The Virgin and Child in Egypt
By William Blake
Produced for Patron Thomas Butts
Gift by Paul Mellon, 1953
Victoria and Albert Museum, London William Blake (1757 – 1827) 1810
Be ye therefore merciful, as
your Father also is merciful.
Gospel of Luke 6:36
Table of Contents
“For me, Catholicism was much more
a matter of the invisible world”.
~ Jerry Garcia, from the book Jerry on Jerry, edited by Dennis McNally
A message of the hope in and from Jesus Christ, the Divine Mercy, for Jerome John Garcia, his family, children, friends, fans and all.
By Tom Fabry
Dedicated to my Mother, my Father, my family and friends, who demonstrated mercy to me…
In Memory of:
- Anthony McGuiness
- Michael Ross
- Philip McLaughlin
- Keith Slingsby
- Tom and Joan Rado
- Joseph Pratta
- Timothy O’Donohue
- Al Frisby
- John Morrisey
- Rickey Shuart
- Joseph Brancatelli
- John Sikora
- Stephen Hastings
- John Parietti
- Craig Coyne
- Forrest Lawson
- Eleanor Glasser
- Stefan Waldman
- Robert Fisher
- Al Danielson
- Diane Walsh Fuhrmann
- Ralph Nils Olsen
And all ancestors of those reviewing this information:
Jerry Garcia interview, May 1980, comments on Bob Dylan’s music and message of Jesus Christ. Time of Slow Train Coming and Saved.
MERCY IS IN BUSINESS
For the LORD is good; His mercy endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100 verse 5
Trust in the Lord
Matthew 6:25-27: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life…
Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
See Proverbs 3:5 Psalm 37:3 Psalm 56:3-4 John 14:1 Romans 15:13 1 Peter 5:7 regarding trusting in the Lord.
If you want somebody you can trust, trust in Jesus Christ
Jeremiah Chapter 17: verse 7 “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him”.
Below from the diary of Saint Sister Faustina, 1930s/Poland
Think of a loved one’s last moments.
Message of Jesus Christ to Maria Faustyna Kowalska, OLM (born Helena Kowalska; 25 August 1905 – 5 October 1938), also known as Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament, was a Polish Catholic religious sister and mystic. Secretary of Mercy.
“All grace flows from mercy, and the last hour abounds with mercy for us. Let no one doubt concerning the goodness of God; even if a person’s sins were as dark as night, God’s mercy is stronger than our misery. One thing alone is necessary; that the sinner set ajar the door of his heart, be it ever so little, to let in a ray of God’s merciful grace, and then God will do the rest.” (No. 1507)
Isaiah 30:18 – “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.”
1 Peter 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
If Mercy’s in business, I wish it for you
From Fire on the Mountain
By Robert Hunter, Mickey Hart, sung by Jerry Garcia
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Virgin Mother appears in Zeitoun, Egypt 1968-1971
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“Maybe someday you’ll hear a voice from on high, sayin’ “For whose sake did you live, for whose sake did you die?” Bob Dylan, Maybe Someday c1986
It ain’t no use a–talking to me
Its just the same as talking to you
I Shall Be Free No. 10 Copyright © 1971 by Special Rider Music; renewed 1999 by Special Rider Music
In 1961, at age 19, Bob Dylan left Minnesota and traveled more than 1,000 miles east to New York City, drawn to its vibrant folk music scene. One of his main goals was to meet Woody Guthrie, who was then hospitalized in New Jersey. Dylan eventually found him and spent time visiting and performing for him.
“I wonder if Woody Guthrie ever shared his thoughts on the afterlife, God, or Jesus Christ with Bob Dylan. Could he still speak at that point in his life?”
Guthrie did write and sing the songs, “Jesus Christ” and “They Laid Jesus Christ in His Grave.”
Did the young Jewish man from Minnesota offer a prayer with or for Woody? Maybe Bob prayed in the quiet of his mind as he left the building or while traveling to and from wherever he was staying at that time? Maybe he didn’t pray at all. Maybe we will learn more of those meetings in Chronicles II. That meeting was certainly part of that destiny thing.
