A Reflection on Mary
Hello friends!
I mentioned in my last post that one of the creative outlets I most enjoyed in 2024 was a songwriting community I organized called 7in7. The idea at the center of the community, or rather the practice at the center of the community, is a quarterly recurring period of 7 days in which each of us writes one song per day, start to finish. We all post the song online somewhere, then share links to the songs with one another. It's exhausting and wonderful.
Our third session, and first of 2025, started yesterday, so I thought I'd share the song I came away with here.
I tried to get some writing done earlier in the day, but to no avail. I didn't think it was going to happen at all, but I wound up sitting down and trying again around 11pm last night, and writing a really simple reflection on Mary, the mother of Jesus. This is not the sort of thing I'd have anticipated writing, but upon re-listening this morning, I think I like it.
The prompt for today's writing was to use someone's name as the central element of the song (a la Jolene by Dolly Parton, Jolene by The Weepies, or even... Jolene by Ray LaMontagne....). So, I wound up, much to my own surprise, writing about Mary.
The song is (tentatively) called O Mother Mary. Give it a listen in the player above! This is just a simple voice memo from my phone, but enough to give you the idea. Here are the lyrics:
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CHORUS 1:
O Mother Mary
Our Lady of Divine Receipt
O Mother Mary
Our Lady of Divine Release
VERSE 1:
Teach me to surrender my will and reputation
Teach me how to bear the hope of all creation
Within my weary body where all I know is grief
Within my darkened spirit where I can’t find relief
CHORUS 2:
O Mother Mary
Our Lady of Divine Bearing
O Mother Mary
Our Lady of Divine Sharing
VERSE 2:
Teach me to surrender my will and reputation
Teach me how to bear the hope of all creation
Within my weary body where all I know is grief
Within my darkened spirit where I can’t find belief
CHORUS 3:
O Mother Mary
Our Lady of Divine intoxication
O Mother Mary
Our Lady of Divine isolation
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Hope you enjoy! And hopefully there'll be a Day 2 song later on!
-Luke