5/7/17
A couple of weeks ago, when I was out in San Francisco visiting Annie, one day we went to a museum that had a special exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary, this year, of the “Summer of Love” (ring a bell with any of you aging hippies?). That was the umbrella label applied to a number of events and community efforts that took place in San Francisco in the summer of 1967. I want to talk a bit about that event, and about what it represented, because it’s relevant to what we’re doing here today, what we do here generally, and to what’s happening at 10 o’clock (we’re baptizing three children.)
The 1960’s were a unique period in American history: there was a number of new and different movements in our society, especially among the generation which was then coming of age, movements which developed over the course of the decade, which overlapped, and kind of came to be seen as one thing; sometimes called the “counter-culture”. It was exciting and inspiring to some, uncomfortable and challenging to others. Of the movements that came together in this time, some were political in origin: opposition to the war in Vietnam, resistance to the military draft, black power, feminism, civil rights, among others; some were cultural: rock music, how you dressed, and wore your hair, the adoption of alternate lifestyles; and this was when drug use came one the scene. To some this was all just typical youthful rebellion; but to others, it pointed toward a new way of life.
For people who saw it that way, the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco became a destination community for this generation’s artists, theatre people, musicians, writers, and social activists. These were the days of sit-ins, and teach-ins; and in January 1967, the Haight-Ashbury community sponsored a kind of counter-cultural rally they called the first “Human Be-In” (this movement had a sense of humor), with big-name rock groups, and hippie culture celebrity speakers. One of those was the poet Allen Ginsberg, who in his talk said this gathering announced the beginning of “a new kind of society, involving prayer, music, and spiritual life together rather than competition, acquisition, and war.” So there was a movement of the spirit going on, it wasn’t just sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll, as the saying went. The “Be-In” was intended just for the community; nonetheless, 30,000 people showed up, most of them kids, many of whom had traveled long distances.
This told the leaders of the Haight-Ashbury community that when high schools and colleges got out that spring, they would be swamped, with kids coming there from all over the country, overwhelming city services (and that in fact is what happened); so in early April of ‘67 people from a number of groups in Haight-Ashbury gathered to address the issues of food and housing they would be facing that summer. These leaders called themselves the Council of the Summer of Love (this was where the term originated.) They chose it, because, in the words of one organizer, calling it “the Summer of Love” “was our attempt to initiate these young people into….[a] positive and compassionate vision of what this embryonic cultural revolution was all about.”
For that summer these various community groups organized free food distribution, a free medical clinic, and a shelter for those with no place to stay; there was even a free store, where people brought in donations (of whatever), and if you saw something there you could use you just picked it up and took it away. They organized free concerts and street theatre performances, to give the kids a chance to get to know each other, network about where they could find food and a place to stay, keep them off the streets and out of trouble, and, of course, give them a taste of the richness of this new culture that had sprung up: a culture which had its most fully realized, and vividly public, display, at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair two years later.
Now, why am I going on at such length about all this? Well, you may have picked up on the connection between what I’ve been recalling to you just now, and today’s reading from the book of Acts describing the life of the early Church: “…many signs and wonders were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts….” So you can see some similarities: there’s the sense of a communal life, of taking care of each other, of a particular identity as a movement whose practices were different from those of contemporary society, and of doing it all with gladness and generosity.
Well, of course, looking back on it all, it’s a little absurd to compare the two, except for this: it’s useful to ask why the one was to some extent a blip, which petered out in less than ten years, and was mostly limited to one particular age group; and the other a movement that spread quickly around what was called the civilized world, and eventually included the whole earth, and has lasted for 2000 years? It’s useful especially here today because we’re baptizing three young people, we’re welcoming them into this community; and in that light, the question is relevant: what’s the difference between these two movements?
You remember the ‘60’s phrase “turn on, tune in, and drop out”? To the extent that counter-culture was characterized by an intentional turning away from the real world we live in day to day (and drugs were one way people did that), then it was going to go nowhere. And to the extent that it was just a reaction against the hypocrisy and selfishness of this world, it just wasn’t going to last. What gave this movement its unique life was its real feel for the power of love, and joy, and peace; but it paid no real attention to the source. It didn’t seriously look in that direction. So it couldn’t possibly sustain itself.
Well, here, we pay attention to the source. Here, we do look in that direction. Here, we follow someone who connects us to real life: to the wellspring of that love and joy and peace. When Jesus says, I am the good shepherd, that’s precisely what he’s talking about (it’s not an ego trip, to use 60’s language.) We heard today, “I am the gate of the sheep….Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” “Pasture” doesn’t mean a big empty field we sheep can hang out in: it means food for us to eat, nurture that sustains us; and the goodness that is in God’s creation. This is why Jesus says the last line of today’s gospel, speaking of all of us: “I came that they might have life, and have it in abundance.”
