{"id":10465,"date":"2015-08-19T11:48:24","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T15:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=10465"},"modified":"2015-08-19T11:52:54","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T15:52:54","slug":"an-outlaw-is-killed-a-song-is-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2015\/08\/an-outlaw-is-killed-a-song-is-born.html","title":{"rendered":"An Outlaw is Killed, a Song is Born"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"John<\/a>
\nAs it happens it was on this day in 1895 that frontier outlaw and admitted mass murderer John Wesley Hardin<\/a> was shot in an El Paso saloon. That kind of ends this blog entry\u2019s connection to the historic Mr Hardin. <\/p>\n

A bunch of years later in 1967 Bob Dylan, who had a long time interest in outlaw cowboys composed a song that, admittedly was only directly connected to Hardin through the rhythm of his name, becoming the enigmatic but haunting John Wesley Harding<\/a>. <\/p>\n

For me, at least in part, the blending of a sordid history and a Robin Hood like myth is compelling. In a rather different context C. S. Lewis wrote of the \u201cgrubby roots of our affections.\u201d Me, I like both the affections and the grubby roots, and so, for just a moment, I invite a pause, to listen, and to consider the complexities of life\u2026<\/p>\n