Thursday Morning Service Order

Thursday, January 10, Morning Service

Pre-service:
Graphic:
The Evening of the Deluge by Joseph William Mallord Turner

8:35 - Cue Phone
(At this point Brian and Tami should be scrambling to get out the door to get to work on time. Make sure they do NOT have their coffee yet so they will be able to be fully cranky at the top of the service.)

8:36 - Band vamps on opening to "Rainy Day Blues"
(This should play underneath Brian's conversation with the realtor. Keep Brian's vocal above band mix so all can hear him answer discouraging question after discouraging question from potential buyer regarding flaws of the house. Cut to occasional shots of Tami sitting in the car. Through the raindrops on the windshield, we see her frantically checking the time every couple of seconds while casting anxious and angry looks toward the open door of the house.)

8:45 - Cue band and vocals for "Why Does It Always Rain on Me"
(We hear the music while we see Brian and Tami backing out of the driveway. As the van makes it's way toward the highway we see through the windshield -- and windshield wipers -- Brian and Tami arguing -- using large hand gestures and "I told you so" expressions.)

8:50 - Silence

8:53 - Cue Scripture Reading

(We see Brian and Tami apologize to each other. A moment later Tami hits play on the Daily Audio Bible podcast.)

Genesis 8 (The Message)

Then God turned his attention to Noah and all the wild animals and farm animals with him on the ship. God caused the wind to blow and the floodwaters began to go down. The underground springs were shut off, the windows of Heaven closed and the rain quit. Inch by inch the water lowered. After 150 days the worst was over.
On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ship landed on the Ararat mountain range. The water kept going down until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains came into view. After forty days Noah opened the window that he had built into the ship.

Insert graphic: "Noah's Dove" by 14 year old artist from Belorussia
He sent out a raven; it flew back and forth waiting for the floodwaters to dry up. Then he sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn't even find a place to perch—water still covered the Earth. Noah reached out and caught it, brought it back into the ship.
He waited seven more days and sent out the dove again. It came back in the evening with a freshly picked olive leaf in its beak. Noah knew that the flood was about finished.
He waited another seven days and sent the dove out a third time. This time it didn't come back.
In the six-hundred-first year of Noah's life, on the first day of the first month, the flood had dried up. Noah opened the hatch of the ship and saw dry ground. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the Earth was completely dry.
God spoke to Noah: "Leave the ship, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives. And take all the animals with you, the whole menagerie of birds and mammals and crawling creatures, all that brimming prodigality of life, so they can reproduce and flourish on the Earth."
Noah disembarked with his sons and wife and his sons' wives. Then all the animals, crawling creatures, birds—every creature on the face of the Earth—left the ship family by family.
Noah built an altar to God. He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I'll never again kill off everything living as I've just done.

For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop."

Genesis 9

God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! Every living creature—birds, animals, fish—will fall under your spell and be afraid of you. You're responsible for them. All living "But your own lifeblood I will avenge; I will avenge it against both animals and other humans.

Whoever sheds human blood, by humans let his blood be shed, Because God made humans in his image reflecting God's very nature. You're here to bear fruit, reproduce, lavish life on the Earth, live bountifully!"

Then God spoke to Noah and his sons: "I'm setting up my covenant with you including your children who will come after you, along with everything alive around you—birds, farm animals, wild animals—that came out of the ship with you. I'm setting up my covenant with you that never again will everything living be destroyed by floodwaters; no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth."

God continued, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I'm putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I'll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I'll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth."

9:15 - Cue Rainbow in the Sky

(Wait until the van hits the crest of Twist Run Road. Brian and Tami cut audio and crane their necks out every possible window space to see the full arch of the full color display. Keep house lights dim so that all 5 colors - red, green, blue, indigo and violet -- are clearly seen.)

9:17 - Take a Bow

(Smile and bow as Tami applauds and exclaims, "YAY, GOD!")

9:18 - Cue band for Great Is Thy Faithfulness; insert graphic: "The Covenant with Noah" stained glass

(As the windshield wipers slow down through the drizzle, see close-up of Brian and Tami's faces expressing repentance and peace. )

Walk-Out CD cued to Delirious "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"

*note: I'm not kidding you. The minutes may be a little bit off, but this is how it went down on our way to work last Thursday. Boy, was I humbled -- and amazed.