That’s why we come here: because we know that here is where we can find real life: here we can find the truth; as we follow this way. God knows how consistently we stumble, how foolishly and lazily and haphazardly we live it out. But we know that here we can find the source of the love, and peace, and joy, and fulfillment, that we know is real life, and that God wants for us all. Thanks be to God for God’s infinite gifts to us in Christ, in Christ’s church, in this great Human Be-In that’s gone on for a hundred thousand Sundays, this endless summer of love. A
A couple of weeks ago, when I was out in San Francisco visiting Annie, one day we went to a museum that had a special exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary, this year, of the “Summer of Love” (ring a bell with any of you aging hippies?). That was the umbrella label applied to a number of events and community efforts that took place in San Francisco in the summer of 1967. I want to talk a bit about that event, and about what it represented, because it’s relevant to what we’re doing here today, what we do here generally, and to what’s happening at 10 o’clock (we’re baptizing three children.)
The 1960’s were a unique period in American history: there was a number of new and different movements in our society, especially among the generation which was then coming of age, movements which developed over the course of the decade, which overlapped, and kind of came to be seen as one thing; sometimes called the “counter-culture”. It was exciting and inspiring to some, uncomfortable and challenging to others. Of the movements that came together in this time, some were political in origin: opposition to the war in Vietnam, resistance to the military draft, black power, feminism, civil rights, among others; some were cultural: rock music, how you dressed, and wore your hair, the adoption of alternate lifestyles; and this was when drug use came one the scene. To some this was all just typical youthful rebellion; but to others, it pointed toward a new way of life.
For people who saw it that way, the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco became a destination community for this generation’s artists, theatre people, musicians, writers, and social activists. These were the days of sit-ins, and teach-ins; and in January 1967, the Haight-Ashbury community sponsored a kind of counter-cultural rally they called the first “Human Be-In” (this movement had a sense of humor), with big-name rock groups, and hippie culture celebrity speakers. One of those was the poet Allen Ginsberg, who in his talk said this gathering announced the beginning of “a new kind of society, involving prayer, music, and spiritual life together rather than competition, acquisition, and war.” So there was a movement of the spirit going on, it wasn’t just sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll, as the saying went. The “Be-In” was intended just for the community; nonetheless, 30,000 people showed up, most of them kids, many of whom had traveled long distances.
This told the leaders of the Haight-Ashbury community that when high schools and colleges got out that spring, they would be swamped, with kids coming there from all over the country, overwhelming city services (and that in fact is what happened); so in early April of ‘67 people from a number of groups in Haight-Ashbury gathered to address the issues of food and housing they would be facing that summer. These leaders called themselves the Council of the Summer of Love (this was where the term originated.) They chose it, because, in the words of one organizer, calling it “the Summer of Love” “was our attempt to initiate these young people into….[a] positive and compassionate vision of what this embryonic cultural revolution was all about.”
For that summer these various community groups organized free food distribution, a free medical clinic, and a shelter for those with no place to stay; there was even a free store, where people brought in donations (of whatever), and if you saw something there you could use you just picked it up and took it away. They organized free concerts and street theatre performances, to give the kids a chance to get to know each other, network about where they could find food and a place to stay, keep them off the streets and out of trouble, and, of course, give them a taste of the richness of this new culture that had sprung up: a culture which had its most fully realized, and vividly public, display, at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair two years later.
Now, why am I going on at such length about all this? Well, you may have picked up on the connection between what I’ve been recalling to you just now, and today’s reading from the book of Acts describing the life of the early Church: “…many signs and wonders were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts….” So you can see some similarities: there’s the sense of a communal life, of taking care of each other, of a particular identity as a movement whose practices were different from those of contemporary society, and of doing it all with gladness and generosity.
Well, of course, looking back on it all, it’s a little absurd to compare the two, except for this: it’s useful to ask why the one was to some extent a blip, which petered out in less than ten years, and was mostly limited to one particular age group; and the other a movement that spread quickly around what was called the civilized world, and eventually included the whole earth, and has lasted for 2000 years? It’s useful especially here today because we’re baptizing three young people, we’re welcoming them into this community; and in that light, the question is relevant: what’s the difference between these two movements?
You remember the ‘60’s phrase “turn on, tune in, and drop out”? To the extent that counter-culture was characterized by an intentional turning away from the real world we live in day to day (and drugs were one way people did that), then it was going to go nowhere. And to the extent that it was just a reaction against the hypocrisy and selfishness of this world, it just wasn’t going to last. What gave this movement its unique life was its real feel for the power of love, and joy, and peace; but it paid no real attention to the source. It didn’t seriously look in that direction. So it couldn’t possibly sustain itself.
Well, here, we pay attention to the source. Here, we do look in that direction. Here, we follow someone who connects us to real life: to the wellspring of that love and joy and peace. When Jesus says, I am the good shepherd, that’s precisely what he’s talking about (it’s not an ego trip, to use 60’s language.) We heard today, “I am the gate of the sheep….Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” “Pasture” doesn’t mean a big empty field we sheep can hang out in: it means food for us to eat, nurture that sustains us; and the goodness that is in God’s creation. This is why Jesus says the last line of today’s gospel, speaking of all of us: “I came that they might have life, and have it in abundance.”
That’s why we come here: because we know that here is where we can find real life: here we can find the truth; as we follow this way. God knows how consistently we stumble, how foolishly and lazily and haphazardly we live it out. But we know that here we can find the source of the love, and peace, and joy, and fulfillment, that we know is real life, and that God wants for us all. Thanks be to God for God’s infinite gifts to us in Christ, in Christ’s church, in this great Human Be-In that’s gone on for a hundred thousand Sundays, this endless summer of love. A
