AN ODE TO MY WOUNDED GENERATION

Baby Boomers: Upheaval, Travail and War

Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." *** Please note that this entire chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament in the Bible is profound and there is not room enough here in my weekly piece, to share all the relevant verses. Read them on your own, they dig deep! Also, check out the song "Turn, turn, turn", done in the 1960's by the Byrds, using many of the words from multiple verses from Ecclesiastes 3.

I think my Dad could very well have been a sex addict...and suffice to say, he did not marry a woman who shared that obsession.

I also think, to some degree during my youth, I was my Father's daughter, woefully so. While I loved my Mother deeply and enjoyed our Baptist church, Bible studies and activities immensely, I sadly took after my Dad's proclivity from 18 to 28. After Mom died overnight when I was nearly 14 (and my parent's marriage had collapsed), I gradually fell off into the ditch, becoming a Prodigal to my faith in God and taking my sorrows in the wrong direction. It was not a fun ride...except it gave me plenty of grist for my writing mill years later and a rueful state of exhortation of "what NOT to do."

Well, learn from my mistakes, please!

My Baby Boom generation was born out of the ragged end of World War Two. After chaos and carnage and dismay, a huge mob came through. Our parents wanted stability and normality. Boomers did not seem to want that and we paid a steep price for our rowdy disrespect. I was born in November 1952.

The sheer magnitude of the upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s was quite unlike many previous generations, a confluence of chaos and shattered boundaries and mess- making supreme. The "Pluto in Leo" generation of disruption is how some describe it. I remember in high school, getting ready for school, and standing over the floor heater in the winter months, listening to " Revolution" from the Beatles (White Album). That was quite the call to arms to start my day, John Lennon's strident voice of exhortation yelling in my head. It certainly laid the negative foundation for rebellion, some needed and some just rebellion.

While my Dad used to tell me about meeting a few " adventurous girls out behind the gym" while in high school in the late 1920s and early 1930s, I suspect the "adventurous girls " were at a minimum, due to the greater risk of pregnancy and STDs and societal condemnation. The Swing dancing of the the 1930's was quite rowdy, not remotely sedate and likely shocked their own parents with the sheer athletic intensity of it. ( My Dad loved Swing dancing!)

Baby Boomers came through rowdy, disrespectful and rather ribald. In the bloom of youth, you feel invincible and untouchable and we certainly pushed that envelope. The Pill changed everything...but not for the better. I was on three different brands of the Pill for one year, at age 18-19, 1971 to 1972. A disaster, all three. An overwhelming combination of social, political and sexual upheaval was truly unforgettable to all of us who participated in it. I sorrowfully had two abortions in 1973.

By the earlier to mid 1960s, the awful Vietnam War brought a rude and hated presence, landing square in the middle of my own youth. One of my own older brothers, a cheerful and happy-go-lucky kid, was drafted in spring of 1968, sent to Vietnam and was dead three days after his 24th birthday in August 1968.

That searing event tore a gash in my very soul that I have carried the rest of my life, even to age 72.

That war, called the " first rock and roll war", was a uniquely Boomer sorrow, with the pounding beat of rowdy music accompanying it. Still, it was blood and carnage and horror and the thought of it drove a wedge through my youth. Fleeing the draft was common, as the peace movement rose in influence and intensity. I remember sitting around hippie tables, drinking copious cups of coffee and simmering on what to do about the draft, it was not pleasant. I attended a huge peace march in San Francisco in March of my senior year of high school, 1971.

The longing for freedom, an ephemeral and yet potent presence throughout human history, flowed so strongly throughout my Boomer youth, as we saw some elements of previous generations as hide-bound and stodgy.

While parts of that rang true, we were also reckless in our disregard for the undergirding traditions that actually were strong foundations and were needed. The sheer overwhelm of casting off what was always done, brought more chaos than we expected and we had out own internal chaos to contend with as well, including drugs, alcohol, acting out and rampant unwise sexual behavior. I was unfortunately, front and center through all of it.

Hindsight always draws reflection. God’s laws and admonitions are there for a reason, to guide us and to protect us from the lies of the devil and we strayed from them at our peril.

It is surreal, to put it mildly, watching one's own generation depart, one by one. Hence, I have my own deeply contemplative nature reflecting on Eternity. The Wheel turns for all of us, no way to avoid it. You are young and then you are old and you leave this world, hopefully to not be separated from God for Eternity!

Each generation wants the same things: to love and be loved, to feel needed and appreciated and even respected, to hopefully pursue work we enjoy, have a natural ability to do and can do well, to have sufficient money to live in reasonable comfort, and finally, to experience the deep meaning of life as beyond just the physical .

My Boomer generation began that spiritual digging...and yet for me, the esoteric roads I chased did not help my soul. It remained the overwhelming love of God and His beloved Son Jesus Christ, Who drew me back to the fold and Household of God.

In writing this piece this week, I thought back to the incredible music of much of the 1960's decade especially. Some of it was dark and unpleasant and yet some of it was inspiring and other-worldly. The Woodstock Music Festival of August 1969, that drew an enormous crowd to a piece of one man's farmland in upstate New York, was unlike any event before or since. Amazing musical performances and a flow of muddy humanity, was like a pinnacle to the 1960's decade. There is too much music for me to mention here...but suffice to say, it touched many a soul. The Who, Crosby Stills and Nash, Judy Collins, Jefferson Airplane, Richie Havens, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Canned Heat, Country Joe and the Fish, Ten Years After, Joe Cocker, Santana...the list is enormous and made a place in history. It was also poignant and sorrowful, with so many young men dying in Vietnam at the same time. (see “fixin’ to die rag” from Country Joe and the Fish). Also, check out Grand Funk Railroad with a very moving song I just discovered…”I’m your Captain”, and a great version from Shea Stadium 1971 concert, just look for it on a search engine. The lyrics are very very deep, not just rowdy rock and roll but deep consideration for the loss and trouble of life.

I am a deeply contemplative and sensitive soul, who while I have the blunt edge still, I am allowing Papa God to more deeply permeate my soul and change me from sorrow to His joy. This is not remotely an easy task, as I am stubborn, suspicious, still carrying grief of youth, still battling cynicism, still battling financial lack and not enough self-worth. I do know, however, that God is persistent in His kids and He continues to call me and call me and call me to be a conduit for His immense love for the brokenhearted. Since I myself have so much experience with being brokenhearted, I can be the empath that I am and feel the sadness of others and offer encouragement. Life is hard on us all...as I watch my own dear Boomer generation go one by one (I am 72). I live for Eternity. I have repented and partner with God and into Glory with Him forever!

To generations behind us, keep going, keep asking God for help, keep using the immense gifts God gave you. Each and every one of you has gifts from God that no one else on Earth has ever had. You are loved and you are needed in this world!

Wendy Elizabeth Williams Friday, March 14, 2025

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