My heart leaps up when I behold ... A rainbow in the sky."
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

this week: new music; book reviews; great hopes and bitter disappointments

In no way would I consider myself an expert "critic" or "reviewer" but since I am trying to grow in my critical thinking and communication skills, here are my thoughts about the music and books I've been enjoying of late.

Music
Snow Angels by Over the Rhine
I have just discovered this husband/wife team and am completely mesmerized! Read the band bio here. (you may also be interested to know that the duo are Christ-following artists)
I have not yet listened to other albums by OtR, but have a hard time believing there will be another that I like more than Snow Angels. And, while it is, in fact, a "Christmas" album I may not ever take it out of my playlist because it is just that kind of earthy, well-crafted and original music I love any day of the year. I especially love New Redemption Song, White Horse, North Pole Man and Snowed In With You. (the last two you'll want to share with the love of your life!)


The Blood by Kevin Max

Yep...it's that Kevin Max...that guy from DC Talk who seems to have mastered the look and vocals of a brooding, artsy, rock-star guy. I have always enjoyed his vocal talent and now I'm even more impressed by his willingness to dig into a unique album project that stretches out of the rock/pop genre while maintaining his own sound.
The album explores (or should I say sticks its toes into the water of) the roots of rock (Gospel), but doesn't try to be something Max is not (a black soul singer).
My favorite song? A cover of Blind Boys of Alabama Run On For A Long Time (sung with A.I. finalist Chris Sligh) While you're looking that up on iTunes, check out Johnny Cash's version too.
As far as production quality, I'm such an amateur at understanding the nuances, but I would say that is my least favorite category of this recording. It felt a little too bland for such an interesting concept. Every once in awhile throughout the recording there's a hint of a productioon thread that taps into the concept (white rock star singing old gospel songs), but, overall, the interesting sounds and instrumentation added seemed a little timid. I would have enjoyed a lot more of production innovation of David Crowder's A Collision

Books

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up At the Table by Ruth Reichl
An excellent and, oh so much fun, memoir from the Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet magazine. Although I did not realize who the author was when I picked up the book and do not consider myself even slightly intersted in the world of gourmet cooking, I just had so much fun reading this book.
For one thing, I enjoyed the voice this writer uses and would like to model her in my own writing. She is just an excellent storyteller and even admits up front to a few exaggerations (even fabrications!) when they help the story along. Even still, what a very interesting -- bizarre even! -- life she experienced growing up in Greenwich Village in the 1960's.
Two additional characters join the cast of her detached German father and manic-depressive mother, FOOD (in full mouth-watering description) and TRAVEL (exotic and spontaneous). It's no wonder that upon completing the last page I had the strong urge to fly to Greece to eat olives and then to Italy to drink wine!
If you do like to experiment with cooking, you'll especially enjoy the recipes that are integrated into each great story in each chapter. Please let me know if you decide to cook up a few...I'll be right over!


They Like Jesus But Not The Church by Dan Kimball
Two factors influenced my decision to read this book.
1. The title is just so dang intriguing!
2. I heard the author speak for a tiny portion of a main stage presentation at the Willow Arts conference back in June and was totally impressed with the way he could present difficult and, even controversial, material in a completely humble and Christ-focused manner. His writing does not diminish that quality in the least.
While I would not recommend this book for someone who is just looking for something to read with a glass of wine and an overstuffed chair, I would suggest it for anyone who is interested in what post-Christian people are believing about the institution of the Church.
I think, in part, the slowness of my reading this book was due to my own current struggle in living out of true love for the Church. I couldn't take too much of the content of this book at one sitting and had to pace myself.
I appreciate highly Dan Kimball's humble, yet passionate voice, and in this way he reminds me of the voice of one of my favorite authors, Donald Miller. Miller is a much better writer as far as narrative goes, but the content of the message is very similar.
Kimball takes an excellent approach to an important topic -- interviewing people who don't like the church, but do like Jesus -- sound familiar? -- and sharing large portions of those conversations as the basis for the book. He seems to be able to dive into the disappointments and even accusations of these people without placing a priority on their opinion over the biblical calling of the Church.
He places a major emphasis on the need (and even desire) of today's generation to learn and understand biblical history and theology. However, Kimball's major point is to encourage us, Christ's followers, to get out of an separatist mindset (using the image of a church bubble) that warps us into believing we are to focus on going to church or doing church stuff. Instead he places a passionate plea for those who follow Christ to embrace a missional mindset that would cause us to start being consumed with being the Church -- the supernatural, living and breathing bride of Christ. (and as an, oh,by the way, being the Church will include going to church and doing church stuff). This would be an excellent discussion guide for anyone wanting to challenge their own thinking and experiences.


