“Let it Be”: Paul McCartney and his Mother, Mary

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

As we walk through the day, seeing with our body’s eyes, we tend to react to negative situations with conditioned responses, imposing the past, taking away any chance for a peaceful day.

That is why I love “Let it Be;” it is a gentle reminder to step back, take a breath and just let things be as they are.  This is a very powerful teaching, echoing Jesus in Lesson 268, Let all things be exactly as they are.

Let me not be Your critic, Lord, today,

and judge against You. Let me not attempt

to interfere with Your creation, and

distort it into sickly forms. Let me

be willing to withdraw my wishes from

its unity, and thus to LET IT BE

as You created it. For thus will I

be able, too, to recognize my Self

as You created me. In Love was I

created, and in Love will I remain

forever. What can frighten me, when I

let all things be exactly as they are?

Let not our sight be blasphemous today,

nor let our ears attend to lying tongues.

Only reality is free of pain.

Only reality is free of loss.

Only reality is wholly safe.

And it is only this we seek today.

For me, the “it” in “Let it Be” has two references.  When I face a  negative situation, I can say to myself, “Let it Be, meaning, just let go of what the body’s eyes are seeing; and in that moment, I can experience “Let It Be,” meaning, let me experience seeing with Christ’s vision, moving from “it” to “It.”

As I listen to the repetition of the phrases, I hear “Let it be,” and then I hear “Let It Be,” freeing my mind.

This brings to mind one of my favorite poems, “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963):

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

Indeed, so much depends on seeing things exactly as they are, seeing with Christ’s vision.

If God’s Voice assures you that salvation needs your part, and that the whole DEPENDS on you, be sure that it is so.  (Lesson 186)

Salvation of the world DEPENDS on you, and not upon this little pile of dust.  (Lesson186)

There is a way to look on everything
that LETS IT BE to you another step
to Him, and the salvation of the world.
(Lesson 193)

Finally, here is Paul McCartney’s account of writing the song

from Barry Miles, “Many Years From Now.” 

Paul McCartney said he had the idea of "Let It Be" after he had a dream about his mother during the tense period surrounding the sessions for The Beatles ("The White Album") in 1968. According to McCartney, the song's reference to "Mother Mary" was not biblical.

“I had a dream I saw my mum, who’d been dead 10 years or so, It was so great to see her because that’s a wonderful thing about dreams: you actually are reunited with that person for a second; there they are and you appear to both be physically together again. It was so wonderful for me and she was very reassuring. In the dream she said, ‘It’ll be all right.’ I’m not sure if she used the words ‘Let it be’ but that was the gist of her advice. It was, ‘Don’t worry too much, it will turn out OK.’ It was such a sweet dream I woke up thinking, ‘Oh, it was really great to visit with her again.’ I felt very blessed to have that dream. So that got me writing the song ‘Let It Be.’”