Today’s Author: Scott Tunseth
Now that I’ve reached the ripe old age of “oldness,” I don’t sleep particularly well. My early morning mind races, usually some detail of working pestering me, but this morning it’s this devotion.
It’s Thanksgiving morn, still dark, and I can’t get a particular Beatles song out of my head. I suppose this is partly because I heard it last night on the show Macartney 3,2,1 which I have been watching. I was sort of a Beatles fan as a kid, probably just slightly too young to be caught up in the initial craze, but in my ripe old age of “oldness” I have become a true fan.
Oh, the song . . . the song is sort of a silly one that Paul wrote while in India. The chorus goes:
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, bra
La-la, how the life goes on.
The “bra” in the second line is a reggae version of “bro,” since the song celebrates the life of Paul’s Caribbean friend Desmond and his wife Molly and their kids. It wasn’t written as a Thanksgiving anthem, but to my mind it is surely is one. It paints a joyous picture of a family making their way through la-la-la-la-life together.
And do we ever need a reminder that there is still joy.
Ob-la-di . . . Coronavirus is still surging
Ob-la-da . . . MOST of us are vaccinated
Life goes on bra . . . We are still here
La-la, how the life goes on . . . And there’s still much work to do
The song is a bit of an earworm, and I will be intentionally humming it today as Kathy and I meet for the first time since Christmas 2019 with over twenty-five relatives to give thanks for how our lives go on. I can’t say I’m not a little nervous. You can ask me how the day went.
So why a Beatles song and not a Bible verse? Well, I figure God is the composer of joy and so gave us songwriters and poets to help us get through life, days both dismal and filled with thanksgiving. Today it will be it will an “Ob-la-di” day. I will give thanks and marvel at how life goes on.
God of joy, we celebrate your gifts of creation, including family, friends, food, and home. May the song that our lives sing be a meaningful song of service in your name. Amen.
“Mid-week devotions are authored by members of our community. If you are interested in creating a trio of reflections to be shared on an upcoming Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday contact Pastor Peter.“