Peppermint-Filled Pinatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love by Eric Michael Bryant
This title was also suggested during the Willow Arts Conference back in June. As far as writing excellence goes, this book was extremely simplistic which, at times, made a provactive subject seem boring. I think the book is far better suited (and maybe even more intended) as a discussion guide. The discussion would inevitably be heated and passionate regarding how we, in the church, view "evangelism" as an agenda to change people's behavior rather than loving them where they currently live and believe and behave. As we love people because they are people and even like people because they are people, we trust Jesus to call them to Himself and to transform their lives. When we are embracing a lifestyle of love rather than a religious sort of tolerance, the people we would love and hang out with would include those of different religions, races, economic standing, lifestyles, and even democrats! (that's a political joke in case you were wondering)

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kaled Hosseini
Last summer, my mom loaned me The Kite Runner by the same author. This Christmas my son, gave me Hosseini's second title (also on many best-seller lists). Both books are fictional, but based in current Afghanistan (by current I'm referring the last 50 years.The story in Suns ends just after 9/11/2001.)
Hosseini is another excellent storyteller and quickly enveloped me into a world that is completely foreign to me -- not just because it is across the world, but nothing about the terrain, Muslim religion, political process, poverty and family structure resembles even closely my own American experience. As any great storyteller, though, Hosseini is able to bridge those differences with the human commanility of love for family, grief over loss, suffering from hardship and other emotions such as loneliness, doubt and even hope for a better future. This particular story centers around the life of women in a Muslim culture -- a culture that shifts from comfortable tradition to extreme abuse depending on the political climate. I felt like I left the story with a far greater understanding and appreciation for the conflicts in the Arab/Muslim world.
As just a sidenote, I felt like the story of A Thousand Splendid Suns was diminshed by an ending that was a little bit too "and they lived happily ever after." I think we all know better.



Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
After reading this book, Tami felt....(check all that apply)
Wistful for beautiful travel -- check
Hungry for delicious pasta and savory wine -- check
Eager to enjoy the love and friendships in my life -- check
Mad as hell at the narcissistic false gospel the author gushes -- check.
The book is a memoir of Gilbert's year of travel to "find herself" across Italy (thus, the fabulous eating), India (and there's the yoga-like meditative praying) and, finally, Indonesia (Bali to be exact where she claims to learn to love, but really is more like "I'm so lucky to be able to not have to work for a year while I escape to this beautiful paradise and since I've been so wounded by my failed marriage and this poor, hard life of being a disappointed, wealthy and intelligent woman I've earned the right to jump into bed with this handsome, passionate, rich man who expects nothing from me and will make all my sexual fantasies come true.") Please.
I'll give you that I thoroughly enjoyed Gilbert's writing style and could learn a lot from that alone. She blends profound, personal insights with an accessible and conversational style. I also benefited from her writing because it allowed me to clearly "hear" the spiritual and relational longings of our culture -- particularly the fellow women in my culture.
But I HATED the blatantly celebrated narcissism of everything the author concludes about God and herself (actually that should read "everything the author concludes about herself as god") This mentality came out loud and clear in an arrogant view toward men and marriage and family and a non-existant view of Jesus. After watching Oprah and her audience gush over the woman (why was no one ticked off that Gilbert's spirituality was found because she had the time and money to travel around the world for a year doing whatever she wanted with whomever she wanted??? how many people do you know who get to live like that???) and after an unbelievably disappointing week learning about another church member giving into the god of self (leaving husband and family and friends behind as casualties), I'm up to my eyeballs in naseua over this brand of spirituality.
Pay attention. This book is a huge bestseller right now and I believe that many people (mostly women) will read it with blindness to the lies being celebrated inside the author's excellent writing and storytelling.

