When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace"
—Jimi Hendrix
Who doesn't know the name Jimi Hendrix? He was an insanely talented guitarist, the world's highest paid musician in 1969, the headliner at Woodstock and so many other famous concerts all over the U.S. and Europe. But those who knew him, saw him as the shy and sensitive boy who was deeply affected by parental abandonment, alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, and disillusionment.
He was a by-product of the crazy, mixed up '60s, when "flower children" were dancing in the streets, singing songs of peace, while the war in Vietnam continued to rage, killing our sons by the thousands. A decade that saw our president assassinated, while our school children were still being taught to 'duck and cover,' to avoid injury from Russian bombs, and on the nightly news were films of civil rights marches and riots.
An entire generation had become disillusioned. They stopped believing in the integrity of the government and military, and yet they were a generation that believed firmly in the power of love. Those long-haired hippies might have upset the locals around Max Yasgur's dairy farm, but no one was shot or beat up at Woodstock. Jimi's statement is true. How cynical have we become that we don't see the righteousness of his words?
Love of power continues to grow today. It seems that many elected officials hopscotch from one government job to the next until they make it to Washington and later retire as very rich men and women. We wonder what it would be like if the driving force behind their work was purely love of country and love of the people? When Christ said we are to "love our neighbors as ourselves," he called that the greatest commandment. Shouldn't it then direct our steps?
Jimi Hendrix was a man who emerged victorious in spite of a terrible childhood, but he believed music was literally "love itself" and that the power of love was a mighty weapon against evil. Sure, it's not the 60's anymore, and our country has new and different challenges, but Jimi's words still ring true to us.
At UNITE INDY, we know that the power of love is the only seed that produces anything of value, in our work or anyone else's.
Jim
