"Let It Be" as a Phil Spector, rather than Beatles Project.

 

 

My early influences on writing are Charles Dickens, Rod Serling, Simon and Garfunkel lyrics, and this description on the back cover of the Beatles “Let It Be” album.

Here with this description, I learned that much impression can be influenced by a few well-chosen words.

I shall provide comment for each part of the description:

 

This is a new phase Beatles album…

 I think each and every Beatles album that followed a previous one was a “new phase” in their recording career. Beatles For Sale, Help, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and on, each of those were new phase in recording technique.

But what I learned from this statement on the back of the album was that merely saying so explicitly gave it a compelling air of uniqueness.

Essential to the content of the film, LET IT BE was that they performed live for many of the tracks;

 Perhaps what is referred to here is the roof-top performance which took place on January 30, 1969. But, for anyone who has watched the Let it Be/ Get Back sessions documentaries, one could describe all of the tracks as “live”. I consider the experiment a series of jam sessions which lack the precision of production under true recording studio conditions.

In comes the warmth and the freshness of a live performance;

I suppose I can concur as it relates to the roof top concert. But the “working” sessions, as viewed in the documentaries, left me with an “ok, let’s get on with it” impatience.

As reproduced for disk by Phil Spector

    The most conspicuous and relevant statement in the description identifies the legendary Phil Spector as having, not produced, rather, reproduced the material for disk, rather than film.

    Phil Spector had acquired such fame and acclaim as a producer that when a new album was released by Ronnie and the Ronettes, or other Spector-produced groups or material, it was often referred to as “the latest Phil Spector album”.

That is how I see “Let it Be”, as a Spector album with abandoned experimental Beatles material as his project.

    By the time the album was released it had become publicly known that the Beatles had broken up. The description on the back cover helped to sell the album by using words such as new phase, fresh, live.

 But most effectively by invoking the name of Phil Spector.

at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland Ohio

The "No Religious Test" Clause

 

photo from BBC

For all of us, especially those in military, public office, or otherwise, who have taken an oath to defend the Constitution…

Today I highlight and affirm a clause from the Constitution which provides that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office…”:

Article VI Clause 3

Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

I further report excerpts from a Supreme Court Opinion June 19, 1961 affirming the right of “no religious test”.

This information can be found at Library of Congress website: https://www.loc.gov/resource/usrep.usrep367488/?pdfPage=1

 From the introduction:

“Appellant was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to the office of Notary Public; but he was denied a commission because he would not declare his belief in God, as required by the Maryland Constitution. Claiming that this requirement violated his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, he sued in a state court to compel issuance of his commission; but relief was denied. The State Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the state constitutional provision is self-executing without need for implementing legislation and requires declaration of a  belief in God as a qualification for office. Held: This Maryland test for public office cannot be enforced against appellant, because it unconstitutionally invades his freedom of belief and religion guaranteed by the First Amendment and protected by the Fourteenth Amendment from infringement by the States. Pp. 489-496”

From the conclusion:

“We repeat and again reaffirm that neither a State nor the Federal Government can constitutionally force a person "to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. "Neither can constitutionally pass laws or impose requirements which aid all religions as against non-believers, and neither can aid those religions based on a belief in the existence of God as against those religions founded on different beliefs.”

I continue to assert that religion and faith are the forum of the Church, Temple, Synagogue or Mosque, not to be imposed, declared, or preferred by any level of government.

America is a Nation of Shared Resources and Responsibilities

 

 

historyincharts,com I claim Fair Use

Well before Karl Marx was born (1818), yet longer before he published his Communist Manifesto (1848), the founders of the United States established, alongside other national attributes such as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, and “all men are created equally” the commitment to the idea of shared resources and responsibilities.

In conclusion of the Declaration of Independence, having articulated the justification for the separation from England, these founders also declared “ And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

We pledge to each other: This is not a declaration of “each to his own” individualism. At the very nascence of our national identity was established the idea of the common good.

Our lives: Long before the Revolutionary War was spun from the fabric of American idealism, William Shakespeare wrote in a narrative poem

“That one for all, or all for one we gage;
As life for honour in fell battle’s rage;”

I am convinced that these well-read men of noble cause had read these lines from the bard and found them to be worthy of personal and national subscription.

Our fortunes: And here we have a commitment to share in the area of financial resources. Though not an endorsement of socialism, which was not yet articulated by either Marx or Engels, it was definitely a stated allegiance to be of financial assistance one to each.

Our sacred honor: The use of the word “sacred” indicates that they considered their honor to be yet more cherished than even their fortunes or their lives. They were corporately binding together even their honor, their legacy, their place in posterity.

This was not a declaration of individualism.

It was one of corporate, shared, common good.

