This week’s service is about the complex relationship between hope and loss, joy and sadness. The anthem, “Let It Fall,” is an example of such a dichotomy. It was written and is beautifully sung by a husband and wife musical team ,Karen Bergquist and Linwood Detweiler. Karen and Linwood (known collectively as “Over the Rhine”) have been making records and giving concerts together for over 30 years. Maggie and I have seen them in concert a half dozen times, including at a weekend music festival at their farm in central Ohio.

Their devotion to music and commitment to spreading their poetic messages to national and international audiences conflicted with their desire to have children together. At some point, they chose to give up their dreams of parenthood. Giving up that dream was a profound loss but has facilitated their joy of a life centered around their music. “Let It Fall” tells the story of their “ambiguous loss.”

Whatever we’ve lost
I think we’re gonna let it go
Let it fall
Like snow
‘Cause rain and leaves
And snow and tears and stars
And that’s not all my friend
They all fall with confidence and grace
So let it fall, let it fall

The other two songs featured today are well-known classics. Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” tells us that joy and pain are two sides of the coin of life and that perspectives change over time, shaping one’s sense of reality and emotional life.

Lennon and McCartney’s “Let It Be” sees wisdom in holding on to hope and faith in times of trouble. Implied is that a peacefulness, a joyful and warm feeling, can come from letting it be, creating once more a sense of ambiguous loss.

 

—Jim H.