Being a 16 year old in Jersey was the toughest year of my life to date. In
their wisdom they made the state law to drive 17, so while most of America was
driving to the malt shop or cruising, two things Scotch Plains teens never did,
we were still getting driven around by our parents. It was the age to date, but
who could compete against even the geekiest senior with a car, even if it was
his mother’s? Girls your age were already too old for you by rite of license,
or not having one, and younger girls were just that, young. But we knew that
some day our chance would come, and 17 would be the magic age when all our teen
dreams were realized, but for now......it was all hands and glands, with
Clearasil your best friend.
But at age 16, when most were getting their licenses, it was the summer of
our first job, real job. For me it was working for the Union County Park
Commission digging iris beds for $1.60/hour, big money in 1969 dollars. But it
was also the first summer I was exposed to real life outside of my white bread
life, where meeting other kids from other schools and towns would influence me.
Due to sports I had met many others, but only and always on the field or court.
But this summer working together, my whole world expanded. I worked with black
kids from Plainfield, where only two summers ago they had riots. I met my first
Indian friend, who was steeped in tradition, my first hippie friend, and two
guys who were even more ignorant and narrow minded than me. Seems we expect a
lot from a 16 year old that you cannot learn in school, it must be experienced.
And that summer was a great learning, both social and educational
experience.
Music in 1969 was great, from The Carpenters to Rare Earth, to Led Zeppelin
to In-a Gadda-da-Vita, FM was new, WABC was all about Cousin Brucie, and this
white bread kid was about to learn what Motown was all about. I always loved
The Temptations, The Four Tops, and The Supremes, but this summer the big
argument was not about race, although it would play a part, not about girls,
although they would play a part, and not about cars, they wouldn’t play a part.
It was all abut who was better, Rare Earth or The Carpenters, and the arguments
were both heated and valid, if not prejudicial. The city guys form Plainfield
were all about Rare Earth, you could dance to it, hence the girl connection, vs.
The Carpenters you couldn’t, but you could snuggle and kiss to. Make out in the
terms of the day. They couldn’t understand the make out part, I was no dancer,
so skipped a step, no pun intended. It took us into many racial areas, and
social issues none of us how confronted before, and even though the discussions
were heated at times, we all ended the day as friends, and then picked up the
argument the next day. We may have disagreed on music, but we had grown
together by working together, and finding our we really weren’t that much
different. We all looked forward to driving, to college or the dream of it, we
all wanted a steady girl, some just wanted to dance, while the rest of us
necked. At the end of the summer we each went our separate ways, it was only
choice encounters, or the next summer job when we met that we found out what
good friends we were, even if you couldn’t dance to The Carpenters.....And next
summer we would be old enough to drive and our world would change again.
Where we grew up and how was a great influence in our early lives, and
would change and evolve as we got older. No one knew where Scotch Plains was,
but our reputation proceeded us, as did Plainfield’s, but we all knew where it
was. Yet when we meet, we invariably ask “where are you from?” Me,when someone
thinks they know me, I ask “what do you ride or where do you go to church?”
Making judgment calls based on their answers. Innocent enough, but down deep we
really are judging or evaluating the other, while they do us. And in doing so
we have become Christian snobs. Oh you only go to Pastor’s church, or oh you
are Catholic, Jewish, or Calvary Chapel. Without knowing, or at least I hope
not knowing, we are becoming like the Pharisees, very religious and unloving.
Dictated by what we have learned in church, or following denominational
guidelines. We think that the way we worship is better, our teachings are
superior, but in over 58 summers since being 16, I have not seen the passion or
love since discussing music that summer. Seems somewhere in our personal
religion, Jesus is left out. We quote his words, yet we don’t love like them.
We meet his family of believers, and want to fit in, yet find we cannot dance
many times to their tune. It’s Rare Earth vs. The Carpenters all over again,
where few ever get it that Jesus was a carpenter, and the rare earth he speaks
of is revealed via the holy spirit. We forget that love is supposed to be our
unique feature, and that when spirit driven, the world will see and want what we
have. Some are all hands and glands when it comes to study, some are on the
dance floor, while others sit silently waiting for an invite. Just there are
many moods to music, Jesus is so deep and diverse we only get a true glimpse of
him, we become safe Christians, staying within church boundaries, feeling safe
and protected, forgetting scripture tells us an empty barn stays clean and makes
no profit. At 16 we were able to discuss, if not argue our differences, and
still come away friends, why can’t we as a church do the same?
In New Ulm, Minnesota, a town of 16,000, they have six different Lutheran
churches. Do I make my point? Do we not all share the same Jesus, or have we
fractured him so badly we only see what we want to see? We are all different,
but it is Jesus that should make the difference. I thought growing up and
waiting to get a license at 17 was hard, now it looks easy compared to unity in
the spirit. I knew when I would be legal, are you waiting for an invitation to
know Jesus? To step out of religion and into life? Is your life one style of
music, just waiting and wanting to listen to another tune? Do you only know
what you are taught, or has your Christian experience gone deeper? Are you the
same person outside the church as you are in it? What part of an abundant life
in Jesus are you afraid of?
I learned the truth at 16, applying what I had been taught in school and
having to apply it on the street. Falling short many times, but growing as I
went. Jesus was an applications sort of guy, not a philosopher. He dealt with
human situations and advised on how to handle them. Not try this to see if it
works, or maybe this might work, he was and isn’t theories about truth, he is
the truth. But all your knowledge is useless until it is put into action. An
old post card from a girl friend told me “quit wasting your time bragging about
what a great lover you are, show me.” Seems being 16 and saved are not much
different, it will always be about performance. I wished I could dance like
Fred Allen did, or have the smooth words of my older friends, but I was stuck
with me. The only me I could give to Jesus, and he changed me. I still can’t
dance, but now I appreciate it. I still don’t have the moves, but at my age
don’t need them. But for 43 years my Jesus has put up with me, loved me,and
taken me from religion and given me life. I have come a long way from The
Carpenters to knowing a Jewish carpenter as the true son of God. If only I knew
then what I do now....you don’t have to wait, you can have all the Jesus you
need right now. See, you can be “16 and beautiful, and be mine,” at any age.
Just keep the Clearasil handy...and did you know Rare Earth was the biggest
white group on Motown. They only sounded black, do you only sound Christian?
And I still cannot dance.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com