I SAW THE LIGHT

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

I’ve written once or twice before on the blog about why the date “July 21” is very special to me. It marks the day I was “born again”; the day that I received Jesus Christ as my Personal Savior and Lord. To evangelical Christians, the day you were “born again”, what others would call “the day you got saved” is very important. The specific date was July 21, 1970. I was fifteen years old at the time. As I tell people, I grew up Catholic and “I had religion up to my ears but I didn’t have Christ in my heart”. If possible, I like to mark July 21 in some special way. And, yesterday was also special because like July 21, 1970, it fell on a TUESDAY. No kidding, since 1970 I think there have only been four or five July 21s that also fell on Tuesdays!

My son Jon is a HUGE Bob Dylan fan. Several weeks ago he got tickets for the two of us to go see Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, and Willie Nelson in concert at the Paw Sox McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. What a great night it was!

We left Framingham around 3 and arrived at the Stadium parking lot around 4. We got into line waiting for the gates to open at 5. It had poured rain all morning, and I was concerned about getting soaked at the concert. The tickets specifically stated that no umbrellas would be allowed, and security folks were walking the length of the line warning those with umbrellas or cameras that these items would be confiscated if they tried to bring them in. We were very blessed in that there was no rain at all until after 9 and there was no heavy rain until after 11:15.

I’d say half the crowd was like me, over 50. Many looked like “rednecks” but quite a number of people also looked like aging ‘60s flower children. There were also a number of families...elementary school aged kids accompanied by what I’d assume were parents or grandparents. This was very much a well behaved family type crowd. There was a band who played opening music from 5:30 to around 6:15, then Willie Nelson and his band went on for an hour and a half. After that we had a twenty minute break, and John Mellencamp and his band went on for an hour and a half. After that we had another twenty minute break, and Bob Dylan and his band went on for two hours. After 10, I noticed a number of families with young kids AND a number of fellow aging baby boomers slipping out, but Jon and I stayed to the end.

My favorite was Willie Nelson. He sang most of the songs we all know him for such as, “On the Road Again”, and “You Were Always On My Mind”. But, he also sang two country gospel (old-fashioned campmeeting) songs: “I’ll Fly Away” and “I Saw the Light”. That’s the kind of music that was still commonly being sung in Assemblies of God churches in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. I LOVED IT! At one point during “I’ll Fly Away” he had only the band play and encouraged the audience to sing it. Jon and I know the verses by heart and sung with all our might, but in Catholic New England, I don’t think most people knew the song and they weren’t singing. On “I Saw the Light” I thought of the day I “got saved” thirty-nine years ago, and I had happy tears in my eyes.

I’m not a huge John Mellencamp fan. He sings that song about growing up in a small town and that “Ain’t that America?” song. His band was very loud! Like the older woman sitting a couple of seats from me, I had to make ear plugs out of tissues to feel comfortable. Even so, Mellencamp sang a brand new song of his that greatly inspired me and also brought tears to my eyes. It’s called, “Save Time to Dream”. The song was SO inspiring that it touched me very deeply. I honestly hope it will be a big hit for him. In a review of one of the concerts from earlier this week, Mark Bialczak in The (Syracuse, NY) Post-Standard writes:


“As it turned out, Mellencamp's still got something to say.

That new song sandwiched between, ‘Save Some Time to Dream,’ was quite pretty and plenty relevant. Mellencamp wrote it six months ago, then recorded it in a Savanah, Ga., church. It's a poignant blueprint on what a young person might want to prioritize in life, with Mellencamp singing, ‘save some time to dream, it might just save us all.’

Bravo.”

Bob Dylan was Bob Dylan! Where does he get that ENERGY at 60-something?! Jon pretty much knows all Dylan’s songs by heart. I like a lot of Dylan’s stuff, but I didn’t know over half the songs he did. He’s got that nasal voice that’s hard to understand, but he’s got passion like few other singers, and his current band is GREAT!

Thank God it didn’t start POURING rain till shortly after we got into the car! I’m tired today, but I had a great night.

As Willie sang, “Praise the Lord, I saw the light!”