Friday, June 23, 2006

With God on Our Side

This is the first of many blogs which will talk about my trip to Poland. It's taken me a while to process everything and get it written down. It will take me even longer to go through all 400 pictures and return myself to what I saw there in person. Just as a warning - I've dated all my blogs the day that I was actually in Poland, so you will have to return and go back a few days, it probably won't show up as "the latest" because clearly those days have already passed. If you start with the May 22 entry titled "Puff the Magic Dragon" and go "back up" then my trip should make more sense. So in the meantime - while I am copying and pasting these journal entries into blogs, this is a song by Bob Dylan - who is Jewish himself (converted to Christianity during parts of his life) - and it's just a very interesting song to read the lyrics...especially as this war continues to drag on in Iraq. Please take time to read the lyrics....

Oh my name it is nothin’
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is call the Midwest
I’s taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And the land that I live in
Has God on its side.

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.

The Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I was made to memorize
With guns on their hands
And God on their side.

The First World War, boys
It came and it went
The reason for fighting
I never did get
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead
When God's on your side.

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And then we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.


I've learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war comes
It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.

But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shock the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God's on your side.

In a many dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.


So now as I'm leavin'
I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feelin'
Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And they fall to the floor
That if God's on our side
He'll stop the next war.