the Garden”[3]. The people of the counter-culture movement tried looking for love through sex, for peace through political activism, and for spiritual fulfillment through drugs. Yet the heart continued to cry out.
The song “Somebody to Love” begins with:
When the truth is found to be lies,
And all the joy within you dies.
A lot of songs were like that, the longing for the innocence of a bygone era, real or imagined, a trust betrayed. Then, it signalled a journey into a brave, new world of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll”. The chorus says:
Don’t you want somebody to love
Don’t you need somebody to love
Wouldn’t you love somebody to love
You better find somebody to love
The cry is for “somebody to love”. The Jesus people found that love in Jesus Christ. Grace Slick was trying to find it in a man.
Now, look at “Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell. The chorus says:
We are stardust
We are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
She uses the term “stardust” to evoke a celestial, spiritual unity. The “garden” evokes a return to an innocence that had been lost. It more specifically referred to the Woodstock music festival at Yasgur’s farm in August 1969 which was the pinnacle of the counter-culture movement, a time of peace, sharing, and music without violence, which came crashing down at the racetrack in Altamont California later that year. The Hells Angels were hired to provide security for a music festival there, which ended with the deaths of four of the participants.
Yet, the heart still cried out. It cried out for love. It cried out for peace. It cried out for spiritual fulfillment, all elusive, just beyond their reach. The counterfeit could not fulfill.
The Jesus people found love, His name is Jesus. The Bible tells us that God is love, that He doesn’t just embody it, He is love, a love we come to know as we tarry in the garden with Him, listening to His voice as He walks and talks with us.
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16
They found peace, the peace of God.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
They found connection to God.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14
By peace, the counter-culture people were focused on the cessation of hostilities in Viet Nam through political action. But the peace of God is much more. It is summed up in the Hebrew word shalom. When Jesus said to His disciples,
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27
He was speaking of shalom. Cornelius Plantinga[4] describes shalom this way:
The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.
The gates to the garden are still open to us. Does your heart cry out for unconditional love, for shalom, for spiritual connection? You can find it all in Jesus.
Ray Comfort shared an AI generated gospel song. He asks “Would you send this AI generated gospel song to someone you love?”[5] He shared it with his atheist/agnostic siblings and they responded positively to it. Your loved ones may as well.
I leave you with a song performed by Helen Shapiro, “Seh Ha Elohim (The Lamb of God)”[6]. She was a big name in Rock and Roll back in the 60s. In 1967, she became a Messianic Jew and this is one her worship songs. 1967 was the year of the “Summer of Love” in Haight-Ashbury; it was also the year of the charismatic renewal; it was also the year the Messianic Movement was born in Israel; it was also the year Jerusalem became the undivided capital of Israel. Move and counter-move.
Shalom.
Read next: Dear Miss Lonely Hearts
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