Just 'Cause I Like the Quote

More Than Just the Words

I was in a conversation on music the other evening. It centered around the thought that some have said that Bob Dylan is the greatest musician from Minnesota. (Present company excluded, of course.) Prince was either tied with Dylan or a close second. Admittedly there are not a lot of famous musicians of any genre who hail from Minnesota and to compare Dylan and Prince to others is also unfair.  But that's not the point of this post.

A couple of the people I was talking with (musicians themselves) were appalled that Dylan and Prince would be considered the greatest Minnesota musicians. Prince's revolution in music and multi-instrument talent was good, but, meh, they didn't like him. No problem with that. Differences in taste are understandable.

But neither of them cared for Bob Dylan, either. To a dyed-in-the-wool Dylan fan that is nothing short of heresy. They were willing to give him being a good songwriter/poet, but musician? Double "meh!" "You can't understand what he's even singing."

As I have said here before about Dylan, it isn't just the words themselves, it is also about how he sings and phrases the words. Even odd and make-no-sense lyrics are part of the music. Dylan uses words and his voice as instruments in and of themselves. The poetry can flow with the music and vice versa, even when you wonder about what it is about being out on "Highway 61." I have to admit that he is not as good at that today as he was in earlier decades, but you can still hear the power of the vocal and verbal instrument in his newer stuff.

Today I was listening to my iPod and "Highway 61 Revisited" came on the shuffle. As I paid attention to it with the discussion the other day on my mind, I noticed even more about the use of the vocals. I realized that it reminded me of a great deal of what Louis Armstrong did with the trumpet and jazz music 100 years ago. Armstrong added extra notes, sliding into or out of the melody, playing with the rhythm in ways that no one else had ever done. In that he invented a whole new way of playing music. Jazz and popular music was forever changed.

Bob Dylan is to vocal folk and rock music what Armstrong was to jazz. He was doing things with his voice that no one was doing. (The Beatles can't be ignored in this process, but the cross-fertilization of Dylan and the Beatles is well documented.) Part of it was admittedly because Dylan was not a great singer like the other pop performers or folk artists. He slid around the notes, he mumbled some words, he added odd harmonies. Often the music itself was relatively simple- it was the combination of simple styles that made the complexity adding to the words. Sometimes it was by mistake, like Al Kooper's iconic organ on "Like a Rolling Stone." It always worked. (Listen to the chorus of that song as well to see Dylan's use of melody and harmony.)

So, for my money, Dylan ranks right up there with Satchmo in the pantheon of music revolutionaries. (Miles Davis, the Beatles and Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash, John Coltrane are in that group, too.) Here are two examples. First, the greatest first step into jazz ever made with Armstrong's "West End Blues." As radical as Dylan with an electric guitar. The opening cadenza? Unique! The grace notes and style- music never before created.

Then one of Dylan's early songs. It has all the form of folk music. It's just Dylan and his guitar and harmonica. Hear the vocals; hear the words. See how they all fit together. "Don't Think Twice It's All Right."

Dylan- The Immortal Three

I was originally planning on posting this back on December 10 when Dylan was scheduled to (not) pick up his Nobel Prize. Things got in the way and I pushed it off until now. No reason that I chose today other than it seemed like a good day- the day before Epiphany.

2016 Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016 is awarded to Bob Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".

I had posted my favorites among Dylan's many songs. I skipped these three. I see these as his immortal songs. They defined the myth and music of Bob Dylan. Everything he has done since then is growth from these three.

• Blowing In the Wind-1963
  Protest and hope in the first two songs. Firmly in the folk tradition, but hints of new worlds of music, new standards of sound, hints of becoming Dylan.
  
  
  
  
• The Times They are A-Changin'-1964
  A call to one generation from a so-called voice of the new. But he wasn't that. He was a voice of change, challenging all generations to get out of the way if you can't understand. Perhaps there is a message here for our day. This is a video from a performance at the White House remembering the music of the Civil Rights Movement. This is more than that.
  
  
  
  
• Like A Rolling Stone-1965
  He was criticized when he did this song, electric, at the Newport Folk Festival. He opened new doors for music and some feel it is the greatest rock and roll song ever written. The song grows with Dylan. Poetry in motion.
  
  

The argument on whether Dylan deserved a Nobel Prize will continue. There will most likely be no final answer. That's okay. Dylan is who he is. For that those of us who grew up with his music over the last 55 years can be grateful!

Let's finish this off with the remarkable and emotional performance of Patti Smith at the Nobel Prize ceremony. She sang what may be Dylan's most powerful protest song, and fine poetry- A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall.