Great Hopes and Bitter Disappointments
I was going to include some updates and stories from my own life over the past couple of weeks, but have decided to come back with that in a separate post. (wait till I tell you about the audio-visual experience God gave Brian and me a couple of days ago!!) In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of my "reviews". Have you read the same book, listened to the same music, have a different opinion? What else are you reading and listening to?

there are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it." --Bertrand Russell

It all started with a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com from my sister-in-law, Young-Mee. (really, it all started with my mother and her mother before that... the bibliophiles in my family tree) The day after Christmas I am lustily totalling up my purchase on amazon -- finally settling on these titles.

Of course, this meant I needed to get cracking at the stack of books next to my reading chair by the fire place. I managed to complete four of the titles that have been listed in this sidebar for quite some time. Next post I'll tell you what I thought of 'em...aren't you excited?!?

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Golden Compass review

Probably for the same reason that I read a weekly news magazine instead of a daily newspaper, I am just now beginning to think through the discussions of the recent release of The Golden Compass. (I like to let a story play out for a little while before I dive into it) I have learned a lot on the subject of film critique from a Christian worldview from Jeffrey Overstreet at The Looking Closer Journal.

If you are interested, I'd suggest you carve out 30-60 minutes (depending on whether you want to wade through the contraversial comments) to really read this post.

And, then, I'd love it if you took just a couple more minutes and let me know what you think about his post!

WOWEE...KINDLE

What do you think about this??

movie recommendation

This post is short and sweet 'cuz I'm tuckered out, but wanted to highly recommend the movie "Amazing Grace" to y'all. I just got it from Netflix and admit that I was somewhat skeptical going in. I feel like Hollywood has been trying to jerk the "Christian consumer" around for cash (and why wouldn't they??) and didn't know if this movie would feel like so much sticky-sweet, Sunday School hype. And, while I'm not saying it's the best acted or directed movie ever made, the meat of the story is so excellent and timely and needing-to-be-told and it shone through.
I'm embarrassed to say I did not know the story of William Wilburforce. I found myself breaking down into those shoulder-shaking kind of sobs watching him persevere in his vision for the abolition of slavery. I also felt that the sub-story of John Newton's and the famous song for which the movie is titled was classy and compelling...a great model of 'repentance as a lifestyle.' To hear Newton say in his old age, "I know two things. I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior" was powerful. Also, I was just about wrecked by the way Newton persevered to write a confession of his life as a slave trader and his deep sorrow for the "20,000 ghosts" who lived with him. It seemed that he had a genuine understanding of the tension between his own depravity and God's amazing grace AND his response to that grace in obedience, repentance, ACTION.
Anyway, jus wanted to pass this along to any who have not yet seen the movie or may have been a little cynical like myself. I found myself humbled by Wilburforce's long-suffering perseverance (is that redundant?) toward the call God placed on his life. Gosh, I want to live like that too!!

a delicious taste of the Big Apple; moving; Dot Rama's big lesson

Going to try to catch up on several topics at once here...it's been a busy couple of weeks!

#1. We spent this past weekend -- our anniversary weekend in New York. Our seventeenth anniversary celebrated in the Big Apple. I think I want to move there forever I love it so much! (although I would get very tired of all those millions of people going the same places I want to go every day! i'm pretty religious about my personal space.)



Confession. I love to read those travel books with the suggested day trip itineraries. When Brian surprised me with the hotel reservations for our anniversary (which he had intended to keep a big surprise, but I've been pretty grumpy lately - actually downright depressed -- and he thought planning for our get-away might cheer me up. He was right. I almost memorized Frommer's New York City 2008.)For anyone else obsessed with travel, here's the itinerary I put together for us.

