Let it Be…

There is much commotion lately about the worthiness of our nation’s people, those at our mercy to receive a helping hand. Whether it be health care, government assistance, minimum wage,disaster relief, what have you…there is much to be said on the topic from countering views. I recently saw a post by someone with a sarcastic connotation which stated “Work harder, the welfare recipients are counting on you…just saying.” It has been on my mind since, and I couldn’t keep it in another minute longer. I can understand the feeling of pride that one gets when they work hard and live smart putting them in a secure situation. I get sitting back and appreciating the fruits of your labor with the temptation to pat yourself on the back. It is even somewhat natural to feel as if you deserve it based on your efforts while those who did not work as hard do not…but take a moment and remember “There but by the grace of God go I” when you see someone sitting on the corner of the freeway in tattered clothes and holding a sign, as you pass the homeless man nursing a cheap bottle of whiskey as if it were his savior, remember that when you judge the young mother with more than one child standing in the welfare line. It is not ideal, not admirable, but it is real. None of us know the circumstances which led these souls to this state of living, or surviving, or just existing. Some of you may have walked that path, and may be standing on the other side with pride in your fortitude, but even then, it is by the grace of God that you have been delivered, or have “delivered yourself.” We have a nation full of broken souls, souls which we shun and shut out–for the recognition of such makes us uncomfortable. That young mother knows no love, and is looking for it in a man, in multiple men, in a child, or children, only to be disappointed yet again when it appears as a mirage, only to leave her empty, if not emptier than before. We have a society that does not cultivate the best in everyone, and despite what we would like to believe, not everyone is afforded a completely equal opportunity. That man clutching the bottle with hopes of escaping his demons, only finds them again when the booze wears off, and he realizes he does not know how to exorcise the demon that lives within, when he realizes he is utterly and completely alone. That man holding the sign may have been the high school quarterback, or the school outcast…it is possible for any of us to end up standing in their shoes under the “right” circumstances. I am not asking for your opinion on this matter, for I have, and continue to hear them all, I am not even stating my own. What I am asking for is for you to take a pause, step out of your own shoes, and realize you did not put yourself on this earth( no matter what your beliefs), you are blessed to be standing where you are, and it would do your soul good to lift up another to be standing next to you in whatever way you deem fit. Lately, I have been receiving healing to my soul through the timeless lyrics of a Beatles song, Let it Be…and I just wanted to pass them along.

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.

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.

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.