Dionne Warwick is still doing well. I recently saw her on The Mike Huckabee show.
Does ANYONE remember the love we embraced back in the sixties and seventies? The optimism?
Sometimes, only when far away from the city, very late at night, I can still feel some of this. And in the very personal elation of holy recall, I can once again experience, maybe not the distant wilderness, but the garden.
Because of my knowledge and memory of the woods I knew as a child, I know something of the garden, its place and its meaning in our “story” (the story of the human race, its purpose, fall, etc—its place in creation); the paradise (from which we derive the word ‘park’) and wholeness before the fall, when Adamwalked with God “in the cool of the evening”, acting his role as a steward of the earth. The system of Sabbath-keeping, hospitality and jubilee which the laws of Exodus might have, perhaps, given us something of a second chance at this wholeness. And now, separation from it—the rage, the riots—that have overtaken us since 2015 or 2016 in a way I never thought I would see,
This wholeness, I believe, is not just found in the wilderness “away from it all”—but in humankind’s living in harmony with God and the biblical mandate: in right relationships with one another and the created environment, in a life-style that is in harmony with nature. As a child, with the rock-group Three-Dog-Night singing songs like Black and White and Joy to the World, this is how I perceived the world to be, or how I felt the world was becoming
It is found not just in contemplation of God-in-nature (in a completely pristine wilderness, where many have found it) but in communities as well: peace within one’s self foremost, that will be reflected in one’s home, community, and global world-view. This wholeness is a total way of life which effects one’s approach to all of one’s relationships and perspectives, including sociology, economic concerns, religious discipline, among others. Such wholeness, it would seem, is completely lost and unknown to us in a fallen world; longed for, pined for, groaned for—but never quite recalled. Humanity’s way of life does not seem to permit it in this age. This wholeness, and loss of it, is exemplified in the Biblical symbolism of stewardship and gardening.
I remember campfires, fireflies, childhood—and that song. What the world needs now is love sweet love. The rage in this country really needs to be quelled.
Thanks for bringing this topic to Fluther. If we can no longer be it, or even pretend for a little while, let us at least remember.
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