The plan was to leave early the next morning, but suddenly Chris introduced us to a friend to whom he had "promised" a ride to California. He had promised this without consulting me--the guy with the car! I don't remember this girl's name, but she really did look like the Wicked Witch of the East out of the Wizard of Oz. I really didn't care how she looked, but her personality resembled that of a witch as well. There was no way to make it comfortable for a third person in the back seat of my tiny Ford Mustang. To make things worse, she wanted to bring along her dog. This dog was some sort of terrier. All I could think about when I saw her was that somehow the Wicked Witch had stolen Toto from Dorothy. The dog was a lot sweeter than she was and he settled himself in the rear window well of the Mustang.
As we set off in my overloaded car with Chris, Dave and the witch in the back seat, I really didn't mind stopping to walk the dog every hour or so. But the witch in the back seat could not keep her mouth shut. I don't remember what she talked about, but she was driving all of us nuts. I don't remember her being a Jesus Freak. I just remember that Dave kept trying to talk about Jesus, Barry and I wanted to talk about something else, and the witch was critical of everyone and everything.
As we drove through Utah, my overloaded car blew a tire. I am surprised that it did not need new shock absorbers too. Anyway, after purchasing a new tire with my stepfather's Sears card in Salt Lake City, the witch decided that she didn't like riding with us and volunteered to find another lift to California. We didn't protest.
Even though we were free of the witch and Toto, we were out of cash. It turned out that no one else had brought any money with them! They expected me to supply the car and the money for gas--oh yeah, no one brought any money to get food along the way either. I had spent my last dollar on the last tank of gas. I only had that $40 check from my ex-roommate and I would need that for gas to get back to Madison from California.
Chris came up with the idea of giving blood for money. Fortunately, I hadn't had any drugs in a few days, and I don't think they screened for that stuff at the blood banks back then. Anyway, Chris was not acceptable as a donor--I can't remember why. Barry, Dave and I all gave our pint and got a whopping $30 total. That would be enough for gas money to Santa Cruz. [Gas was about 40 cents/gallon back then.]
We still didn't have money for food, so Chris volunteered to catch some fish at a local state park. The only thing was that we didn't have any fishing gear, not even a fishhook. Somehow, Chris fashioned some gear out of some string and a safety pin. And, amazingly, he actually caught some fish. We combined his fish with some rice that I had--I pretty much lived on rice during those days--dinner was served!
With the witch gone, the conversation once again turned to Jesus. I really didn't understand their arguments, but I began to find myself more and more attracted to something about Chris and Dave. They really did seem to be at peace with themselves and the world around them. Even without the help of drugs, they seem unconcerned with the threat of the draft, free from greed or ambition, and genuinely happy.
The thing that impressed me the most is that, in spite of all the Jesus talk and their constant references to the Bible, they were not "religious." They did not seem "churchy" neither were they judgmental or intolerant. I became convinced that their relationship with their God was very real for them and not at all like the traditions and traditional beliefs of other gentiles whom I had met. They seemed real.
They claimed to be outside of the established church. They had a distaste for traditional churches and ministers. They spoke of a direct and personal two-way communication with God. Further, they were convinced that what they were experiencing was something that was totally foreign to the established churches and Christian denominations. As a matter of fact, they never mentioned "church" once. They saw themselves as hippies who preferred "getting high on Jesus" rather than drugs.
I began to consider if it were possible that Jesus was for them what "enlightenment" via LSD was for me. Could it be that this personal relationship with Jesus that they experienced was a more effective path to enlightenment? Could I discover my reason for living in this Jesus Freak experience? Was being "born again" the same as reaching nirvana?
When we had a moment or two alone, Barry and I discussed these possibilities. Although we were both impressed by Chris and Dave, we were unconvinced that this would work for us as Jews. The opportunity to test the universality of our impressions would multiply once we got to Santa Cruz where we would meet a dozen more Jesus Freaks.
Tomorrow: Communal life means sharing your rice and peanut butter.
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