Why We Should All Wear Black

In 1984 I worked at an alarm monitoring company and it was a big deal that we had recently installed the alarm system for Johnny Cash. Hardly a few days later his fire alarm went off. I was a shift supervisor and was excited as one of my employees called his residence and spoke to him on the phone. "I reckon I forgot to open the fireplace chute," he said. Since he didn't know his security code I had no choice but to dispatch the fire department. Fortunately, the fire department called him first and never went out. Perhaps I was the inspiration for his hit single "Ring of Fire?" Probably not considering the song came out 20 years before.

Sadly, Johnny Cash and his wife June died in 2003, and, ironically, the house burned to the ground four years later.

While growing up I always just thought of him as a country music star, and I was more into Elton John. But after seeing the movie "Walk the Line" in 2005 I had a renewed interest in Johnny as a folk singer, an example of humility, and a champion of the underdog. 

The whole idea of wearing black always appealed to me. What a cool dude. He even wrote a song about why he wore black. He wore it for the poor, the downtrodden, prisoners who had long since paid for their crimes, the sick, the old and lonely, and for those who ruined their lives with bad decisions. In addition to all of the above, Johnny was an advocate for native Americans.

For the same reasons, I'm wearing black more too. We hear a lot in our society about the need to always be "positive," but the world doesn't work that way. And when people try to push you back into the "happy zone" that forces you to ignore a world that's not so happy. An old college friend recently told me that my blog is "sad." I make no apologies for that. I don't mind being sad because I've spent my entire life observing what people are doing to the world and to each other. To me, so many behaviors are so illogical and insane that all I can do is laugh because otherwise I would cry.

In addition to being a great humanitarian, Johnny Cash believed in crossing over lines. His music was a mix of folk, country, and rock, and in the music business Johnny regularly made friends with artists from different genres. In 1969-70 he had his own TV show and while he primarily brought in country stars he also featured musicians who performed folk, pop, rock, and soul.

On one side Johnny was a restless rebel, drug user, and a prisoner himself. He was thrown in jail seven different times, which included an arrest for smuggling prescription drugs from Mexico. Fortunately, smuggling prescription drugs was a far less serious offense than illegal narcotics and he served a suspended sentence. 

When he played his guitar, he could either be playing a gospel hymn or some grisly story about prison. He was all over the map.

As the story goes, Johnny found Jesus in 1967 while crawling in the Nickajack Cave near Chattanooga, TN. Nickajack was a huge network of caves and some people before him had crawled in and never came out, and that was Johnny's plan because he wanted to end his life. After three hours of crawling in the dark cave his flashlight batteries went out and he laid down, exhausted and in total darkness. It was then when he has his spiritual epiphany. After a while he began to feel a slight breeze, and following the direction of the breeze led him out — a changed man.

Later that same year, with the support of June Carter and her family, Johnny got off drugs and married June the following year. Two months later he went to Folsom Prison in California and recorded one of the most amazing albums in music history.

As a Christian, Johnny was one of those spiritual "cool" Christians that I love and admire. He, along with Jimmy Carter and blogger John Pavlovitz, are among the few true Christians that I've ever known. My epiphany for this week is that the greatest Christians are those who truly care about the welfare of others, and that it comes from within. I doubt saying the three sentence salvation prayer or getting dunked in a pool of cold water really changes anyone. It must come from within, and chances are these great people had it "in them" all their lives. Far to the contrary, the Christian evangelicals I see today repulse me. They are pious, self-righteous, and appear obsessed with banning abortion and gay marriage, loving Trump, and catering to Israel. And nothing more. I don't see them giving a rats ass about the poor, the desperate immigrants, and certainly not me. I should feel blessed that I'm a white male living in the US, but to me it's a curse because while I can try, I can never fully understand the subtle persecution that people of color must endure every day.

Finally, I admire Johnny Cash because he was a good husband. He found the woman of his dreams and when she died in 2003 Johnny followed her into the next world four months later. I dream of finding the love of my life like he did, and living the rest of my days with someone I can adore, worship, and cherish. When Johnny found his dream girl he never took her for granted and he always showed his appreciation for her. They enjoyed a powerful love and 35-year marriage.

So, here I am today in the summer of 2019, confronted with all the things I did or did not do right, which has led me to where I am now. I am alive and still feel, so all is not lost. Maybe it's true that us libtards feel too much, which defies the laws of Darwinism. But all I know is that I can feel. I feel the pain of those desperate Mexicans and Guatemalans who are trying to get into our country not to just seek a better life, but for basic self-preservation. I feel for a love lost. I feel for a mother whose child is diagnosed with a disease. I feel for America, which has now become a corporation for the billionaires.

Sometimes I feel that I'm the only one who feels. As I write this on a Sunday morning, the church people are in their churches handling snakes or listening to their rock bands. The alcoholics and drug addicts are all passed out right now. The tree huggers are out hiking; the yuppies are out shopping. And I am all alone.

Sources:

The Day God Saved Johnny Cash, by Victor Parachin

The Love Story of Johnny Cash & June Carter, by Lauren Hubbard

Top-of-Page Photo: Annie Spratt