102. Rock Goes The Gospel - The Electric Flag "Another Country"

The Electric Flag was an American blues rock soul group, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites and bassist Harvey Brooks. Bloomfield formed the Electric Flag in 1967, following his stint with the Butterfield Blues Band. The band reached its peak with the 1968 release, A Long Time Comin', a fusion of rock, jazz, and R&Bstyles that charted well in the Billboard Pop Albums chart. Their initial recording was a soundtrack for The Trip, a movie about an LSD experience by Peter Fonda, written by Jack Nicholson and directed by Roger Corman. The band made its debut appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival, the first of the '60s rock music extravaganzas. Now called the Electric Flag, the group was well received by the audience of 55,000, though its performance fell short of Bloomfield's high standards. Following Monterey, the Flag proceeded to tour the Northeast and perform in the San Francisco area while working on a recording for Columbia Records. Though a critical success, the Flag remained largely unknown to the general public due in part to the band's inability to complete its first album in a timely manner.

If I could lose
All my troubles
By running away
No, no I wouldn't stay
No I wouldn't

But they just keep on
Hangin' 'round me
And won't go away
No, no won't go away

It just ain't fair
No, no, no
It just ain't fair

This whole year
Has been a blunder
Yes I've lost my sense of wonder
And there are no sweet warm love birds to turn to
I have no one to call brother

On every street
In the city
Well you'll get afraid
Yes so afraid

You can't see
Past the surface
Of plans that I made to drive you insane
Everywhere, everyday
You won't even want to find yourself a place to hide

And you'll be hurt so many times
You'll lose your love of nursery rhymes
Get the safest room you can find
And lock the door
Find yourself another country

If I could lose
All my troubles
By running away
No, no I wouldn't stay
No I wouldn't

But they just keep on
Hangin' 'round me
And won't go away
No, no won't go away
No they won't go away!

Well I know there must be someplace people
Someplace I can rest my weary head
'Cause you know I've been all over this country people
And it's the same, the same old thing
Everywhere I go
Don't you think I might find someplace to rest my weary head

Yea

This Electric Flag song "Another Country" is about the real search for peace. It's about living in a place where there is no peace and there is the constant threat of something bad happening. "Another Country" is about getting away from the madness, "some place to rest my weary head" and at the same time there is thoughts about the turmoil in the life of the person who is being sung about. Get the safest room you can find, And lock the door, Find yourself another country "Another Country" is all about trying to find Shalom where their is only conflict. This mornings devotion which is the seventh beatitude finds Jesus talking about this kind of peace coming through reconciliation, This mornings beatitude is about finding and making peace and a whole lot more.

The Greek word for "Peacemaker" is only found in one other passage in the New Testament which is in Colossians 1:20 where it is spoken of when Paul the Apostle says "Having made peace through the blood of his cross" Here it is linked firmly with the reconciliation that Jesus brought. The message of peace then is that of reconciliation. Outward peace - the kind of peace that exists or does not exist in towns and communities and Inward Peace - the kind of peace that quells the turmoil in the human heart. Both these kinds of peace appear in the song "Another Country" like a distant longing. Of course  peacemaker is spoken of  in the beatitudes and in Colossians we find out who is the ultimate peace maker that we are to imitate. God delights in reconciliation, He loves nothing better than to see the followers of Jesus bringing reconciliation as did their peacemaking master. Bearers of reconciliation to a vast broken world that has been torn apart by external and internal conflicts. Those who do this are carrying the essence of the gospel of the prince of peace. This is real peace. What the media around us portray as peace is often just a lull in the conflict. The peacemakers spoken of in this beatitude are are those who bring a lasting reconciliation to places and people of conflict, to broken lives. Part of this real peace comes from knowing the God of peace and the transformed life that he offers. The promise of Jesus suggests that Real peace can be found and only comes from knowing God and following Christ.

Peacemakers serve as ambassadors of this peace of God. We carry this message of peace in our lives not in a diplomatic bag, but in hearts of flesh. A lasting peace is offered as a restored relationship with God and with others in the human family. Those who are the "Peacemakers" are spoken of in Isaiah 52:7 as having "Beautiful Feet" in other words the message is so wonderful that their arrival on foot heralds a new beginning. In that sense their feet are beautiful .

I found this poem by Julie A. Dickson that touches on what we have been grappling with this morning.

Who can be the peacemaker 

Keeping us content, 

Calming all our differences 

With harmonious intent? 

Who can solves all crises 

And end the lasting struggle, 

Preserving calm tranquility 

Preventing future trouble? 

Is there such a person 

For I would come to know, 

That with there mere existence 

A peaceful calm would grow 

People in agreement 

Disputes forever waned, 

Knowing that hostilities 

Would not be seen again 

Truly, we must wonder 

If quarrels can ever end 

Can we be the peacemakers 

With the means to send 

Our message to all people 

To seek and find a way 

To communicate and listen, 

And find peace, day by day.

This poem called "Peacemaker" was entered for the Poetry for Peace contest which was was held from 15 September until 14 October 2011. There is a longing in the poem, just as there is a longing in the The Electric Flag song "Another Country" and a longing and a promise in the Beatitude. Peace in our environment, community, neighbourhood, town, city, region, country, continent, and world is the longing of God which is echoed in our hearts, together with that inner longing for the chaos and conflicts of the human heart to cease. May God bring peace to each one of us today and may we learn to share peace with each other . Shalom for now.