Saturday

After checking into our hotel on the corner of 39th Street and the Avenue of the Americas, we walked two blocks to the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. We walked through Bryant Park which was full of twinkly lights and small boutiques (picture an upscale flea market) and an ice rink with lines of people waiting to skate. We only had a half hour to tour the library and I spent almost every second gasping at the beauty of the building -- stone, marble, wood, painted murals, books, oh my!
After the library security kicked us out because they were trying to close, we walked a few more blocks to Grand Central Station on 42nd and Park -- another grand structure I had never been in before. I'll admit (somewhat sheepishly) that I was somewhat disappointed with the mural of the constellations painted on the ceiling. I'm not sure why because I love the concept so much. The rest of the building was more elegant than I had imagined. We had dinner reservations at Michael Jordan's Steak House on the balcony overlooking the main terminal. This was quite a splurge for us...but 17 years is no easy feat and well deserving of a great steak dinner. It was probably the best steak either one of us has ever had, too.
Walking back to the hotel (through Bryant Park again) in the crisp air was an excellent remedy for our very full stomachs. Across the street from Bryant park (it must have been 41st?) we stopped into a small, friendly bakery to buy some hot coffee and tea and a package of organic shortbread cookies. I wish I could remember the name of the bakery...the cookies were delicious and a perfect companion to the hot beverages. (not that we needed more food, by any means!)

Sunday

After eating a decent complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we took a cab uptown to West 80th street. We wanted to attend a church called All Angel's Church that we had heard about online, but we did not know the exact address. The cab dropped us off at West 80th and Columbus and we began to ask a variety of New Yorkers if they knew where the church was. Although we were on the same street as the church, no one could tell us where it was. It was a crisp sunny morning so we hoofed it all the way to the other end of the street (almost to Riverside Park) until we found the church. This was my first experience in an Episcopal church service and it was a very meaningful experience. As many of you know I've been studying the history of the liturgical service and the church calendar and this experience was like icing on the cake. The church was small and friendly and enthusiastic. I was moved to tears during the Eucharist...something so moving participating in the Lord's Supper that way.
Walking out of the church into the upper west side residential area was so much fun. I felt like we were walking on the set of You've Got Mail! I found myself fighting the urge to buy a bouquet of fresh flowers from the corner store (which happened to be what looked like an amazing deli; however, no fresh flowers in sight).
We walked about 10 blocks down Central Park West to the building where John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived (Yoko still does) and where Lennon was shot in 1980. The Dakota was built in 1980 and features gables and dormers and is aptly described in Frommer's as having a 'brooding appeal.'
We crossed the street to Central Park and purchased hot dogs from a vendor cart. After eating on a park bench outside of Strawberry Fields (next to a mosaic memorial to Lennon -- "Imagine"), we strolled across the park to the upper east side. The day was just perfect for walking and many, many other people had the same idea! Central Park is full of surprises and even though we make it a point to go into the Park every time we go to the City I still feel like I've barely seen any of it!
Up Central Park East to the Met! It has been over 10 years since I've been to this museum and that was with my five year old son so we really wanted to dedicate several hours to exploring this humongous collection of art. Brian earns a million gold stars for this because, while he is interested in some of the history, he would not list this place on his Top Ten places to visit in NYC. The combination of being tired from all of our walking and the absolutely overwhelming nature of this magnificent building, I found I had to sit down with a map and a Diet Coke to figure out how we should spend our time.
More true confessions. I love Art. I love museums. I love art history. I love NYC. I decided I do not love the Met. Shhhhh...please don't tell anyone! Maybe it was more that the place was so crowded -- especially the Rembrandt exhibit I very much wanted to see. Maybe it's the static nature of the many, many rooms of portraits we studied diligently. Somehow, it was not ringing my bell! The best part was the gorgeous European sculpture hall -- just amazing. I found myself wondering if part of our culture's gender confusion may have something to do with our prude attitudes toward nudity in art. (i guess that is a subject for another day...but it would be a good one! There is a glory revealed in the imago dei when it is crafted respectfully and excellently in art. I really think we've missed something here, but I'll stop for now.)
OK -- so by 4pm, we were plum tuckered out! We had intended to stop in a hotel bar on the upper east side, but upon entrance realized we were severely underdressed so we hailed a cab back for our hotel.
After resting our feet we took a subway to Union Square for dinner that is more 'us' -- a beer and burger joint. Pete's Tavern boasts it is the longest continually operating bar and restaurant in New York City. After opening its doors in 1864 (!), they managed to even make it through the Prohibition by masking the building as a flower shop (although they never removed the original rosewood bar so I'm guessing local officials were enjoying that 'florist' personally!) The tavern has shown up on several televison shows -- including Law and Order and Seinfeld -- and movies. BUT, even more exciting than all of that, it is the bar that O. Henry favored and in booth #2, near the 18th street entrance, he sat night after night writing The Gift of the Magi (which happens to be one of my all-time personal favorite Christmas stories!). I literally start losing my breath just thinking about it!!