Dylan- My Next Ten

He was speechless and will try to be there. Good enough for me.

So, with the attention on Dylan, I continue with the next ten of my favorite Dylan songs. I am doing it in chronological order. Last time I covered basically his first decade. That means these ten come from 40 years instead of 50. I didn't look up how many songs he wrote in the first ten as compared to the last 40. It really doesn't matter. There are many different Dylans and the most significant overall was probably the several who showed up in the beginning.

That doesn't mean he wasn't still the outstanding poet. He just did it with a different style. I was also not as tuned into what Dylan was doing in most of these past 40 years. But let's just ignore all that. These are my favorites. So it's my list.

Reflecting- By 1973 Dylan was more reflective. Writing a score for a movie about Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid gave him a chance to do some thinking about changes of icons. He wrote a benediction-style song and reflected on the storms and where he could go for safety. The words are just as powerful as his earlier songs, but by now he was not breaking new ground so much as expanding the ideas.
11. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1973)

Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can’t shoot them anymore
That long black cloud is comin’ down
I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door

 12. Forever Young (1974)

 May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young

13. Shelter from the Storm (1975)

’Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”...

In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an’ they gave me a lethal dose
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn
“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

 Born Again- Then he became a Christian. Some good music, good words, but they weren't quite the same. These two are representative. One was whimsical with an edge. The other translated his earlier understanding of our human requirement into his new religious language.
14. Man Gave Names to All the Animals (1979)

Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning.
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago.

He saw an animal that liked to growl,
Big furry paws and he liked to howl,
Great big furry back and furry hair.
"Ah, think I'll call it a bear."

He saw an animal as smooth as glass
Slithering his way through the grass.
Saw him disappear by a tree near a lake . . .

15. Gotta Serve Somebody (1979)

You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side
You may be workin’ in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair
You may be somebody’s mistress, may be somebody’s heir
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody...

You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray
You may call me anything but no matter what you say
You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

Transition- I have only one song from the 80s and 90s, not because of Dylan, but because I wasn't paying attention. Other things were going on. But maybe Dylan knew that as well. I have no idea if he was talking about mid-life, me, the world, or the Reagan era, but this song seems to reach out in the midst of all that.
16. Everything is Broken (1989)

Streets are filled with broken hearts
Broken words never meant to be spoken
Everything is broken
Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground...

Broken hands on broken ploughs
Broken treaties, broken vows
Broken pipes, broken tools
People bending broken rules
Hound dog howling, bullfrog croaking
Everything is broken 

Still Moving- The last three are from the last decade or so as Dylan moved into "elderhood." His voice changed significantly; his style moving into a combination of lounge singer, wise elder, and cynical observer. Was Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum the presidential candidates of 2000? Was the levee in New Orleans? Was the thunder on the mountain ringing from Afghanistan? Or was it just Dylan writing poetry that sounded good? Whatever it was, he still had the spark.
17. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (2001)

Living in the Land of Nod
Trustin’ their fate to the Hands of God
They pass by so silently
Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee
Well, they’re going to the country, they’re gonna retire
They’re taking a street car named Desire
Looking in the window at the pecan pie
Lot of things they’d like they would never buy...
Well a childish dream is a deathless need
And a noble truth is a sacred dream
My pretty baby, she’s lookin’ around
She’s wearin’ a multi-thousand dollar gown
Tweedle-dee Dee is a lowdown, sorry old man
Tweedle-dee Dum, he’ll stab you where you stand
“I’ve had too much of your company,”
Says Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedle-dee Dee

18. Levee’s Gonna Break (2006)

If it keep on rainin' the levee gonna break
If it keep on rainin' the levee gonna break
Some of these people don't know which road to take
When I'm with you I forget I was ever blue
When I'm with you I forget I was ever blue
Without you there's no meaning in anything I do
Some people on the road carrying everything that they own
Some people on the road carrying everything that they own
Some people got barely enough skin to cover their bones

19. Thunder on the Mountain (2006)

Thunder on the mountain, rolling like a drum
Gonna sleep over there, that's where the music coming from
I don't need any guide, I already know the way
Remember this, I'm your servant both night and day

The pistols are poppin' and the power is down
I'd like to try somethin' but I'm so far from town
The sun keeps shinin' and the North Wind keeps picking up speed
Gonna forget about myself for a while, gonna go out and see what others need

I've been sitting down studying the art of love
I think it will fit me like a glove
I want some real good woman to do just what I say
Everybody got to wonder what's the matter with this cruel world today

Thunder on the mountain rolling to the ground
Gonna get up in the morning walk the hard road down
Some sweet day I'll stand beside my king
I wouldn't betray your love or any other thing

20. Duquesne Whistle (2012)

Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like she ain't gon' blow no more

Can't you hear that Duquesne whistle blowing?
Blowing like the sky's gonna blow apart
You're the only thing alive that keeps me going
You're like a time bomb in my heart

I can hear a sweet voice steadily calling
Must be the mother of our Lord

I will deal with the three iconic songs next month.