In 1979, when I was 19 years old, I made my way east from New York to Egypt via London, Rome, Athens, Corinth, Delphi and Istanbul and all the way back to New York City. Back home in New York I took a subway ride about 11 miles west from St. John’s University in Queens, to Central Park South in Manhattan. All that traveling led me to a brief meeting with Jerry Garcia.
I was curious if Jerry believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, if he loved Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, I never got around to asking those simple and direct questions. We did discuss a few things, among them, salvation, Dylan’s recent work and public expression of faith at the time, and who just might “get saved”. Jerry Garcia did have a Christian marriage ceremony the year before he died and a Christian funeral service in 1995.
Looking back I could have had Jerry unpack his brief meeting with John Lennon in the Village in the mid 1970’s.
Above link contains purported comments by Lennon at a Garcia show in NYC.
Steve Parish recounts the Lennon and Garcia meeting, but hearing Jerry’s recollection would have been interesting. In May of 1980 I did not know the two had ever met, and I certainly didn’t know Lennon would be killed 7 months later and a mile from where we were sitting.
Why should a 20 year old New Yorker care what a west coast guitar player thinks about Jesus Christ? I was looking for encouragement perhaps.
What makes Dylan’s proclamation of his love and surrender to Jesus Christ important and encouraging to some? Why did it/does it trigger others to anger and consternation? Bob Dylan still sings of Jesus Christ and probably even for Jesus Christ.
DYLAN – Salvation
Saved Bob Dylan c 1980
Nobody to rescue me
Nobody would dare
I was going down for the last time
But by His mercy I’ve been spared
Not by works
But by faith in Him who called
For so long I’ve been hindered
For so long I’ve been stalled
Dirt Road Blues
Written by: Bob Dylan c 1997
Gon’ walk down that dirt road, ’til someone lets me ride
Gon’ walk down that dirt road, ’til someone lets me ride
If I can’t find my baby, I’m gonna run away and hide
I been pacing around the room hoping maybe she’d come back
Pacing ’round the room hoping maybe she’d come back
Well, I been praying for salvation laying ’round in a one-room country shack
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Dylan in an interview with Jeff Slate for the Wall Street Journal, December 2022, said, “I’m a religious person. I read the scriptures a lot, meditate and pray, light candles in church. I believe in damnation and salvation, as well as predestination. The Five Books of Moses, Pauline Epistles, invocation of the Saints, all of it”.
I asked a messianic Jewish believer in Jesus Christ, who has become a Traditional Latin Mass Catholic attendee, if Jewish people invoke the saints… she said, “no, but they do pray for the dead”.
With all the cities of the world Bob travels through, he must have the opportunity to visit many unique churches, some of which that make use of candles. Evangelicals and protestants tend not to use candles viewing them as unnecessary ritualism, or Catholic idolatry….according to Grok, Catholics use candles to symbolize Christ as the Light of the World, representing His presence, truth, and guidance in darkness. They are lit during prayer, Mass, and sacraments to express faith, hope, devotion, and to make petitions or give thanks to God.
I add, also when we light a candle with a special prayer intention, even when we leave the church building, the candle still burns and it symbolizes the prayer still being in motion, in play.
See 2nd Maccabees.12:46
From the book, Mixing Up The Medicine, edited by Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel of the Bob Dylan Center:
“This hardcore embrace of Christianity starts to peter out,” Fishel explained. “It starts to broaden, but it never disappears. All those biblical themes had been throughout Dylan’s work even from the beginning and bubbled up at different times… It becomes more complex as his work progresses.”
In 1979 and 1980 and after, why did some writers, critics and fans have such a problem with the Jewish Bob Dylan accepting, loving, and confessing Jesus Christ? What are the reasons some people still have for disparaging, dismissing, and criticizing Dylan’s music and lyrics proclaiming and sharing the truth of Jesus Christ with anyone who is, was and will be listening?
