Just over 60 years ago Bob Dylan wrote and recorded “Blowin’ in the Wind,” asking questions about freedom, peace and justice, then responding “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.” The explanation of that thought seems to be that the answer is like piecs of newspaper blowing in the streets that noone bothers to grasp and read.

Just over 60 years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Deam” speech before a crowd of 250,000 in Washington, DC. His dream was that his children would live in a world where they were judged by the content of their heart rather than the colour of their skin.

Just over 60 years ago, large numbers of young people were finding Jesus outside of the institutional churches and singing “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

What has happened? It was a time of noble aspirations and great hope; have things changed in the last 60 years? As someone who was a young adult 60 years ago and is still around, I would say that some things have changed for the better, others have changed for the worse. As the French saying goes “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (the more things change, the more they are the same).

I wish to offer three observations. The first is that deliverance will never come through political means. Our enemies are not governments and politicians but spiritual principalities and powers. Satan is the god of this world, the prince of this world, the prince of the power of the air. When we involve ourselves in political strife, even if only as onlookers, we become compromised with the spirits that rule that world.

Secondly, we need the idealism and enthusiasm of youth. However, their enthusiasm may lead them to follow rabbit trails that lead nowhere. Their enthusiasm needs guidance and mentoring, but it should not be stifled, lest we quench the Spirit.

Thirdly, we also need the wisdom and patience of the elders. But we who are older need to examine ourselves as to whether we are truly following the Spirit, or just running on fumes from the past. Ideas that we didn’t think of first are not necessarily evil, they may be a wake up call.

I believe the dreams and aspirations of 60 years ago were valid. The attempts to transform them into reality often led to disappointment and disillusionment. For genuine spiritual renewal, revival, to happen, the young must not assume that all that is old is bad and the old must not assume that all that is new to them is new to God.