Wednesday, November 14, 2007
1968: What a year...
Just saw the latest issue of Newsweek and the cover is 1968. I know, many of you readers were not even born then. But I was in the last half of my junior, and first half of my senior, year in high school. I have not read the article, but I know what I remember from 1968. I remember the Beatles , Vietnam (the Tet offensive, I think), Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. That was the year I first heard the greatest rock band ever--Creedance Clearwater Revival.
I remember short skirts, cool teachers (and some not so cool), and fights over long hair (which really wasn't long yet) and not wearing socks. I remember being sent home from school for stupid things (no socks), and funny things (maybe it wasn't a good idea to let me do the announcements one morning).
I remember long talks about Jesus and making out. Sometimes involving the same girl. And (sad commentary here) with the same amount of passion.
It wasn't just 1968. It was that period when a generation was formed by music (Beatles, Stones, Creedance), assassinations (Kennedy and King), war (Vietman and Kent State), hypocrisy (Nixon, Watergate, and My Lai).
Younger, and older, people sometimes ask why we boomers think we are so special. Let me tell you why those days changed our world forever. We were the first generation post atomic bomb. We grew up knowing a bunch of idiots (our side or theirs) could blow us all up at any time. We were the generation that learned to be cynical about authority. Our war was different from the war of our fathers. We rebelled against hypocrisy. There is something profoundly disturbing about being lectured on the evils of drugs by someone chain smoking. We were the generation of civil rights and women's rights. And we were the generation of excess: turn on and tune out and free love. You could tell the sixties generation was not going to conform because so many of us dressed alike and talked alike. And however much you did, or didn't participate in the whole 60's scene... if you are over 50, you were formed by it.
Oh yeah. That was also the year I knew I was going to preach. I had always thought it before, decided it along about then.
Maybe next time I'll reflect on how those times have impacted the church today. You do realize we are being led by that generation now.
So what do you remember of the sixties? Or, for those younger, what do think was cool, or wierd? Or what do you want to ask about?
I remember short skirts, cool teachers (and some not so cool), and fights over long hair (which really wasn't long yet) and not wearing socks. I remember being sent home from school for stupid things (no socks), and funny things (maybe it wasn't a good idea to let me do the announcements one morning).
I remember long talks about Jesus and making out. Sometimes involving the same girl. And (sad commentary here) with the same amount of passion.
It wasn't just 1968. It was that period when a generation was formed by music (Beatles, Stones, Creedance), assassinations (Kennedy and King), war (Vietman and Kent State), hypocrisy (Nixon, Watergate, and My Lai).
Younger, and older, people sometimes ask why we boomers think we are so special. Let me tell you why those days changed our world forever. We were the first generation post atomic bomb. We grew up knowing a bunch of idiots (our side or theirs) could blow us all up at any time. We were the generation that learned to be cynical about authority. Our war was different from the war of our fathers. We rebelled against hypocrisy. There is something profoundly disturbing about being lectured on the evils of drugs by someone chain smoking. We were the generation of civil rights and women's rights. And we were the generation of excess: turn on and tune out and free love. You could tell the sixties generation was not going to conform because so many of us dressed alike and talked alike. And however much you did, or didn't participate in the whole 60's scene... if you are over 50, you were formed by it.
Oh yeah. That was also the year I knew I was going to preach. I had always thought it before, decided it along about then.
Maybe next time I'll reflect on how those times have impacted the church today. You do realize we are being led by that generation now.
So what do you remember of the sixties? Or, for those younger, what do think was cool, or wierd? Or what do you want to ask about?
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I was Avery's age when the calendar flipped to 1970, so I have no recollection of the 60's. To hear my parents tell it, too, they were too busy getting college degrees, married, and having babies just in time to avoid the draft to do much about their pop culture influence. I'll be eager to hear your thoughts!
Steve, I wasn't born until '69.
To be honest, I sort of resent all of the rebellion against my grandparents' generation. I think most of that rebellion was pointless and the rebels were clueless.
Don't take that as a downer though. If it weren't for a couple of hippies, I wouldn't be here. I thank God for them and I thank God for Smith Lawn. I'm happy having grown up with the "squares" that adopted me.
To be honest, I sort of resent all of the rebellion against my grandparents' generation. I think most of that rebellion was pointless and the rebels were clueless.
Don't take that as a downer though. If it weren't for a couple of hippies, I wouldn't be here. I thank God for them and I thank God for Smith Lawn. I'm happy having grown up with the "squares" that adopted me.
'69-er here, Steve. But the impressions created by the decade of the 60's spilled over into my decade of youth - the 70's. The styles, the hair, the excess, the music, the culture was all "me" driven.
Our world was smaller then- no mass communication outlets as today via computers and cell phones, so somehow we were closer and chummier then. We entertained ourselves and we interacted with others more easily. One set of my grandparents couldn't fathom that I would have black and hispanic kids over to my home to play football in the street or to ride bicycles through the neighborhood for hours on end.
Oh yes, and the drugs. Drugs were EVERYWHERE when I was a kid. Thank God for my parents who actually spent time with me and little brother and told us to stay away from that garbage. Certainly, this is one area that has remained firmly planted in our culture- and the seeds were planted in the 60's.
Someone once asked me (perhaps a teacher) what good came from the 60's era. There was so much turmoil, hate, discrimination, social apathy, military conflict, etc. The only answer I gave back then was "the music". The music lives on and inspired a generation of musicians whose music lives on even today. I'm convinced that music is the one component of social life that continues to reach any and all people- regardless of creed, race, religion, background, and socio-economic background.
Music doesn't care who you are or where you came from, it only serves to affect the soul and inspire the heart. Music never dies.
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Our world was smaller then- no mass communication outlets as today via computers and cell phones, so somehow we were closer and chummier then. We entertained ourselves and we interacted with others more easily. One set of my grandparents couldn't fathom that I would have black and hispanic kids over to my home to play football in the street or to ride bicycles through the neighborhood for hours on end.
Oh yes, and the drugs. Drugs were EVERYWHERE when I was a kid. Thank God for my parents who actually spent time with me and little brother and told us to stay away from that garbage. Certainly, this is one area that has remained firmly planted in our culture- and the seeds were planted in the 60's.
Someone once asked me (perhaps a teacher) what good came from the 60's era. There was so much turmoil, hate, discrimination, social apathy, military conflict, etc. The only answer I gave back then was "the music". The music lives on and inspired a generation of musicians whose music lives on even today. I'm convinced that music is the one component of social life that continues to reach any and all people- regardless of creed, race, religion, background, and socio-economic background.
Music doesn't care who you are or where you came from, it only serves to affect the soul and inspire the heart. Music never dies.
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