Let it be

The other day I wanted to look up the lyrics to a song, "I meant to do my work today," by Carrie Newcomer. I've listened to it a zillion times and am always struck by the lines, "I thought I'd live a louder life....But silence called me deeper still."   I wanted to really look at the whole song and think about the message.  Okay, song pretty much meant what I thought, but what really intrigued me was her note of introduction. "This is the prayer my friend Richard taught me to pray at the end of the day. 'What has been done has been done, what has not been done has not been done. Let it be.'" 

I was raised in the United Methodist church and we weren't all that big on sin, but I knew I shouldn't do some things--like covet my neighbor's wife, for instance.  I had a boyfriend in high school who was Episcopalian and for a few years I went to church with him. There is a prayer of confession in the service that has the line asking for forgiveness for things "done and left undone." As I remember it, there was another line, "for things said and left unsaid," but I can't find that exact line anymore.  My point is, it wasn't until then that I really thought about the problem of NOT doing something, sins of omission.

I was struck by the similarity in the phrases and a little Googling revealed that Richard's prayer is taken from the New Zealand arm of the Anglican church and is part of the evening prayer.  Makes sense.

But, taken by themselves, even without the trappings of God, the lines give us a way to forgive ourselves for what we may have done or not done, said or not said, to accept where we are and to let it be. Of course, I don't think this gives us liberty to just do whatever we feel like or that our actions bear no consequences.  For me it means being a bit more tolerant of my flaws and shortcomings and bit more appreciative of my gifts and talents. Let it be.

 I Meant To Do My Work Today

This is the prayer my friend Richard taught me to pray at the end of the day. “What has been done has been done, what has not been done has not been done.  Let it be.”

I meant to do my work today,
So many plans I had made.
I’d check the mail, I’d make the calls
Save the world and sweep the hall,
Finally get my accounting done,
Sort the beans one by one,
But I got waylaid by the morning sun.
And I got absolutely nothing done.

I thought I’d live a louder life.
I’d learn a lot and get it right.
I’d rent a loft I’d drink all night,
I’d be a living archetype,
And in a blinding flash of light,
I’d see that one great insight,
But silence called me deeper still.
Like nothing else ever will.

I woke to hear an owl nearby,
Hunting something large enough to cry.
Nature’s always beautiful,
The change of season always right,
The moon shines cold and true and bright,
And sets at dawn without a fight,
And yet I could not find a way,
To get myself back to sleep last night.

I never knew just what it meant
The way you smiled while you dreamt.
And why my heart can overflow,
And why mistakes can haunt me so,
Why nothing ever stops or stays,
Dust shimmers in the morning rays,
I didn’t do the work that I’d had said.
I just wandered through these thoughts instead.