For some it might come from a dark place, inspired by a similar, dark spirit, that infected those that set up the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
According to Catholic teaching, Jesus Christ offers His infinite mercy to every person at the moment of death, extending the opportunity for repentance and trust in Divine Mercy, even in their final breath. No one is beyond the reach of that merciful offer unless they definitively reject it. But, alas, some, though few, may die in and with their stubbornness, error and pride. I recommend to them to desist from their trivializing Dylan’s profession of Christ…. So easy for so many to grab on to New Age, do as thou wilt kind of stuff, but oh, how some like to knock the person who sings of Jesus Christ. Lennon had a slight problem with it…
John Lennon wrote in Number 9 Dream
I believe, yes I believe
More I cannot say
What more can I say?
Not quite sure what John meant by that. If it was about a belief in God, that was something, about it maybe for John Lennon, though not insignificant. His friend, Bob Dylan chose to confess a whole lot more.
Lennon, was in part on point when he said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ, when referring to the American youth and the Beatlemania scene. Maybe it was his way of pointing out how ridiculous all the attention the Beatles were getting and maybe he was suggesting Jesus Christ should be more important to youth. Perhaps.
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Sisters and Brothers – A depiction of what our interaction with Jesus Christ may be when we pass on.
Forgive them Father, they know not what they do. Luke Chapter 23, verse 24
First the hello! Hey man, brother,
I know you!!!
Next, the embrace.
Then the life review…
Two poignant Photos above by Mark Haworth Harlan
I happened to catch a couple moments the same day, soon before the embrace. See below
FATHER MARTIN VON COCHEM, O.S.F.C.
The Seven Lessons from Heaven
From Sisters and Brothers, by Charles Johnson + “Let us take our fellow man, by the hand, try to help him to understand. We can all be together forever and ever, when we make it to the promised land.”(after some clean up time in purgatory, an outer room to heaven.) Lyrics of that tune, in part from Psalm 91
Dylan’s Simple Twist of Fate
Played and sung by Jerry Garcia – March 1980
A brief conversation w Jerry Garcia
A Very Simple Twist of Fate 1
This is Saint Jerome in His Study (1521), painted by Joos van Cleve (also known as Joos van der Beke; c. 1485/1490–1540/41), a Netherlandish (Flemish) artist from Antwerp.
In 1979 I was with my older brother, on the road, in Italy, the Peloponnese, Turkey and Egypt. In August of that year, around the time of the death of Thurman Munson, we made our way from Cairo up to Luxor, Egypt. We spent some days in the Valley of the Kings, also visiting Queen Hatsheput’s temple (peculiar space) at Deir el- Bahari, and Karnak.
After spending a long, strange day in tombs and temples in the Valley of the Kings and surrounding area, and before heading to our few dollar a night youth hostel spot, we strolled into the comfort of the Winter Palace Hotel… to relax, get some water and the air conditioning. It was in the Winter Palace in Luxor where a first Twist of Fate occurred.
Just prior, we bumped into Charlton Heston who was on set, filming the movie, “The Awakening”. We had a brief chat. We asked him for sites to visit. He said the Red Sea. I asked, “have you been there?” He said, “of course, I parted it once.” Had a little laugh in the desert.
While lounging on a couch in the Winter Palace hotel lobby, recuperating and relaxing in its cool comfort, I was pleasantly surprised when Jerry Garcia’s “Sugaree” suddenly drifted over the sound system. It was nice. The song brought back fond memories—I had grown up listening to the Garcia Band album in high school and had seen him perform live between 1976 and 1979. The crisp, compressed, chunky, chorus-effected guitar tone, the recording’s sparkling clarity, and the gentle background of running water and air conditioning all felt wonderfully refreshing. I chalked the whole moment up to a delightful and slightly strange coincidence.
I figured someone in the Dead’s organization, gifted the hotel some music a year earlier when they themselves were in Luxor. I didn’t think to seek out what and where the source of the music was.
My brother and I split up in Cairo a week or so later, but not before listening to Frank Sinatra sing a couple tunes by the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx. Can’t remember any scalpers in the area, and we chose not to breach the security.
Below is one written by Jerry’s namesake, Jerome Kern.
