Half past the first month of 2021. Positive change did not happen with merely the turn of the page. What did? Violence most Americans would never have imagined on our soil. Vaccines rolling out at a glacial pace. Death tolls from a now year-long pandemic higher than ever and people still not doing what is necessary for the common good while our economy continues to struggle.
Where can our weary souls find solace? I found it in a song. A song with a simple but essential message for these times.
Last week I saw excerpts from Peter Jackson’s “Get Back,” editing fifty-six hours of never-before-seen footage from the Beatles’ “Let it Be” recording sessions. YouTube then brought up a song George Harrison wrote for the album that didn’t make the cut called “All Things Must Pass” inspired by a Timothy Leary poem of the same name drawing from the classic Chinese text “Lao Tzu.” He recorded it for his first solo album and I never came across it until now.
My favorite version is not the album version, but the stripped-down demo version found on “Beatles Anthology 3.” Even if you’re not a Beatles or George Harrison fan, I ask that you please take a moment to listen and follow along with the lyrics.
Sunrise doesn’t last all morning
A cloudburst doesn’t last all day
Seems my love is up
And has left you with no warning
But it’s not always going
To be this grey
All things must pass
All things must pass away
Sunset doesn’t last all evening
A mind can blow those clouds away
After all this my love is up
And must be leaving
But it’s not always going
To be this grey
All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
None of life’s strings can last
So I must be on my way
And face another day
Now the darkness only stays at nighttime
In the morning it will fade away
Daylight is good
At arriving at the right time
But it’s not always going
To be this grey
All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
All things must pass away
What did those words make you think about? I thought about the people I lost last year and the daily reminders of how many individual lives with histories and loving connections have been torn away from this world while we watched helplessly. I thought about the insanity of hatred that exists because of misinformation, political preference, nationality, and skin color.
I also thought about how short our time is here and just like the seasons, we have the rise and fall of joy and sorrow, celebrating victories and accepting defeats.
All Things Must Pass.
Bad times, health crises and administrations come and go. Why waste our time remaining in our bubbles, hanging on, dwelling on these things, wishing it never happened?
It may seem naïve to just accept that all things must pass in troubled times and believe we can make the night fade away from our world faster with a shift in mindset followed with what Tony Robbins calls, “massive action.” But in a year that gave us time for self-reflection, a majority of us have had enough division and desire unity. Quoting Bono of U2, “Are you tough enough to be kind?” It’s about looking past what you thought you knew about everyone and everything and being part of the solution.
I remember watching a news story of counter protesters coming together after the leader of the group gave his microphone to a Black Lives Matter protester to explain why they were there. They listened to each other with open minds and found common ground. The shouting brought down to conversing.
Supporting local businesses is another way to be part of the solution. I recently read about merchants bartering products and services instead of cash to keep each other going. Affordable payment plans for your services could also help keep businesses alive. Creative thinking and dreaming bigger is necessary to solve these challenges.
We have reached a low point, a breaking point. A CBS News poll shows 54% of Americans say the biggest threat to our way of life comes not from a bad economy, viruses or natural disasters or even a foreign threat, but from “other people in America.” It’s up to all of us, right now, at this time in history, as citizens, as patriots, as human beings, to respect differences, listen and raise each other up again.
“So I must be on my way and face another day.”
Hopefully, together.