Woodstock

My fascination with the Woodstock Music & Art Fair began sometime this summer. I lived with my granny and we watched a lot of television.

There was a documentary commemorating the 40th anniversary of the festival on CBS that we decided to watch one evening. I had of course heard of the festival but never really known much about the background of it. My notion was that it was a big gathering of hippies, drug abuse, and promiscuous sex. Most of these notions stand true. But I saw something much deeper.

Granny was very vocal in comparing Woodstock to the story of Sodom and Gomorra, in which God wiped out a people who were engaging, unrepentantly, in immoral, sinful activities. After much thought and meditation, I decided, against my prior opinion of agreement that I disagreed with this comparison. Let me explain...

The driving force behind the festival was that people had gathered with the hope a better world. A world that was centered around  peace, understanding, and love rather than redemptive violence, ignorance, and hate. Though many of the people there were engaging in immoral lifestyles and while they may have had skewed motives, they had the right idea. What they saw was a system that wasn't working. And they set out to change it.

Modern/Western Christianity has fallen into the same empirialistic patterns that Jesus came to save us from. War and consumerism have become the accepted norms. The Father sent His son Jesus to restore things to the way they should be. Yet the whole world is bent on ruling by the sword and selfishly hoarding what was given to them by God, rather than sharing their blessings with people who have nothing. 

The people of Woodstock, while not necessarily followers of the Way, embodied the way in which Christ taught us to live. Unconditional love. A life spent not judging others by their mistakes, but accepting and loving the people who are the most lost. In this way alone are we able to truly show them the Light of the world and see their hearts turned to the God who fully restores.

I believe there is so much to be learned from the half million people who gathered together 40 years ago. Through the power given to us by God through the Spirit, we are commanded to love God and love our neighbor UNCONDITIONALLY. We are the mode in which Jesus has chosen to continue to bring this Kingdom of God that He talks about to Earth.