Anyway...the rest of the trip was sleeping in on Monday and doing some Christmas shopping on Fifth Avenue before heading home. Oh, yeah, we got the world's best caramel corn at Garrett's Caramel Corn, NYC on Fifth Ave. YUMMY!!!

I am so ready for the next trip. Next stop: Chinatown and Greenwich Village and the Museum of Biblical Art.

#2. WE PUT OUR HOUSE ON THE MARKET...YIKES!!
After almost two years of thinking and praying about moving closer to church, we've decided to test the waters. Getting the house ready to sell has been every bit of exhausting as we expected. We have a lot of peace, though, that God will meet every need and protect us from foolish decisions. We do have a house in Endicott that we liked a lot and, provided we sell this one soon, will purchase. In the meantime, there's this little holiday of Christmas, a son's 14th birthday and a daughter's 10th birthday to celebrate. Whew!

#3. DOT RAMA EXPERIENCES THEIR FIRST TRAIN WRECK
Check out my son's post about their gig last Friday night. I'm pretty proud of them and somewhat thankful they are getting to learn some of the harsh realities of pursuing a dream.

from the journey of a blind woman: a discussion on Hallelujah (part three)

"It's a rather joyous song. I like very much the last verse. I remember singin' it to Bob Dylan after his last concert in Paris. The morning after, I was having coffee with him and we traded lyrics. Dylan especially liked this last verse, 'And even though it all went wrong/I stand before the Lord of song/With nothing on my lips but hallelujah.' "(Leonard Cohen, interview, Paroles et Musiques, 1985)

Question #3 (and the final question, thank goodness!), what the heck did Cohen mean when he wrote this song anyway? You know what I think? It matters. I think the process of trying to figure it out matters. I think that a piece of art that is spot-on obvious about everything it means, that leaves no mystery, no nooks and crannies to be discovered, does not contribute much to this world.

Having said that, I also really enjoyed getting to know the songwriter, Leonard Cohen, through this self-imposed assignment. He is, indeed, hard to pin down and at the same time very predictable. Of course, I can only know what his publicists allowed me to see. My friend Coleen encouraged me to email him directly, but I never got around to it. With all the research I still can not say (and am not sure I really want to) what this artist intended when he wrote Hallelujah.

But it does matter.

And, because it matters, here are some questions we could ask...

From what context does Cohen work?

Here's what I discovered about the artist himself. I imagine he is a man way more complex than this tiny list of information indicates, but hey, it's something!

common nicknames: "godfather of gloom"; "the poet laureate of pessimism"

married?: Never. He's "too frightened"

religious?: His maternal grandfather was a rabbi. He has explored a variety of religious practices, including and especially Buddhism.

"For most of my life I fought against a relentless depression that I didn't understand. I couldn't understand the origins of it and I didn't know how to shake it. So whether it was wine, women and song or a spiritual practice or pharmaceutical medication -- nothing seemed to make a dent in that. And, when I began seriously to practice in different religious disciplines I didn't enter into these practices with any exalted sense of achieving enlightenment...I was just trying to deal with this cloud that I couldn't shake." -- Cohen

Well, I'd say this guy is pretty gosh-darn authentic in his song-writing. Some of the comments in the first post discussing these song lyrics wondered if Cohen was angry with himself, with God, with women. We heard him in his lyrics...not just what he said, but also in-between the lines.

What did Cohen say about the song?

"It's a rather joyous song." (interview, Paroles et Musiques, 1985)

And, at a Warsaw concert in 1985, Leonard Cohen introduced the song with this statement: (after talking about the struggle the people were experiencing with their government) "I know that there is an eye that watches all of us. There is a judgment that weighs everything we do. And before this great force which is greater than any government, I stand in awe and I kneel in respect. and it is to this great judgment, that I dedicate this next song, Hallelujah."

