In a recent radio interview with my old friend Charlie Olson, at East Texas Broadcasting,

KBUS Radio

he was excited to talk about Woodstock, because it is such an icon in American Folklore.

Whether you agree with it or disagree, everybody has heard about the Rock Festival in the ’60’s that came to symbolize the hippie movement.

I remembered a friend I worked with that had been to Woodstock, was a little older than me, and still grew his hair out past his shoulders, clinging to the image he had in the old days.  I used to say to him, “you know, the difference between you and me is that I left Woodstock, but you are still there.”

I see this concept in all the “veterans” of Woodstock that I have met over the years.  The ones who have left are usually found in churches, where their previous affiliation with the psychedelic sub-culture is seldom mentioned.  The ones who are still there are usually

Woodstock Festival 1969

found on motorcycles, or in old pickup trucks with long gray hair and whiskers.  The funny thing is, in Texas at least, they both share the same political views about the government.  Leave my guns alone, kill the terrorists, and get out of my life.

The spiritual view is what is most important, however.  The Bible tells us

“…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

Also, “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”  2 Corinthians 5:17

The popularity of the Woodstock ideology was that it would bring peace and love to the world, as if it could be a substitute for Christianity.  Those who are still in Woodstock are still hanging on to these ideals – they do not want to forget those things that are behind them.  Those who have left have found a new life in Christ, and have let Woodstock pass away.

Perhaps the ones who are in the worst shape are those who have become new, but have not completely left Woodstock.  But that is a topic for another story.