Beyond these and the three iconic songs I will talk about next month, I know there are some significant songs I have not listed- Gates of Eden, Desolation Row, Visions of Johanna, With God on Our Side, Mississippi, Hurricane. But then it would have gotten to my Top 30 or 40 or whatever. I had to put a stop to it sometime.

Until then, I am just going to enjoy his music- and maybe even dig into some of those "transition" years and see if there was more there.

Dylan- My First Ten

Well, Dylan has sure been keeping everyone in suspense. As of this writing no one has heard from him and he isn't answering the phone. Is he just being "Dylan" or what? (Yes, there are those who have refused the prize, or have been forced to  by their country- the Soviet Union.) I hope that isn't what Dylan is up to.

Anyway, I said I was going to post about some of my favorites. Instead of ordering them, an impossible task, I am going to list mine chronologically. (I will do the three iconic, forever great songs in a separate post.)

So here are the ten in that first decade of greatness.
(All lyrics, Bob Dylan)

Protest- As a folk-singer in the early 60s, Dylan would naturally have been seen as a protest singer. That's what the Greenwich Village scene would have been all about. But Dylan was not one to do it as blatantly- or unambiguously as some. You were often uncertain what he was getting at, thanks to incredibly well-written verses. These three from that era spoke volumes, even when he would deny or be non-committal about meanings.
1. A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall (1963)

I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow
I met one man who was wounded in love
I met another man who was wounded with hatred
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

2. Masters of War (1963)

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

3. Chimes of Freedom (1964)

Starry-eyed an’ laughing as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
As we listened one last time an’ we watched with one last look
Spellbound an’ swallowed ’til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an’ worse
An’ for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Musical Revolution- Yes, everyone points to the Newport Folk Festival and Dylan "going electric." But it sure didn't change his writing style any. In fact, the electric sound only enhanced the words.These five are truly my top favorites among all Dylan's songs. They are fun, they have depth, they can be inscrutable. But they are Dylan at his poetic best. He took the poetry and made it rock- and sing- and go into all kinds of unusual places. The protest songs had poetry and power. These are just immortal.
4. Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

Now the rovin’ gambler he was very bored
He was tryin’ to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes I think it can be very easily done
We’ll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61 

5. Subterranean Homesick Blues (1965)

Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin’ that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone’s tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the D.A.
Look out kid
Don’t matter what you did
Walk on your tiptoes
Don’t try “No-Doz”
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don’t need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows

6. Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)

Though you might hear laughin’, spinnin’, swingin’ madly across the sun
It’s not aimed at anyone, it’s just escapin’ on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin’
And if you hear vague traces of skippin’ reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it’s just a ragged clown behind
I wouldn’t pay it any mind
It’s just a shadow you’re seein’ that he’s chasing

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you

7. Maggie’s Farm (1965)

I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more
No, I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more
Well, I try my best
To be just like I am
But everybody wants you
To be just like them
They sing while you slave and I just get bored
I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more

 8. Rainy Day Women #12 and 35 (1966)

They’ll stone ya when you’re at the breakfast table
They’ll stone ya when you are young and able
They’ll stone ya when you’re tryin’ to make a buck
They’ll stone ya and then they’ll say, “good luck”
Tell ya what, I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned

New Depth- Here was a whole new Dylan- again. Motorcyle accident, Nashville singing, reacing middle age. The poetry was no less profound, and he was still speaking for himself. No, he was not the poet for a generation. He spoke from his life and his views. The fact that we could go with him was a bonus. These two of that first decade spoke to a longing we didn't even know we had.
9. All Along the Watchtower (1968)

“There must be some way out of here,” said the joker to the thief
“There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth”

“No reason to get excited,” the thief, he kindly spoke
“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late”

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too

10. I Shall Be Released (1971)

They say ev’ry man needs protection
They say ev’ry man must fall
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Some place so high above this wall
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released

Let's end with an iconic music video. A classic of a fun song. Yes, it is the song that gave the "Weathermen" radical group its name. It is fun, it makes you smile.

