Give Me The Sixties

“Give me the Sixties” is a mantra for my enjoyment.  I have subscribed for years to Sirius/XM because of two things.  First, the Sixties station and Second, Bluegrass, especially emphasizing banjo. I might drop it for Spotify or even Pandora because it dropped Kyle Cantrell from the bluegrass station.  

Why the Sixties?  Maybe its not just the Sixties but just times past when upon reflection  and revisionist mind set, things were great then.  Maybe thinking that life was free, responsibilities less, and dreams were on the verge of becoming a reality. And so the nostalgia of the past as awe get older seems to grow.  I can rememberer where I was when a certain song is played.  I can remember my favorites like Simon and Garfunkel and Creedence Clear Water Revival.  There were the hope songs like “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” and like the more romantic songs from Bread.  Judy Collins was remarkable then and then there was Sonny and Cher. Oh, I could go on. It was also a time of the ill fated and useless Vietnam War, the draft, protests on campuses across the country, including at my alma mater, UK, but also a time when we thought we could change the world. I loved the Sixties. And I love understanding what they were singing and found that much of what they sang had purpose, though much of it led to a ‘Pied Pipers’ trek that has led us way from our Creator.  

This points to why I love older movies as well, with less hidden agenda than our most recent films.  So, I use my very limited collection of DVD’s (thank goodness, no tapes) with such diverse themes like: “The Mission”, “Rocky", or “My Dog Skip.” Back then, sexual content as well as perversion, was very limited and maybe only implied. And so, here I am, not wanting to go back to the past except in a rather nostalgic way that brings a little mental comfort and much enjoyment. 

Then I read this: 

“According to Gallup, fifty years ago, 70 percent of Americans said they trusted the mass media. Today, less than half that number agree, an all-time low. Only 22 percent of US adults say they trust the federal government to do the right thing just about always or most of the time. Office workers are feeling paranoid about job security, with fears of layoffs and being replaced by AI. Conversely, some are turning to AI therapy bots even though, as a Stanford study found, they fuel delusions and give dangerous advice. As a sign of the times, The New York Times reports that many people are rewatching television shows made in the early twenty-first century. The article cites the shows’ quality and the nostalgia of watching them again. I also think they are popular in an unpredictable world because we like stories that we already know we like and know we like the way they turn out.

The last line is so true, and maybe that is indicative of why I watch them as well. Our world is unpredictable and the older we get and less we think we can control our future, the more we want to go back to what is familiar. I remember when our mother needed a cup of flour and did not have it so she or I would just knock on the unlocked neighbor’s door and if he or she was not at home, we’d walk in and get it. This was reciprocal because of the trust developed.  Nothing like that today. 

There is one thing that is certain and that is our loving God. I’m fortunate to have learned to trust Him when I was young.  Through Jesus, He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  But our world today does not know what truth is or what is true anymore, and so trust is limited.  

I’d like to know the ending but I thought about that a little more. When we find ourselves in the midst of chaos, distrust, confusing transitions we seek the One that we can trust. Here is a possible explanation:

For most of human history, death wasn’t the end—it was a transition. Whether you believed in Heaven, reincarnation, or joining our ancestors, mortality had an escape clause. So you had something to look forward to, to trust in and something to hold on. But as traditional religious belief declines, this life becomes all there is. The stakes of mortality go from high to infinite.  

I do know the ending, but death is not the end, it is the beginning.  It began with the resurrection of our Lord, which is the point of demarcation for Christians, thus for me.  There is more to come, and this time without the imperfections of humanity but the perfections of God. One day we will be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven and that Kingdom will be on earth.  So we do have something to look forward to. I do not look at death with fear but as a transition to life in all of the abundance God has for me and all Christians.  And while I live this earthly life that God has graciously given me while in the midst of the chaos, uncertainty of our culture and world, I will still listen to the Sixties, watch the better films of years past, and live with great books, all of which will also take me down a  nostalgic road.  Yes, I will think back to my self deception knowing that it wasn’t all peaches and cream and “O Happy Days”. But the reality is God who saved me, has guided me and has loved me in the midst of my sin, imperfections and misjudgments. Because of God’s love for me, I see how He got me through the parts I want to forget, and how He is getting me through what I am facing now as I live, work and wait for that peaceable Kingdom.

Grace an Peace,

Quentin

Sharecropper’s Inheritance