My brother went to Tunisia and I flew to Rome to make my way to London, and then home, but not before I made one more stop.
In late September of 1979 I made it to Great Malvern, England, (where in the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I, procured the Malvern water)
Malvern water – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvern_water
The Malvern Hills
Nice water in Malvern. I was there in search of a friend and was not certain how to get in touch with her. I walked off the bus and walked into the Jolly Inn. It was there where I met Michael, and was invited to stay at his home with his wife Katie and their months old son, Zachary. They were very kind and hospitable.
Early in my stay, Michael, asked if I had heard the new Bob Dylan album. I told him, “No. I hadn’t.” I had been hitch hiking and traveling around on planes, trains, and buses the prior four months with only a cassette of Blood On The Tracks a very good friend gave to me for my trip. I would listen to it whenever I could find a tape deck. I was unaware a new Bob Dylan record was being worked on and finalized at that time. And I certainly didn’t know somebody had touched Dylan, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was with Dylan before that night in a Tucson hotel room.
My host put on the vinyl of Slow Train Coming, released just 1 month prior. Remarkable! Surprising! Inspiring! From the first native American Indian beat/like groove of Gotta Serve Somebody, a great and important impact was made from my first listening and for the next three weeks I was in Malvern. I don’t recall listening to much of anything else, when the child wasn’t sleeping. Almost every song pointed to Jesus Christ: obedience to Him, biblical truth, judgment, mercy, the Evil One and even government corruption. Every song had urgency to it.
I had seen Dylan in 1978 in NYC, and saw and listened to Garcia play Dylan tunes. I had just turned 20 in Rome and I recall standing in the living room of the home in Great Malvern hearing every word, and as John Lennon once said related to listening to certain music, I listened,“with both ears”.
Dylan’s words, in Precious Angel struck me a bit, maybe because I had just left the Middle East.
“You were telling him about Buddha, you were telling him about Mohammad in the same breath
You never mentioned one time the Man who came and died a criminal’s death” (Dylan capitalized the word Man in his book, The Lyrics: 1961 -2012.)
In the song, When You Gonna Wake Up he sings:
“Counterfeit philosophies have polluted all your thoughts, Karl Marx has got ya by the throat, Henry Kissinger’s got you tied up in knots” and
“There’s a Man up on a cross and He’s been crucified for you, believe in His power that’s about all you got to do.” (Trusting Christ and being obedient is critical too)
I never heard anything like this. The Englishman, Mark Knopfler’s tone, rhythm vamp expressions and licks certainly made it easy to listen to. The lyrics, melodies, songs, the whole band and Jerry Wexler’s production earned Dylan a Grammy.
Interesting note, I found in the book, The Lyrics: 1961-2012 by Bob Dylan, Simon Schuster, Dylan chose to have the lyrics of, When You Gonna Wake Up printed out in the book this way, and not the way he sang and recorded it:
“There’s a Man up on a cross and He’s been crucified
Do you have any idea why or for who He died”?
Maybe Ray Padgett, Clinton Heylin, Scott M. Marshall or Mitch Blank can explore the significance of that. Some other students and interpreters of Dylan’s words and music, will choose to overlook this, and, or not probe when it is pointed out to them. They may experience some cognitive dissonance or disdain to hear and read of their hip hero poet, musician sing of Jesus Christ so precisely. What is that scripture where it says the wise will be dumbstruck, the simple will get it… Some get wise in their own eyes.
1 Corinthians Chapter 1 verse 27-29 – But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
Having raised some necessary travel money by working in a hops field and a basement, I prepared my trip to London and then NYC. I do recall one last moment before I left Great Malvern and headed home to New York.
Always wanted to be a hop-picker.
One evening, on a stroll through town, Michael Austin, my host said to me, “Tom, people don’t want to hear the truth”. He conveyed that to me with some passion, confidence, and apparently some personal experience.
Its interesting how certain moments get deeply etched into one’s mind. That was one such moment and message. Very true Michael Austin and thanks to you and your family for the unique and open hospitality. May Jesus Christ bless you, your family and all your ancestors.