In a magazine interview, "Hallelujah is a Hebrew word which means "Glory to the Lord." The song explains that many kinds of Hallelujahs do exist . I say : "All the perfect and broken Hallelujahs have an equal value ." It's, as I say, a desire to affirm my faith in life,not in some formal religious way but with enthusiasm, with emotion."


In Montreux in 1985, "This is a song about the broken."


In Antwerp in 1988, "You know,I wrote this song a couple of..,it seems like yesterday but I guess it was five or six years ago and it had a chorus called Hallelujah. And it was a song that had references to the Bible in it,although these references became more and more remote as the song went from beginning to the end.And finally I understood that it was not necesary to refere to the Bible anymore.And I rewrote this song;this is the "secular" Hallelujah."

What do other artists (and their critics) say about the song?

For starters, a couple of statistics...

• Between recorded and live versions, approximately 87 artists have covered the song.
• The song has been performed in several languages, including Spanish, Danish and German.
• The song has been included in over 30 movie and television soundtracks.
• In 2004, Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" was ranked #259 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

"It's not hard to see why [Allison] Crowe's Hallelujah -- recorded in a single take -- is popular. It's one of Leonard Cohen's most affecting songs, and the 26-year-old, accompanying herself on piano, makes it her own with raw honesty and formidable vocal power. It's simultaneously heart-breaking and redemptive, and it has captured the imaginations of thousands around the world."

~ Times Colonist (Canada)

Another interesting review of the song is found here.

Before his drowning death at age 30, Jeff Buckley recorded one album Grace. On the album he re-defined Cohen's song from a lush, fully orchestrated song into a far more poetic -- even prayerful -- version. This recording seemed to catapult the song's popularity more than any other recording. In fact, in the Unplugged episode that started this whole frenzy, Bon Jovi tells a story of hearing Buckley perform the song live. Before that time he had never heard the song.

And, in a fun turn of events, I was able to ask Lincoln Brewster over dinner why he had chosen to record the song. (wish you all could have been there...Brian had given me strict instructions to not ask Brewster's band fifty million questions. Naturally, this is the one I picked!) I was very surprised when all of Brewster's band reacted in surprise to my question. None of them had heard of either Jeff Buckley or Leonard Cohen. Of course, I had to help Lincoln out with their education.

In answer to my question, Lincoln told me that he had seen and heard the performance several times and had noticed the overwhelming response from the audience each time. He wondered what it would be like to bring the song into the church environment. He couldn't believe how simple it was to get permission from Cohen's people to rewrite the song. He then told his band they would listen to Buckley's performance in their ride back to Syracuse. I felt pretty satisfied that my work there was done. (between that conversation and the discussion I instigated about the drummer getting a drum solo)

...yes, but what does the song mean?

"The meaning of the song is left intentionally vague...Much of the song's success unquestionably stems from this internal ambiguity as it manages to be many things as one. Few songs pack quite as much emotional complexity into just a few verses." 

Amazon.com review

And here a moving blog post about the "cold and broken hallelujah" Jesus gave on the cross.

For myself, I am moved as much, if not more, by the transcendant quality of the composition of the melody and the poetry of the lyric as by any inherent meaning from the songwriter. It is this idea of a song, a piece of artwork, that moves beyond any rationale and human intention and digs roots down into a soul -- that gives words to our unspeakable longings and laments. I also can not move past the unspeakable grace behind the truth of the lyric, "And even though it all went wrong/I stand before the Lord of song/With nothing on my lips but hallelujah."
If I had a personal audience with artists, songwriters et al, who are also followers of Christ, I would plead with them to heed Cohen's definition of a good song:

"I think a good song has windows and doors that you can penetrate if you want to, but the song itself has to move swiftly from heart to heart."

