Because I’m old enough to remember when the Beatles came to the U.S. on the Mayflower, I’m also able to remember that 1969 was a pretty big year. So many really BIG things in the news! As with any other year, some of the news was pretty horrible. I’d rather not mention those stories if you don’t mind; these days I really need to maintain a positive attitude. Instead, some of the more positive stories were things like the Apollo 11 moon landing, and the New York Mets winning the World Series. Oh and yeah, and there was a pretty big music festival called Woodstock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During that summer I was 15, and of\ncourse I was paying close attention to the counterculture and the\nworld of popular music. My interest in all such happenings actually\nsprouted several years earlier, when my grandparents gave me an 8\ntransistor radio for my 8th<\/sup> birthday (1962). Radio\nprovided a gateway to the world at large; and I kept that thing on\nwith great regularity. God bless our mother, she always made sure I\nhad a working 9 volt battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We were definitely a media driven family. By that I mean that the TV was always on; and when it wasn’t, there was the radio. We also had subscriptions to Time and Life magazines; so we had plenty of opportunities to keep up with current events. The 60s saw our country in some upheaval due to numerous protests. Large crowds were marching for causes like peace, civil rights, gender equality, and environmental concerns. Music of the day was evolving from doo wop to rock ‘n roll to psychedelic sounds. My mind was being strongly influenced by all of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I was by no means alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From where I and many of my peers\nstood, a lot of what the crap that was going on in the world made\nabsolutely no sense. Pollution was destroying our air, water and\nsoils. Also, strong dependence on the use of poisonous chemicals\nfor pest and weed control was harming Mother Nature. War was killing\nchildren and other living things. And to be \u201csuccessful,\u201d you\nneeded to be a Caucasian male. So protests and marches were staged\nas efforts to raise consciousness and hopefully change things for the\nbetter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some progress was made; but\nunfortunately greed, ignorance, and intolerance seem to have gained\nsome ground over the last few years. Mother Nature is still being\ntreated very badly; and those interested in maintaining the status\nquo are sparing no effort to prevent meaningful action that could\nsave our planet. Racial intolerance and gender inequality still rob\nour souls of the peace and love our Creators intended for us. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The media is buzzing with horrible news of yet another assasination and yet another school shooting. Sadly, too much time is spent finger pointing on both sides of the political aisles, with nowhere near enough time being spent on how to prevent such madness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember all that mention of 1969 at the beginning of this story? Well at that music festival called Woodstock, sanitation issues, scarce availability of food and water, and many other difficulties plagued the event; yet no violence erupted, and only 2 people died (one of an overdose, one killed accidentally by a tractor). Nearly a half million people gathered and showed the world that peace and love, in spite of adverse conditions, were indeed possible. There are still many children of the 60’s who cling to the belief that living in peace and love is more than just a dream. It’s a necessity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We can do it. Together. We must face the fact that we are all children of God and we ALL<\/em><\/strong> have a right to be here. If we can embrace that fact, perhaps we can work together to prevent senseless violence, stop the senseless destruction of Mother Nature, and eliminate the utter selfishness that prevents us from doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Joni Mitchell’s famous song proclaims, \u201cWe’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n