🎵 Let It Be... (light)
Advent Door#21
Happy Solstice, to all who celebrate.
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, minutes of extra daily sunlight begin this evening at dusk.
Here at newShrink, that shift cannot happen a half-second too soon. Marking it merits some seasonal easing of news-consumption and commentary.
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A soulful gem of an origin story surfaced with the wordplay/song-title theme of this very brief, holiday-weekend greeting. Revisiting “Let It Be,” the long-familiar, classic by Beatles Paul McCartney and John Lennon, added a surprise backstory — I had never known, or long forgotten.
Especially as a depth psychologist, the new information deepens for me the seasonal and spiritual impacts of the song in ways I hadn’t anticipated when first choosing it.
Paul McCartney has publicly described the song lyrics as near-literal account of a dream he had. It was in the period of deep distress about the fracture and separation then underway with the Beatles’ dissolution as a performing group. In the dream — as the song details — his late beloved mother, named Mary (who had died of cancer during his early teens), came to console.
🎵…speaking words of wisdom…”
“When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me/Speaking words of wisdom, let it be…
…And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree/There will be an answer, let it be…
…And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me/Shine until tomorrow, let it be…
… And let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be/Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.”
“Let It Be” also became the album-title for the group’s 1970 swan song and final release of their earlier songs’ recording sessions. Abbey Road in 1969 was their last original album recorded and released.
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Capturing both sacred and seasonal, here are a couple of paired images in visual and verse — shared favorites from newShrink archives.
“After the Snow Fell”
(Poem by Jan Richardson, Oil finger-painting by Iris Scott)
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Closing with wishes for you in the warm light of Love,
This Fourth Sunday of Advent
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And, that is all I have! Talk to you soon.
🦋💙 tish
… it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give — yes or no, or maybe —
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.
— William Stafford, “A Ritual to Read to Each Other”
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