In 1970, the Beatles released one of my all-time favorites “Let It Be.” I was watching the James Corden show last year when he did an interview with Paul McCarthy in his hometown. Paul was in his childhood home sharing memories and talked about this song being a dream. Paul said that there were some things going on in his life, and he could hear his mother’s voice telling him to “let it be.” Some of the lyrics are “When I find myself in time of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.” “And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me, shine until tomorrow, let it be.” “Let it be, let it be, let it be, Yeah, let it be. There will be an answer, let it be.”
I like this song for several reasons: 1) We both had wise mothers named Mary. I miss my mother’s sound advice. 2) There is always a familiar voice that speaks to me in times of trouble. That voice is God. It’s not a voice I can describe, and it speaks differently—sometimes speaking through my mother’s voice. Paul’s made it clear on different occasions that it’s not a religious song, although he’s fine with people receiving it that way. 3) Sometimes things get stuck in my head, and I revisit it over and over—like when I was almost hit by a car while walking. No matter how many times we replay it—we can’t undo it.
Memories are great. They connect us to what shaped and formed us. But just as time passes on for us, those incidents or activities must pass to. Let it be a good memory and let us be progressive. My faith tradition says that we can’t put new wine in old wine skins because the old skins will burst. I’m not condoning drinking; I like the visual, logic, and wisdom. We must find a way to honor the traditions that were passed down to us, experience that new things that life presents, be reasonable about the directions we must go to sustain us.
We are trying something new at our church. We have a nontraditional start time. We are attempting to blend the energy of contemporary with the foundation of traditional. We are being intentional about including the cultures that worship with us. If you love different genres of music, want to learn to sign the Lord’s prayer, and want to interact with different cultures, join us. We are not sure how it’s all going to work out, so we decided to let it be and listen for the words of wisdom to guide us. Worship time is 9:45am Sunday morning. You can find us on our webpage www.eumcbeltsville.com or Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/EUMCBeltsville/. Until next time.
Wise people react wisely
Inspiration comes from everywhere
Seek the right path
Don’t let yesterday ruin today
Observe what’s presented
Make the progressive choice.