Bob Dylan did a good, beautiful and impactful work for God, himself, his ancestors, his living and future family members as well as for his country and anyone who was, is and will be listening. He went public with his acceptance, submission, yielding and surrendering to Jesus Christ. He was Jewish when he did that. He still is “Jewish”, and apparently a Jewish man who wants to try to walk in the Spirit of the Lord, with Jesus Christ. He is an American too.
Dylan had the courage, drive, the reason, the conviction, the peace, the gratitude, the desire, the willingness, the inspiration and maybe even felt a need and obligation to tell the world about his newfound love for and comfort from Jesus Christ. There are many reasons people respond this way when first experiencing their acceptance and realization of Jesus Christ.
I recall asking a priest/professor at St John’s University, how could it be Dylan was so vocal, evangelical and committed. The priest said something to the effect that often when a person first gets imbued with, moved by and saved by the Holy Spirit, there occurs a great excitement and desire to spread the news. When one surrenders to God, the Father, and has a redeeming and cleansing and renewing experience of joy and freedom with the Lord, the person becomes zealous, enthusiastic, and overjoyed to share with others what he has found, Who he has found and Who has found him.
As Conor McPherson noted in an interview with Dorian Lynskey of the Observor, June 2025, regarding Dylan’s music proclaiming his acceptance and love of Jesus Christ,
“There was no irony,” McPherson says. “He was getting into what he believed in. And that gave an incredible rigor to his songwriting. This is not the place he should go, and he goes there, and he couldn’t give two flying effs what people think. It’s all crazy and kind of brilliant.”
Mid 16th century (in enthusiasm (sense 2)): via late Latin enthusiasm us ‘inspiration, frenzy’ from Greek enthousiasmos, from enthousiazein ‘be inspired or possessed by a god’ (based on theos ‘god’).
Dylan, like every person, had his wounds, and he was touched and invited by Jesus Christ in to new understanding, thinking and freedom. He began to be further empowered, inspired and healed by God. The healing and renewing is a life long process.
Dylan, asked a question in What Can I Do For You
I presume part of the answer he received back was to go out and share his music and the good news of Jesus Christ with the world.
He could’ve kept it very quiet. Some people, maybe even a rolling stone said he did the whole Jesus Christ bit just to make some cash. Imagine that. Oh how desperate and dim some of his critics and even admirers were, and some still are as their hero sang and still sings about his love and thanksgiving to Jesus Christ. Also, if you’ve never played in a well oiled machine band before, you’ll never know that alone is one reason to take a band out on tour and play.
Why were some, Jewish and non Jewish fans upset that Dylan accepted and surrendered to Jesus Christ? So many artists think it is beneath them or keep their faith quiet, maybe thinking it will jeopardize their reputation or hurt their career. Maybe they think they will “lose fans/followers”. Sad.
New Licks and Grooves
Take back what the devil stole.
To all the new and old players alike, like MK. Gee, Daniel Donato, Billy Strings, Brian and Grahame Lesh, Joe Russo, John Mayer, The Wood Brothers, Almost Monday and others, it’s well and good to sing of and for Jesus Christ. Maybe some of these folks already do. Don’t be ashamed (Matthew 10:32) to speak of and confess to others, the truth of and message of and very love of Jesus Christ. A gift you can pass on to your own living family members and ancestors could be to do songs of hope, love, truth. honoring and lifting up Jesus Christ. You can offer it up as a prayer. The youth of America and the world need the assist.
Jesus Christ is not the enemy. Seems like everything is allowed in the public square but the name of Jesus Christ….He is our friend, brother, redeemer, savior and Lord. I believe from Jerome Garcia’s current perspective, if he still has one, he would love for you to sing of the message of Jesus Christ to the young and old of America and the world. It is remarkable, how the most significant person in human history, Jesus Christ is shunned and side-lined by so many. Seems like a tad of diabolical disorientation be floating about.
