October 25, 2021

Grateful Dead lyrics – like Faulkner’s answers to interview questions – defy any one interpretation. The Wheel is no exception.

The wheel is turning and you can't slow down,
You can't let go and you can't hold on,
You can't go back and you can't stand still,
If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.

Won't you try just a little bit harder,
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?
Won't you try just a little bit harder,
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?

I don’t know what Jerry meant anymore than you do, but the song is deeply resonant. One response to the inevitability of life’s pressures – from within and without – is to try a little bit harder, try a little bit more. Another response is to hoist up the white flag of surrender and ask Jesus to take the Wheel!

The prophet Jeremiah says this: “I know, God, that mere mortals can’t run their own lives, that men and women don’t have what it takes to take charge of life.”

(Jeremiah 10:23)

“O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Sixth Sunday after Epiphany – BCP)