The World Turns, Bob Dylan

 

 

 

This verse came to mind when I read a qote from Bob Dylan writing in the New York Times.  He was talking sensibly about being 80, and how life is seen when you get old.  Now I realise none of my readers are old, most of them are just bots, only produced in the last five years, so they will not understand all this.  However, it is worth considering what he said as many of us can identify with this.

 

 

 

Now you will understood that I lifted this from Twitter, and cannot offer evidence that this is correct, but it appears to be genuine, and the understanding of life is clear enough.  

He is correct that while occasionally you wish to do something the body tells you not to.  A desire may arise but sometimes disappears because you forget what you were desiring.  The body makes doing things carefully more important than just doing things.

You remember when the old folks, aunts and uncles, told you how it is when old, and you did not comprehend what they were saying.  Now you know.  They too were wild, thoughtless and full of their own opinions, though depressions and two world wars did force a change of attitude on them, unlike on us.  We now know what they meant by 'enjoy yourself now, because suddenly it will be gone.' It has gone now!

I will not be 80 for some time, but I feel it now.  

Dylan talks sense about understanding the world while being too late to do anything about it. If only we had understood everything when we were 20, instead of over 70?  

We see youth doing what we did, we know it is wasteful and petty, worthless in the real world, but we know this because we have been there, chasing our dreams.  We know our dreams were just mirages now.

 

Ecclesiastes is seen as depressing by some, 'Fear God and obey his commands,' is not encouraging as it does not promise excitement or glory.  But in the end it is reality.  

While the 'God,' mentioned is not 'Yahweh,' the Lord of all, just 'God,' but 'Elohim.'  

This is not the personal God of Jesus but just a god.  An interesting aside.