A simple, sublime light

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George Harrison was known as the quiet Beatle. He was not as famous as John Lennon, Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr. Yet, he is my favorite member of the band. He was a gardener, a spiritual singer and the writer of my favorite Beatles song, “Here Comes the Sun.”

The song has only a couple of chords. A very mediocre guitar player like I am can more or less hack the tune. The lyrics are repetitive and simple. The studio recording is only three minutes long. The song is simple — simply sublime.

Harrison picks out each note in perfect syncopation with his soft vocals. “Here Comes the Sun” is the most downloaded Beatles song of all time. It is a masterpiece.

Though written in 1969, the lyrics are particularly poignant in this time of the coronavirus. The past year has felt like “a long, cold, lonely winter.” But lately I have seen “the smiles returning to the faces.” Not just one but several vaccines are on the horizon. The future promises brighter days. Hope rises like the sun.

The metaphor of hope as the rising sun is likewise found in simple, sublime scriptures. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy shall come in the morning (Psalm 30:5). People who have walked in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2). Morning by morning, new mercies I see (Lamentations 3:23).

For Christians, the season of Advent has dawned. This is the time when we look for the coming of the Son — the Son of God who is the light that shines in the darkness (John 1:5).

Many other religions evoke metaphors of light, specifically the sunrise as a symbol of rebirth and new life. Harrison became a devotee of Eastern spirituality. He studied the ancient Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita, in which the god Krishna appeared to a warrior named Arjuna during a great battle. Harrison interpreted the text as an allegory for the spiritual struggle to find hope in the chaos of life.

I’ve heard “Here Comes the Sun” my whole life in places as diverse as skating rinks and baseball parks, in movie theaters and elevators, during weddings and funerals. This uplifting song can give hope even at the graveside. Harrison died at the age of 58 years because of a respiratory illness (lung cancer). In addition to his music, he left us with these bright words: Look for the light. The light is within you (“I, Me, Mine”).

COVID-19 is still a threat. Infections are rising along with hospitalizations and the death toll. Vaccines are on the horizon, yet we must be cautious into the foreseeable future.

While we wait for a new time, we can listen to the quiet Beatle. I encourage us to use this time of relative solitude and isolation to contemplate the simple, sublime truths. For illumination, we can sing of bright hope — “Here comes the sun, do-do-do.”

Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church and author of Gently Between the Words: Essays and Poems. He is currently working from home with his wife and three children.