Hey Grok.
please provide 2 scriptures from the new testament that clearly state, human beings are ashamed to speak of Jesus Christ because it is not cool or hip and is not popular in the culture
Searching the web
28 results
Here are two clear New Testament scriptures that directly address the idea of people being ashamed of Jesus Christ or His testimony—often in contexts where identifying with Him could be unpopular, socially costly, or “not cool” in the surrounding culture.
- Mark 8:38 (ESV)
“For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Jesus warns that in a corrupt and sinful culture (“generation”), some will feel shame or embarrassment about openly aligning with Him and His teachings, perhaps because it’s unpopular or counter-cultural. - Luke 9:26 (ESV) — a close parallel to the verse above
“For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” This is nearly identical in wording to Mark’s account, emphasizing the same warning from Jesus about the danger of being ashamed of Him amid societal pressures.
A closely related verse that instructs against such shame (implying it was a real temptation) is 2 Timothy 1:8 (ESV):
“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.” Paul urges Timothy not to hide or downplay his faith in Christ because it might seem uncool, embarrassing, or out of step with the culture—especially when it could lead to ridicule or hardship. These passages highlight that being ashamed of Jesus often stems from a desire to fit in or avoid unpopularity, but they call believers to bold faithfulness instead.
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Catholic Church teaching is that the dead benefit from our prayers. Songs for Christ can certainly be a prayer as well. You can help take back what the devil stole. Bob Dylan, Jerry’s friend whom Jerry respected and may I dare say loved, has lived a remarkably unique life. He was not ashamed as a Jewish man to sing of Jesus Christ.
Don’t be fearful, or ashamed to sing of and for Jesus Christ, and truth, and obedience to God. There’s nothing hipper one can do. Recall Christ’s words,
“Matthew 10:32-33 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
“He who sings, prays twice”.
Do something good in Jerry’s memory and certainly pray for all your own ancestors… Go back generations.
Don’t be ashamed to confess the name of Jesus Christ, and please know, when you are in a difficult or grave situation, or even a joyous one, call on the name above all names, Jesus Christ. He’ll be with thee.
Dylan sang of Jesus Christ in his early 20s.
He still sings of Jesus Christ in the 21st century. I saw him do a couple nights at New York’s Capitol theater in November 2023 and there he sang songs pointing to Jesus Christ, Gotta Serve Somebody and Every Grain of Sand and other songs. He seems to like to mention Saints and churches too.
Twist of Fate Number Two with (Act of Mercy # 1)
A few months after returning to New York in October, 1979, I was working the night shift of a day job. There, I met a repairman who had a friend who was connected with some Hells Angels. I may have told him about my experience in Egypt or we spoke about music. Nevertheless, his Hells Angels pals told him where the Dead stayed when in NYC and he told me. Hotel Navarro on Central Park South.
The Garcia Band came to town soon after I learned that information and in late winter 1980, I dug out the old family phone recording device and gave the hotel a quick call, and lo, the timing was perfect.
Put on the yoke of Christ, its real easy/simple…
Jesus Christ’s words as recorded in Matthew Chapt 11 vs 28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Not Like Going to Hell…
Ain’t Gonna Go to Hell For Anybody
audio clip below
GARCIA PHONE CALL (c) Tom Fabry 2024
Mercy’s in business and is available
Saint Teresa of Avila Vision of Hell
https://aleteia.org/2019/10/15/st-teresa-of-avilas-haunting-vision-of-hell
As you will hear below, Jerry very easily could have just ended the call. Instead, he was patient, and upon review, even merciful. Either way, because of his general good will, and openness toward me, now the information shared on this website can be seen by those interested in certain aspects of the lives of Jerry Garcia and Bob Dylan, and hopefully this information of Jesus Christ, the Divine Mercy will be helpful to some.
I choose to believe Jerry would be well pleased, grateful and maybe relieved that the message of Jesus Christ, the Divine Mercy and some other Catholic doctrine and odds and ends are shared with his children, friends and fans, in relationship to his own life and his own name.
He was kind to me, at that moment, and hopefully this message of the Divine Mercy, Jesus Christ being shared and encountered, brings some grace and peace to his soul and the souls of his family and ancestors going back all generations.