It's Dylan.

My Favorites By the Nobel Winner

According to Wikipedia, Bob Dylan has a collection of 522 songs he has written.

We can often accuse Dylan of not singing as we normally think of it. He has a way of using the sound of words to build the emotion and movement. The rhythm of the words is as important as the musical movement.

Hence, in my opinion, the Nobel Prize for Literature is well-deserved. He is a poetic wordsmith that allows music to flow from the words. I have not idea, of course, when Dylan started with the words and when he started with the music. Whichever might come first the connection between the two is always in service of the words. Sometimes, especially in the truly iconic songs, the music may seem trite, the words cliched. But that is only due to the fact that these were there at the creation. In fact, these types of songs ARE the creation story.

First, though, I listed my favorites. I wanted to give my top 5. Didn't work. I easily came up with my top 6. (It's impossible to stop at 1, 3, or 5.) Needless to say they are from after his move into rock. Some of his most powerful- and also among my top favorites- are before that. The words, the sounds, the fun of the first three move into into three songs that moved me internally, numbers 4 - 6. Then I wanted my top 10. Just as impossible to do. But what about...? After that it was how they came to me. It was easier to stop at 20. Hence this list:

1. Rainy Day Women #12 and 35 (1966)
2. Subterranean Homesick Blues (1965)
3. Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
4. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1973)
5. All Along the Watchtower (1967)
6. Forever Young (1974)
7. I Shall Be Released (1971)
8. Gotta Serve Somebody (1979)
9. God Gave Names to All the Animals (1979)
10. Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)
11. Masters of War (1963)
12. A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall (1963)
13. Chimes of Freedom (1964)
14. Shelter from the Storm (1975) 
15. Duquesne Whistle (2012)
16. Thunder on the Mountain (2006)
17. Everything is Broken (1989)
18. The Levee's Gonna Break (2006) 
19. Maggie's Farm (1965)
20. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum (2001)

There are three songs conspicuously missing from that list. These are the obvious songs. These are the songs that go beyond "favorites" into the realm of the iconic, cultural stepping stones, music-changing music. These are THE creation songs I referenced above. Even if I didn't like them, which I do, they are here forever, as essential as any music ever written. In chronological order:

• Blowin' In the Wind-1963
• The Times They are A-Changing-1964
• Like A Rolling Stone-1965

I will be putting together several more posts on these 23 songs. Watch for them over the next couple weeks.

In most ways, it would be easiest to say that my favorite Bob Dylan songs are the songs written by Bob Dylan. Dylan and the Beatles dominate my iTunes songs in the popular music. No one has done with and for music as much as these artists. Dylan is unique. Always moving, always creating new ideas, always a step ahead of even himself. Folk, rock, country, bluegrass, jazz, the American songbook have all been impacted by this minstrel of American music in the past 55+ years.

It is poetic literature. It is amazing.

The Times, They Have Changed!

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 was awarded to Bob Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".


Wow!

Happy 75th!

The Bells Ring For All

I heard Sarah Jarosz sing this on A Prairie Home Companion last week and was struck by its power and message. It is a Bob Dylan song from the late 1980s. Some consider it part of his "Christian" period. Yet the message is broader than that and its depth reminds us to pay attention to what - and who - is around us. Dylan has the amazing ability to make us think. Listen to this at least once, letting the words carry you into a deeper connection with your Higher Power.



Ring them bells, ye heathen
From the city that dreams
Ring them bells from the sanctuaries
’Cross the valleys and streams
For they’re deep and they’re wide
And the world’s on its side
And time is running backwards
And so is the bride

Ring them bells St. Peter
Where the four winds blow
Ring them bells with an iron hand
So the people will know
Oh it’s rush hour now
On the wheel and the plow
And the sun is going down
Upon the sacred cow

Ring them bells Sweet Martha
For the poor man’s son
Ring them bells so the world will know
That God is one
Oh the shepherd is asleep
Where the willows weep
And the mountains are filled
With lost sheep

Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf
Ring them bells for all of us who are left
Ring them bells for the chosen few
Who will judge the many when the game is through
Ring them bells, for the time that flies
For the child that cries
When innocence dies

Ring them bells St. Catherine
From the top of the room
Ring them from the fortress
For the lilies that bloom
Oh the lines are long
And the fighting is strong
And they’re breaking down the distance
Between right and wrong
Copyright © 1989 by Special Rider Music

Chimes of Freedom

Bob Dylan's remarkable song, Chimes of Freedom came on my iPod shuffle mix this afternoon. It has always been one of my favorite of Dylan's protest era songs. It speaks of the ever-present need for the chimes of freedom to be tolling for so many of us. As I was listening, the first verse listing jumped out at me as befitting all the news of refugees in Europe. This part of the song reminds us of the responsibility that I believe we have toward our fellow human beings:

Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An’ for each an’ ev’ry underdog soldier in the night
An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Link

Here's the whole song. 

