The plan seemed so wonderful at the time. During the summer of 1969, more than 100,000 people would camp out in a pristine glade in upstate New York where everyone would get along and love each other. This meeting was part of the hippie movement. Their slogans expressed noble ideals: love, not hate; peace, not war. One of its cornerstones was "free love." Hippies thought they could find love through sex.
The Woodstock Festival culminated a national "Love-In." But instead of the expected 100,000 hippies, 1.5 million long-haired young people wearing beads and feathers flooded the area for three days.
Was Woodstock really a place of peace and love? Peter Townsend, a member of the band The Who which played during Woodstock, said, "What was going on off the stage was just beyond comprehension – stretchers and dead bodies, people throwing up, and people having [drug] trips...I thought the whole of America had gone mad."
Tempers flared; people were assaulted. Nudity, sex, and drug dealing were everywhere. And they left behind acres of trash. What was supposed to be a monument to free love and brotherhood was actually a hedonistic mess. Selfishness and a disregard for others reigned.
Everyone wants to be loved. But what is love? Tragically, our world understands very little about true love. We must turn to our Creator to understand what love really is. His love is not just words on a page, but was demonstrated in the deepest kind of sacrifice – Christ's death on the cross.
Your View of God Really Matters ...
Compare the world's concept of love – self-gratification – with God's concept of love – selfless sacrifice for others. If we all loved each other as God loves us, what practical effect would that have in your community? In your church? In your family?
Learn more about God’s character at Discover God, by Bright Media Foundation, an affiliate of Cru.
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Bright Media Foundation is an affiliate of Cru.
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