Jerry, and perhaps Ron Mckernan were the only Roman Catholics in the Grateful Dead. Jerry was outnumbered in different ways and certainly in those 1960s, there was a swirl of counterfeit philosophies and postmodern noise that flooded the culture and counterculture, drowning out two millennia of the Church’s traditional teachings, its profound mysticism, and its hard-won truths.
General apostasy
apostasy, the total rejection of Christianity by a baptized person who, having at one time professed the Christian faith, publicly rejects it. It is distinguished from heresy, which is limited to the rejection of one or more Christian doctrines by one who maintains an overall adherence to Jesus Christ.
Jerry told me to reach out to Rock Scully. May Jesus Christ bless Rock Robert Scully’s soul. I called Rock during that same Garcia Band tour. Rock helped coordinate the eventual meeting.
From the last pages of Rock Scully’s autobiography with David Dalton, Rock recounts going thru a rough patch after being fired from the organization. Scully wrote:
“My brains are scorched and my life a total disaster, plus my battery is dead. I am a miserable sinner, O Lord, I have squandered my days in riotous living, but I have learned my lesson. My life from now on will be one of abstinence and prayer. Right there on the corner of Jackson and Hyde I made a resolution to myself that the next ten years are going to be different. But I forgot to say how.”
Rock handed us off to and introduced me and my brother to Ren Grevatt, a seasoned publicist who worked for Garcia and his band for a short period of time.
Above photo by Gary Kane/Kane photography Garcia and Scully Radio City, NYC October 1980
“There’s a dragon with matches, that’s loose on the town” – Hunter/Hart – Fire on the Mountain
“The devil is like a rabid dog tied to a chain: beyond the length of the chain he cannot seize anyone. And YOU: keep at a distance. If you approach too near, you let yourself be caught. Remember that the devil has only one door by which to enter the soul …. the will.”
Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Simple Twist of Fate # 3 w (Act of mercy # 2)
In 1980, Garcia had at least three visits to NYC and the east coast. First in Feb/March 1980 with the Garcia band and later in Spring and again in October with the Grateful Dead. It was during the Spring tour in May 1980 that we met with Garcia. May 1980 happened to turn out to be almost precisely in the middle of his time with his band, 1965-1995. Garcia’s first show, under the name “The Warlocks”, was at Magoo’s Pizza Parlor in Menlo Park, California, on May 5, 1965. Garcia passed in August of 1995.
On a beautiful spring afternoon in mid May 1980 my brother and I met at Columbus Circle and walked east on Central Park South to the Navarro hotel. Ren Grevatt came down to the lobby to meet us.
Up we went in what at least sounded like an old rickety elevator. The door opened up to the elevator lobby. We walked into the living room where Garcia and some of his colleagues were seated and some standing. We walked in as another interviewer, was speaking with Garcia.
What I recognize now as another twist of fate
was when we entered into Garcia’s Navarro Suite, within the first minute or two of sitting down, a question was asked by the other interviewer about what music Garcia listened to. Without having planned it at all, I just jumped in and was able to ask this question:
“What do you think of Dylan’s latest”?
I was referring to the Slow Train Coming album. The Saved album had not been released yet. It would be released a month later on June 23rd 1980. Dylan was playing most songs of both albums live in 1979 and 80 and he did play in San Francisco in 1979. Garcia likely saw some of those shows and may have known of that album’s title and title song and what was coming. He certainly was familiar with Slow Train Coming, which was released in August of 1979.
Garcia joined Dylan on stage in late 1980 at the Warfield Theater in his hometown, San Francisco.
Below is audio of Garcia with Dylan in late 1980, taking the guitar break in Dylan’s song, When You Gonna Wake Up.
You can’t take it with you and you know that it’s too worthless to be sold
They tell you, “Time is money,” as if your life was worth its weight in gold
When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?
There’s a Man up on a cross and He’s been crucified
Do you have any idea why or for who He died?
When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?
Nevertheless Jerry’s commentary, in part dealt with who he thought would get saved.
C. S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “We . . . know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know him can be saved through him.”