But the rest of the list is just as powerful as that first verse...

I can find myself at least a couple of times in the list...

or people I have known and met...

the rebel, the rake
the luckless, the abandoned an’ forsaked
the outcast, burnin’ constantly at stake

the gentle, the kind
the guardians and protectors of the mind
the unpawned painter behind beyond his rightful time

the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
All down in taken-for-granted situations
the deaf an’ blind, the mute
the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an’ cheated by pursuit

the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail

the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an’ worse
for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe

We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing!

Link

It's hard to beat the poetry and depth of Dylan. Even when the words seem to be coming from somewhere the rest of us are unable to find, the way the words meld and move make us stop and pay attention. Dylan has often used words as others use musical notes.

The chimes flash full and loud in this unequaled song. Listen again, or hear Bruce Springsteen's superb version (Link).

A 50-Year Memory: Revisiting Highway 61

From Rolling Stone:

Happy 50th birthday to Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan's strangest, funniest, most baffling and most perfect album, released on August 30th, 1965.
Link

Yep- It's been that long.

Here from Wikipedia is the track listing:

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Like a Rolling Stone"	6:13
2.	"Tombstone Blues"	6:00
3.	"It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry"	4:09
4.	"From a Buick 6"	3:19
5.	"Ballad of a Thin Man"	5:58

Side two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Queen Jane Approximately"	5:31
2.	"Highway 61 Revisited"	3:30
3.	"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"	5:32
4.	"Desolation Row"	11:21

An almost unbeatable listing. Inscrutable, fun, and a lot of "It doesn't get any better than this," including what is arguably the greatest song in rock and roll history, "Like a Rolling Stone."



So why not? Here's the title track- still one of my favorites.

# 6,000- In Memory of Another Pilgrim

Normally I would simply note the passing of post # 6,000 in the history of this blog which started over 12 years ago. But in the last couple weeks a fellow-pilgrim, friend, and very special person came to the end of his pilgrimage.

So I dedicate this post, number 6,000 of pilgrim wanderings for my friend, Ron, a true and dedicated pilgrim throughout his life.

We met about 45 years ago in the midst of our shared objections to the Vietnam War and our desire to help those who wanted peace. We spent the next years in our common interests. He and his wife gave me a place to learn a bit about what it means to mature and become yourself. He was almost exactly 10 years older than I was and became a role model and older brother.

We shared a common desire to grow and wrestle with our Christianity and what it means in these days to be a Christ-follower. We knew that this included standing up for what is right, caring for those who were the least and the lost, asking hard questions of ourselves, the government, and the churches. We learned and challenged each other to keep the faith and trust in the God who is the Creator.

His living room sanctuary was where I came to know another pilgrim who was soon to become my wife. We all worked together for peace as being something more than anti-war. It was a way of being and accepting, even in our human imperfections, the ways of God as the way of life.

He is also the impetus that got me into the Moravian Church and on the path that I have followed for these past 40+ years. God puts the right people in the right place at the right time. I was a young college graduate who had no idea what it meant to find his way in the world. He was present at the creation of what I have become and with his wife and mine helped me discover me.

It seems like a cliche to say that he was one of those people who is the "salt of the earth." Yet, in all the ways Jesus meant that phrase, that describes Ron. He was a "blue-collar" person who was able to relate to people on a deep and intuitive level, regardless of their place or standing. This included the gay co-worker (in 1971!), the kids at the local youth center that I directed for the city, returning Vietnam veterans- or this seminarian trying to be real.

It is appropriate that he died on July 4th. He was patriotic, again in the very best sense of the word. He wanted this country to live up to its ideals in the midst of a time when those principles were being torn to shreds, we felt, by the government itself. It will also be easy for me to remember his "Saint's Day", the day his pilgrimage found its answers and the reunion with his wife and others who have gone before us.

Rest in Peace, my dear friend. Thanks!!

An old American folk song made famous by Dave van Ronk, Bob Dylan and others speaks of my feelings these past months since I learned of his terminal situation. While it isn't about Ron, it is about all those friends who walk into our lives and will not leave us unchanged.