This Morning I Am Born Again


This morning I was born again and a light shines on my land
I no longer look for heaven in your deathly distant land
I do not want your pearly gates don’t want your streets of gold
This morning I was born again and a light shines on my soul

This morning I was born again, I was born again complete
I stood up above my troubles and I stand on my two feet
My hand it feels unlimited, my body feels like the sky
I feel at home in the universe where yonder planets fly

This I was born again, my past is dead and gone
This great eternal moment is my great eternal dawn
Each drop of blood within me, each breath of life I breathe
Is united with these mountains and the mountains with the seas

I feel the sun upon me, it’s rays crawl through my skin
I breathe the life of Jesus and old John Henry in
I give myself, my heart, my soul to give some friend a hand
This morning I was born again, I am in the promised land

This morning I was born again and a light shines on my land
I no longer look for heaven in your deathly distant land
I do not want your pearly gates don’t want your streets of gold
And I do not want your mansion for my heart is never cold.

Words by Woody Guthrie

Praise the Lord!

A soul has been freed from mythology and born again into the promised land.

I never understood the attraction of streets paved with gold anyway.

I mean you don't need money in heaven, right? So gold would just be slippery and eye-hurtingly bright.

Pearly gates also not that big a deal for me.

If I were going to a "heaven" I think I would rather have someplace like "candy land".

Streets paved with chocolate. Yummmmy. And if it's "heaven" then either you won't get fat or it won't matter if you do...

So true DD.

In fact, isn’t there a major contradiction in that whole scenario?

Supposedly earthly riches and material things are suppose to be unclean and sinful, and right in the Bible we have a physical description of Heaven that sounds like the mansion where Liberace lives.

I wonder what the verbatim literalists have to say about that? I mean, I realize that revelations is supposed to be a dream, but why such physical imagery? And what are verbatim literalists to do with this allegory since they have never been able to think abstractly prior to this?

Oh well, it doesn’t really matter, I think Willy Wonka’s candy factory would be closer to heaven anyway.

Hey,
Ok say I look at an electron encircling an atom and I desrribe it to you as the rings of saturn. Is it Saturn No. Does it give me an idea of a sphere with something revolving around it...yes.
Did I make a point? you answer

Yes, you made a point. And my point is why not speak of the gates of heaven glowing with love, and the streets paved with ardor?

Why use physical riches to describe them? Just seems like a poor vision. I've had visions of the spiritual world myself in dreams. I'm not claiming that they were inspired by any divinity, I'm just saying that they were dreams.

However, even in those dreams there was nothing 'physical' associated with the spiritual world. Spirits were fuzzy orbs of ‘light’. But not the kind of physical light you experience when photons fall on your retina. This was the kind of purely internal light that you experience when in a state of mediation.

Some of these spirits didn’t take on the physical appearance of human bodies, but even in the dream it was clear that this was an illusion that was being done for my sake. The spirits were allowing me to see what I wanted to see.

I think the writing of pearl gates and streets made of gold was the authors attempt to describe a place that was so rich and kingly that it is beyond human comprehension. But as I’ve said, the whole idea that it placed value on physical objects of wealth seems to kind of fly in the face of the spirit being more important.

But then again, maybe it really was Liberace who wrote revelations.

I often wonder if they will have pianos and violins there. And will we have infinite talent when we get there? Or would we still have to take lessons and practice? Maybe we’ll all need to learn to play the harp before we can move on to other instruments. :bigsimle:

I was born once, that was good enough for me.

Well I would never get in I have no rhythm

Abra you are so open minded yet why do you assume your visions are compareable to John's better or worse. As we see visions our brains translate. The mind of a child may see gates and gold streets. The mind of an intellectual man seeking answers may just see orbs. How about mixing a little faith with your wisdom.
Tada the Universe!

Why should I put faith in someone else’s dreams?

What’s wrong with putting faith in my own dreams?

Don’t you think God is capable of communicating directly with me?

With God all things are possible.

This is so interesting the actual idea of how you will experience heaven. I can say for myself I feel heaven when I am singing , and if I am doing that with a small group of other's maybe 4 people singing harmony. I feel God then. Like being lifted up from the inside. I think I might not be that disappointed if all I got in the after life was the ability to make and hear music.

I thought you expressed your experiece very well in poetry. Take Care

I wish it was mine(if you were talking to me) but it was Woody Guthrie.

Yes I was, I didn't know the name... LOL Thanks, I might look him up, I have pages of christian poetry I don't always know where it fits..

Take Care

I don't think that the purpose of stating that the streets are paved with Gold is to draw attention to the attraction of it - but rather the futility of the attention payed to Gold while here on earth. At the time referenced by the passage, Gold was the most valued possession, and the accumulation of it - what man focused on. (Much like it is today) Whereas in heaven - it holds no more esteem than does dirt. It just depends on how one sets their values - be it on earthly things (mammon, money, gold, etc) or heavenly things (love, charity, faith, etc)



Contradiction? Where. There is no indication in scripture that riches and material things are unclean or sinful - only the worship of them. But you knew that - didn't you?

I knew Arlo years ago for a season.

His dad was talking about churchianity

little fun fact

I heard a story about Arlo were not to long ago he had a chance to buy the small town church that he filmed Alice's restaurant in. He bought and went over to look at it and was just using a broom to clean up a little bit when a pastor from a different church in town came in. After exchanging small talk the pastor asked Arlo what kind of Church he was going to open there? Arlo thought for a moment and said I think it will be a bring your own God Church.

Its called the Guthrie Center today. Still a bring your own God Church

Well, as always with this book, it ultimately depends on who’s doing the interpreting I guess.

But I still think that metal streets would be a bad choice of material for a road surface.

Also, why Gates? Are the gates of heaven there to keep people in or out? Is all of heaven fenced in?

I could never understand why there would need to be gates at the entrance of heaven in the first place.

This all just sounds like a fancy medieval style kingdom to me. Everything is in terms of kingdoms and kings. Rulers and rules. Lords and servants. It’s so attached to the historical era it was written in.

If people had visions of heaven today I’m sure they’d be quite different.

As to interpretation - true. Hard to say whether or not "streets of Gold or Pearly gates" is literal or metaphorical. Still - despite the interpretation, it always seems to be something that provokes thought about what the message is.

To me - the message of "gates" - be they made out of pearl or not - would indicate that heaven is not necessarily a place that just anyone can "walk into" (as it were). It seems as though - no matter how subjective one views the bible - that some sort of judgement preceeds entrance into heaven. The bible makes that pretty obvious, and Jesus does say (or so it's indicated) that the gate is narrow - an indication that not everyone walks through - at their desire, and he mentions that He is the gate, angain - indicating that entrance into heaven is somehow through Him. I would not necessarily think that one has to "walk through Jesus" to get into heaven - but when viewed as a metephore, entrance into heaven would involve some sort of dealing with Jesus.

Actually there ae a Few More Steps that you might want to take...

Accepting Emanual as Your Lord and master are just a stepping stone to much greater things...


You must also ask The Holey Spirit into your life To Lead and Guide your every step...


Also you must ask Yawa to reveal unto you your mission,our job is not to just stand around and LOOK GOOD...


We are The Warriors Of The Lord,we do not fight against our fellow man...


We are spiritual Warriors, we cast out demons,heal the sick and set the captives FREE!!!


Do not look for The Lord,He is within you...


You have only to ask and He will show all unto you...


Cosmo was here...