That was my point, and CS Lewis certainly said it a bit more elaborately, precisely and eloquently .
AUDIO CLIP Copyright 2024
The Trip He is On…
In His love I am secure.
He bought me with a price,
Freed me from the pit,
Full of emptiness and wrath
And the fire that burns in it. Dylan’s song Saved c 1980
Trips evolve and grow and sometimes take detours or have real bad endings…but the Divine Mercy will be there as a person passes away, or long before a person’s last moment, to offer God’s mercy and love to every soul. (Advisable to tap into God’s grace and direction early in life)
Imagine some persons so wounded and embroiled in evil, that they will not accept the love offered by Jesus Christ Himself, even at the moment of death or after death. There are reasons for that. Jesus Christ, according to His words found in Sister Faustina’s diaries, appeals to EVERY soul at the moments around the time of death.
Jerry’s last marriage was a Christian service. Jerry sang Gospel tunes. He had a Christian funeral service.
I could have been more clear when I said, to Jerry “yeah, but, if you don’t know Him you can be saved”.
My brother said, “It doesn’t sound like a very Christian thing, to exclude other people”, and then he tried to delineate by citing, “the dogmatic types.” This is the essence of what is being discussed here, in this case, the dogmatic types, of the born again sect of Christianity. (It has been reported that Dylan had issue with the label “born again” Christian)
Important to note here, Garcia was not addressing Roman Catholic theology. He was addressing what he extracted from Slow Train Coming and maybe some of the material from Saved that was played at the shows he saw or heard.
Thinking back, I don’t think anyone in that room in 1980, was adequately prepared to unpack the significant differences between Roman Catholic theology and run of the mill born again evangelical Christianity. Nor did they want to probably. There was a show to go do.
At any rate, an Act of mercy —
Jerry could have asked me to explain my words , “Yeah, but, if you don’t know Him, you can be saved”.
I certainly was not prepared to explain that position at 20 years old, and the debate, in one form or another has been going on for centuries. Garcia was merciful because he could have easily pressed me to explain myself. Not sure how I would have handled that. If he asked me to unpack that statement, I may have greatly fumbled. I recall reading in the Steve Turner book, The Gospel According to the Beatles, a time when John Lennon had some conversations with Christians, and he was a bit rough on them.
My quick response was just an intuitive belief, not even an understanding I had from a Catholic upbringing, and that happened to be in line with Catholic teaching. I was not aware of deep details of the catechism and had never heard of the Divine Mercy at that time. Most Catholics hadn’t heard of it in 1980 and still are unaware and distracted. We were and are living through a time of a great apostasy, thus the Church, families, individuals and nations have been misled and some, horrifically ravaged.
In Acts 4:12, Peter says, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The Catholic Church affirms the truth of this statement, yet also teaches that non-believers can be saved: (C.S. Lewis would have appreciated this)
“Those also can attain to everlasting salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the gospel of Christ or his Church, yet sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does divine Providence deny the help necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God, but who strive to live a good life, thanks to his grace” (Lumen Gentium, no. 16).
See Romans Chapter 2 verse 14
14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
AI Overview
In the Jerusalem Bible, Romans 2:14-15 explains that Gentiles (pagans) without the Law can be guided by reason to act according to it, effectively becoming a law to themselves. Their conscience acts as a witness to the law’s demands, which are written on their hearts, leading to internal moral accusations or defense
and 2 Corinthians Chapter 3 verse 3
“and it is plain that you are a letter from Christ, entrusted to our care, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on the tablets of human hearts
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Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10.17). Conviction is a crucial partner to faith. They work together and when one is missing, the other suffers. Faith is placing hope in God Himself. ( I am unsure of source of previous 2 sentences. I misplaced the source)
Garcia sings Daniel Lanois’ The Maker
I could not see for the fog in my eyes
I could not feel for the fear in my life
And from across the great divide
In the distance I saw a light
Jean Baptiste
Walking to me with the maker
My body is bent and broken
By a long and dangerous sleep
I can’t work the Fields of Abraham
And turn my head away
I’m not a stranger
In the hands of the maker
