Let It Be

In college, I went through a crazy Beatles phase (I even briefly sang in a very amateur band that played Beatles covers), so I know Paul McCartney is referring to his mom and not the Virgin Mary in the song “Let It Be.” Still, whenever I hear the song I find myself picturing Mother Mary coming to me and speaking words of wisdom I need to hear.

When I heard “Let It Be” playing on the radio the other day, for some reason I immediately thought of when Mary lost Jesus in the temple. When she finally finds him, the frantic mother rushes over to her son.

“Why have you done this to us?” she and Joseph ask.

Jesus replies, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

In other words, Jesus is saying, “Why are you worried about me? Don’t you know what I’m all about?”

Like other times in Mary’s life, she doesn’t completely understand what’s going on, but she accepts it and puts her trust in God.

It seems when Mary finds herself in times of trouble, she lets God’s will be.

I could learn to do the same.

I can be a worrier. There’s a part of me that thinks the more I worry, the more protection I’ll have against future angst, even though experience tells me otherwise: that worrying is wasteful and does nothing to improve outcomes. And how can I be truly faithful when I have all these worries – everything from fretting about the future of our nation to money or health concerns – weighing down on my heart?

One of the best ways I’ve learned to deal with my worrisome tendencies is to try to “schedule” time for worry. This might be during prayer time or when I happen to be in the car alone. I give myself permission to worry about everything from my pregnancy (is the baby healthy?) to the fear that the slightly swollen lymph node behind my left ear is the first sign of lymphoma. I can be as dramatic as I want (obviously) and indulge in as much foreboding as I like, but when the time’s up, I have to silence the chorus of worries in my head and enjoy the rest of the day.

When I’m tempted to worry outside of my scheduled fret fest or whenever I don’t understand what has happened in my life or in the world, I make an effort to turn to Our Blessed Mother. For Mother Mary is the model of faith, hope, love, and of trusting God. She knows that there will be answer – maybe not now, maybe not 20 years from now – but God is not deaf to our questions, our petitions. Sometimes, while we wait, all we can do is to let it be.

“Let It Be”

When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper 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.
For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see,
there will be an answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, …..

And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me,
shine until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be…