Easter, According to Bob Dylan

+ the Time I Think I Saw God

I’m writing this on the heels of a business trip in the old steel town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, slightly nervous that I’m breaking trust with you for diverging from the kind of “content” you’ve seen from me lately.

But then I think of the question that’s been on my mind this Easter weekend: What Would Bob Dylan Do?

Maybe it’s the rust-orange steel stacks, or the sound of the graffitied cargo train, or the untouched architecture of post-war row houses lining the landscape, but the American songbook is my soul’s playlist at the moment.

I’ve had some profoundly spiritual experiences listening to Dylan’s music. He captures what C.S. Lewis calls “a longing for another world” — and a stubborn argument that we have a part to play in satisfying that longing.

With that, I’ve imagined what an Easter service might look like with Bob Dylan serving as our musical guide (Spotify links and covers included since I know his voice isn’t for everyone).

My hope is that no matter what you believe (or don’t) you’re reminded like I am of the simple truth that Winter brings Spring and our longing doesn’t go unloved.

CALL TO WORSHIP

Album: Oh Mercy (1989)

“Oh, the lines are long and the fighting is strong
And they’re breaking down the distance between right and wrong”

Cover: Sarah Jarosz turns this song into a sunrise.

PRAYER OF WAITING

Album: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)

“When your rooster crows at the break of dawn / Look out your window and I’ll be gone / You’re the reason I’m a-traveling on /But don’t think twice, it’s all right”

Cover: Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau turn a monologue into a conversation…or maybe a dance.

GOSPEL READING

Album: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)

“When your rooster crows at the break of dawn / Look out your window and I’ll be gone / You’re the reason I’m a-traveling on /But don’t think twice, it’s all right”

Cover: Marion Williams’ 1969 version listens like a communal protest

COMMUNION

Album: Time Out of Mind (1997)

“I’d go hungry, I’d go black and blue / I’d go crawling down the avenue / No, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do / To make you feel my love”

Cover: Sleeping at Last’s phrasing kills me.

BENEDICTION/SENDING

Album: Saved (1980)

“Nothing now can hold you down, nothing that you lack.”

Cover: Glen Hansard turns every song into a gospel song. He doesn’t need a choir. He is one.

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A PS…

To be honest, God is still a big mystery to me and I don’t spend much time these days wondering about the details. However, there was a moment a few years ago when my wife Kelly was asked to sing a cover of Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” at an Episcopal church we were frequenting.

I was holding our son Mack, a toddler at the time, in the pew. The second I loosened my grip, he bolted and “wobble-ran” toward his mom. She scooped him up in her arms and kept singing those beautiful, haunting words while holding him close.

No admonishment. No embarrassment. No pause in the plan.

If God exists, I’m pretty sure I saw Her that day.

(Got most of it on video)