| Review – Restless Pilgrim |
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The
Spiritual Journey of Bob Dylan
by Scott M. Marshall with Marcia Ford
Book review by Tom Gilbert
The words are the thing. Lyrics are what Bob Dylan songs
are all about. Yes, there have been many great melodies.
He’s a songwriter after all. But, what we
all want to know are the lines, and the meanings,
and the meanings between the lines.
“Restless Pilgrim: The Spiritual Journey of Bob Dylan”
by Scott M. Marshall with Marcia Ford (RELEVANT books) takes us through many words of Bob Dylan.
Some are in his songs, many are from various interviews over the years, and more telling still, words
from the Bible that Dylan uses.
Back in 1965 Dylan rocked the world when he went electric. In ’79 he shocked the world when he converted
to Christianity. While a lot of people have written that off as a phase he went through, Marshall
shows us over and over again that Dylan’s faith is alive and has deepened over the years.
Just like the faith of any true disciple.
To think that Bob Dylan suddenly got “religion” in 1979 is to entirely miss the spiritual journey
he’s been on all along. Anyone who’s bought his records, gone to his shows and heard
the songs can point to numerous spiritual insights and Biblical references. Listen to “Blowin’
In The Wind”, “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, “With God On Our
Side”, “All Along The Watchtower, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”,
“Highway 61 Revisited”, “I Shall Be Released” and “Forever Young”,
just for starters. Even in such biting commentaries as “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only
Bleeding)” he sings he not busy being born is busy dying and it’s easy without looking
too far that not much is really sacred.
Dylan has always been, like many of us, a seeker of the truth. He’s also, reluctantly and not
admittedly, been a prophet. That he finally accepted the Truth (with a capital “T”) is
a natural consequence of that seeking.
The book does a marvelous job of piecing together the events that led to Dylan’s embracing
of Jesus as the messiah. You’ll discover that many of the reports of his conversion were
distorted (no, he wasn’t baptized in Pat Boone’s swimming pool) and that in various
interviews Bob was forthcoming without losing his wit.
His subsequent touring resulted in a backlash from many of his long-time fans that couldn’t
accept Dylan’s faith experience. I, myself, attended both nights of his 1979 Albuquerque shows
where he was very overt about Jesus. I thought the shows were amazing although I’d never
experienced Bob preaching from the stage before (and I’d seen him a number of times).
Ultimately, what this book best chronicles is that
Dylan’s faith is still very much a part of
his life and his music. He remains true and he continues
to challenge his listeners with his recording and
touring. He’s been accepted back into “the
fold” by most critics and a good portion of
the public since winning Grammys for “Time
Out of Mind”, the Kennedy Center Lifetime
Honors and an Academy Award for “Things Have
Changed” (written for the movie Wonder
Boys).
There’s so much that can be said about Bob Dylan and about this book. That’s beyond the scope of this
review’s purpose. Instead, read the book. Any Dylan fan will benefit. I couldn’t help
thinking several times during the reading how often people have wanted Bob Dylan to conform
to the image they feel most comfortable with. This is true of fans and the industry. How like
trying to put God in a box.
The lessons we can take from the book: never apologize for your faith, be true to yourself and don’t
get caught up in the “vanity of vanities”.
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Scripture taken from
the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright
© 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by
permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are
registered trademarks of International Bible Society.
Use of either trademark for the offering of goods
or services requires the prior written consent of
International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from
the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright
©1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All rights
reserved.
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