buddist
I don’t recall where we were going but the four of us, the whole family, were in the car on a sunny day, the boys in the back seat reading, me in the driver’s seat, and their mom in the passenger seat.
Music was playing and I was explaining to the boys’ mother the meaning of a song she didn’t understand:
I was a highwayman, along the coach roads I did ride, sword and pistol by my side…
This deeply spiritual tune featuring Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash is one of my all-time favorites. Four distinctly different voices tell something about their lives, the first three also sharing the manner of their deaths.
And when the ‘yards broke off they said that I got killed, but I am livin’ still…
Each noting that despite having “died,” they still exist.
I had quickly translated and explained the first three verses, but came upon a challenge with the fourth. The distinct penetrating voice of Johnny Cash begins with:
I fly a starship, across the universe divide…
He discusses what he might do when he finds a place to rest his spirit and then wonders,
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again…
At this moment, I explain that from this we can discern that all four voices are different incarnations Continue reading
