All Hallow’s Eve, a day originally set aside to honor the dead martyrs, is now a day when masquerading is the norm. The buzz among the kids is, “What are you going to be on Halloween” — the key element being that you get to be someone or something that you’re not and its okay. You can be anything you want.
Good and bad, I define these terms quite clear, no doubt, somehow,
Ah but I was so much older then;
I’m younger than that now.
by Marti Fischer
This appeal is a call for a transformative and much-needed change in the lives of those who have been deeply impacted by the Jesus Movement and its profound message of renewal and grace.
Before embracing the Lord in my mid-twenties, I was a self-assured and prideful young woman, firmly rooted in my own convictions of right and wrong. However, when I encountered the boundless mercy of the Lord, my perspective shifted dramatically. The world was no longer a realm of absolutes; instead, it became a landscape painted in shades of gray, with elusive answers.
What if we were to write our own obituary? And what if we were to think of ourselves as we wrote this, not as the older person we were, but as the younger person we are, (“I’m younger than that now”)? What would we say? What would our younger self say about us in our own obituary column?
We all have the tendency to want to define ourselves by the past. Our past successes are in the can. They are bankable. But it’s no good, because they are just that: they are past and gone. Few remember. Who you are is not who you were.
Touch someone near you in love if you can.
This is probably the most memorable part of this Jesus Movement song. It pretty quickly developed a penchant for touching people all around you while singing this line. Many of the youth groups that used this song turned this into a game. Each time the chorus approached the leader would call out a number and that was how many people you had to touch around you as you sang this line. Of course, each time the number would grow bigger until the last time he would shout out something like “23!” and sheer bedlam would ensue. Now maybe this is not exactly touching someone “in love,” but it sure did loosen up a group. Suddenly shoulders were no longer stiff, and people were hugging and chatting by the end of the song. It truly did do magic on a crowd and it recaptured the perspective rooted in love, togetherness and inclusivity. Besides, we need to be more playful and not take ourselves so seriously.
Too many teachers and not enough truth
Too many preachers and not enough proof
You’ve got to find it; you’ve got to find it yourself
None of these people can give you any help
– from the song, “Too Many Teachers” by John Fischer
My wife, Marti, was saved during the dawn of the Jesus Movement through the library of a Christian man she was dating. I say she was saved through his library, because at the time he was playing hooky from his faith, but his library was not. It was a copy of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis she found there that got her started, and later, alone and sensing a visitation of the presence of God through the Holy Spirit in her bed at night, she gave her life to Christ.
Look all around you and see what is real.
Hear what is true and be sure what you feel.
Touch someone near you in love if you can.
Give all you have and be part of God’s plan.
– from “Look All Around You” by John Fischer, 1967
This is a Jesus Movement song before we knew there was a Jesus Movement. I wrote it in 1967. Not only was there not a Jesus Movement yet, there was no such thing as Jesus music. No record contracts. No concert tours. I didn’t even know what was going to happen with this music; I just knew I had to write it and sing it wherever and whenever I could.
What if we could reignite the spirit of the Jesus Movement within us all? In a world marked by complexity and political divisions, we would reconnect with the roots of grace, love, and welcome. We would focus not on the cultural issues that have overshadowed the gospel message but on the transformational power of grace turned outward to those around us.
In 1964, at 22-years-old, Bob Dylan wrote and recorded a song with the following refrain: “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”
Younger than what? Younger than twenty-two? No. Younger than the older person that he had already become. It was as if he caught himself just in time. At twenty-two, he was already headed over the hill.
John Fischer The Catch 