The ideals of shared resources and responsibilities are echoed in the Preamble to the Constitution, in which we read phrases like “We, the people”, “ a more perfect Union”, “provide for the common defence", “promote the general Welfare”, “ourselves and our Posterity”.

This same Constitution, ratified June 21, 1788, enabled an early act of “redistribution of debt” with the Funding Act of 1790. To abbreviate a complex act of Congress, August 4, 1790,  as the picture indicates, the federal government assumed the war debts of the various states, some of which had already paid their debts and so would be helping to pay the debts of other states. The first national redistribution of debt took place well before formal socialist ideology happened upon our national intellect.

My point is, the idea of nationally shared resources and responsibilities is as American as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.

Encouraging United Methodist Clergy and Congregations to Engage the Social Principles.

 

   Are you, as clergy or laity of a United Methodist Church, looking for a way to transform the world?

I encourage teaching the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church.

While the Social Principles “are not church law”, meaning that a member is not obligated to subscribe to each and every position stated, neither are they to be brushed aside as irrelevant or unworthy of serious attention.

They are not merely incidental adjunct material with which the Conference chose to consume excess time. They are expressions of actions that have as their inspiration the social emphasis and personal example of John Wesley, and the teachings and example of Jesus himself.

They carry substantial General Conference approval as evidenced by the vote tallies on the various sections of the document…

                                                                        Yes                No               Percentage

Preface                                                           663                60                     92

Preamble                                                        667                54                     93

The Community of All Creation                   667                 54                     93

The Economic Community                           667                 54                     93

The Social Community                                 523                  161                  76

The Political Community                             671                   57                    92

 

A rough analogy may be: The Articles of Religion (changeable only by Amendment process), and other quadrennially legislated parts of the Book of Displine can be equated with an employee manual of a corporation or institution which becomes a contract when signed by the employee, the Social Principles may be equated with the Best Practices of the divisions of corporations.

Upon passage of the Social Principles at the 2024 General Conference Bishop Dyck commented “It is for Sunday school classes, preaching from the pulpit, for seminary classes and as a guide for all of us to use right now.”

And I provide the following suggestions:

*Sunday School classes: The teacher can approach the material in different ways. One way is merely to bring them to the attention of the students and encourage discussion. Another way is to advocate for their application. Yet another way to present the Social Principles would be as a forum to which you can invite the public as a way of “getting to know our United Methodist beliefs”.

*Preaching from the pulpit: Paragraph 403.d of the Book of Discipline states “The role of the bishop is to be a prophetic voice for justice in a suffering and conflicted world through the tradition of social holiness.” While that makes a charge to the Bishop, by extension it arrives to all clergy at the pulpit. I advocate for preaching the principles as practical illumination of the Gospel.

*Seminary: Develop information by which students and congregations can leverage their congregational resources to meet the challenge of taking broad, generalized statements in the Social Principles and Book of Resolutions and by them forming congregational goals.

*A guide for all: During Membership classes, they should be presented. One church member may be motivated to engage local government. Another may be inspired to advocate for solving homelessness. It is likely that there is a Social Principle that would move any member to action.

We acknowledge that the world, of which God has given us stewardship, is full of problems. The Social Principles, and the accompanying Book of Resolutions, offer means of practical divinity by which we may do more than merely “send thoughts and prayers” with our faith sequestered to our sanctuaries, but we may also affect positive, useful transformation of the world.

I encourage classes. There is a teaching guide at the end of the book.

The paperback version is available at cokesbury.com for $9.99

It is also available for free at this link:

https://www.umc.org/en/who-we-are/what-we-believe/our-social-positions

A report of the passage of the Social Principles can be viewed here:

https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/all-sections-of-the-revised-social-principles-officially-adopted

The Ignorant Man Tour with Robert Michael Havard

 

 

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

Colossians 4:5

 

    Granger Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, always at the forefront of emerging opportunities, enters a new phase of public engagement as we proudly announce the October 18, 2025 performance of Robert Michael Havard and friends in the Little Theater of the Moreau Center on the campus of St. Mary’s College.

The doors open at 5:15 PM, the show begins at 6:00 PM

Robert Michael Havard continues his Ignorant Man tour bringing his professional stage presence, passionate voice, and enthusiastic approach to multiple genres of music including country, rock, gospel, and more.

Granger Good Shepherd United Methodist Church lovingly refers to Robert and friends as our house band (one Sunday per month) and eagerly assure you that you will have an evening of exceptional enjoyment!

The Little Theatre is housed at 54100 LeMans Drive South Bend Indiana, 46556 on the campus of St. Mary’s college.

Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased online at:

https://stmc-internet.choicecrm.net/dist/#/event-details/S0:E220

A splendid time is guaranteed for all!