This blog contains responses to blog prompts, & thoughts on spiritual or religious themes |
Istijlál (Majesty), 14 Mulk (Dominion) 176 B.E. - Thursday, February 20, 2020 Artist: Bob Dylan Title: Times They Are A-Changin' Lyrics1 Come gather around people, wherever you roam And admit that the waters around you have grown And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin' Come writers and critics, who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't come again And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin And there's no tellin' who that it's namin' For the loser now will be later to win For the times they are a-changin' Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled The battle outside ragin' Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin' Come mothers and fathers throughout the land And don't criticize what you can't understand Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly aging Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand For the times they are a-changin' The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast The slow one now will later be fast As the present now will later be past The order is rapidly fadin' And the first one now will later be last For the times they are a-changin' This song is as relevant today as it was when Bob Dylan sang it live in concert in 1965. Indeed, it could be more relevant today because times are changing faster in the twenty-first century than they were in the twentieth century. Today the ills of prejudice of race, nation, and religion are playing out on national and worldwide scales. There are two forces active in the world today. One of those forces focuses on exclusion, and deepening the wounds caused by past hatreds and xenophobia. The other forces is inclusion, which focuses on the oneness of humanity and healing the wounds of the past. The survival of the human race and the planet itself is at stake. Humanity's survival depends upon accepting the oneness of the human race, while healing the woulds that the hatred and prejudice of the past has caused. In order to heal these wounds we must face them and accept responsibility for healing them through our interactions with the rest of the human species and the planet. Footnotes |