I, for one, am deeply grateful for the fresh breezes of Goodness, Truth and Beauty that have blown through this song, past the wounds and brokenness of human artists, and have connected me to my Creator once again. Thanks for walking the journey with me. I hope my ramblings have enlightened our blind gropings just a little bit.

from the journey of a blind woman: a discussion on Hallelujah (part 3)

"Your ordinary self is exactly where God wants to work extraordinary
miracles. The inconspicuous nobody who shivers when it's cold and sweats when it's hot, who wakes up so many days feeling not-at-all-ready to face the world, who can barely get dressed and show up on time and at the right place, who has to read the paragraph three times to understand it, who feels lonely and hopeless, isolated, crowded, horny, left out, and taken in all at once -- YOU are the one God loves! Deal with it." (Brennan Manning)

"IN MY MIND THE NEW ALBUM IS ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD, HOW IT REALLY DOES EXIST, AND IS AS REAL AS YOUR CAR OR YOUR KRISPY KREME DONUT, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR PROBLEMS. IF WE CAN FIGURE IT OUT, GOD HAS INVITED US TO LIVE in His kingdom in the midst of our regular existence. It is not a place of isolation and perfection, it is not far away where we cannot reach it. It happens at all the places where we intersect with each other..." (SARA GROVES)

Question #2 restated, is it possible to mix the sacred and the secular, the pure and the profane, without one diminishing the other?

This question came from the excellent comments regarding the original lyrics of the song by Leonard Cohen and its various rewrites by other performers. But the importance of this question is crucial beyond this tiny discussion of one song and one song-writer. One of the very interesting issues regarding Cohen's lyrics is that he includes both biblical and sexual references, but the two are not separated. They are, in fact, inseperable -- David and Bathsheba, Samson and Delilah and all that.

We must guard against the deception that our lives are compartmentalized into these categories of sacred and secular. This concept does not exist in the Bible (see: David and Bathsheba, Samson and Delilah, and pretty much the rest of the entire biblical narrative). It does exist in reference to some of the heretical teaching of groups like the Gnostics who taught a dualism that the physical realm was evil and the spiritual realm was good; therefore, the man Jesus who lived the crude life of a carpenter and suffered the cruel death on a cross could not be the Christ who was the transcendant Savior.


In the letter to the Colossians, Paul shut down the heresy, "We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body." (Colossians 1:15-18)


Dallas Willard addresses the mindset this way, "There truly is no division between sacred and secular except what we have created. And that is why the division of the legitimate roles and functions of human life into the sacred and secular does incalculable damage to our individual lives and the cause of Christ. "In other words, it is not the act itself that is defined as sacred or secular, pure or profane, but our own sinful stupidity that muddies the waters. In the next post, we'll talk more about the artist's intentions behind the lyrics, and there is some analysis to be done on his interpretations of these gifts of love and sex and relationship and art that have been created by and gifted by our good Father.


But I believe, before we can even have an intelligent conversation about the artist's intentions, we need to be crystal clear about our own. For myself, I find a reflex of fear kick in whenever a piece of art even puts its toes into the waters of life outside of the pre-approved Christian feelings, thoughts and behavior . So in this line of thinking, references to, say lust, are taboo while references to Krispy Kreme donuts or Foghorn Leghorn cartoons are perfectly acceptable. I am not willing to live and think and feel this way any longer. I do not want to cooperate with the "incalcuable damage" this mentality does to my own life and the "cause of Christ."


If we become students of the Truth found in God's Word as well as the work of His Spirit being worked out all around us in our Christ-community, it is obvious that God does not categorize between sacred and secular. Together and alone, we experience the delights and agonies of living as spiritual beings in a physical world. We cry together over the death of a friend, we laugh at Steve Carrell, we eat pumpkin cake with cream-cheese frosting, we wrestle with the temptation to violate each other, we sing without tiring yet another Lincoln Brewster worship song.


Let's listen to L'Engle again, "To be truly Christian means to see Christ everywhere, to know him as all in all. I don't mean to water down my Christianity into a vague kind of universalism, with Buddha and Mohammed all being more or less equal to Jesus - not at all! But neither do I want to tell God (or my friends) where he can and cannot be seen. We human beings far too often tend to codify God, to feel that we know where he is and where he is not, and this arrogance leads to such things as the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch burnings and has the result of further fragmenting an already broken Christendom." (Walking on Water, p. 35)


While I would not compare much of the legalism I witnessed in my upbringing to the Spanish Inquisition, I do have a collection of stories that smacked somewhat of persecution. Early on, under the influence of my pious grandmother, battles were waged against pants on women and playing cards...these were debateable, but were extremely suspect. However, there was no debate regarding movie theatres and alcoholic beverages; these were completely illegal. In high school with the advent of contemporary Christian music, our parents had to make tough decisions about new dilemmas such as rock music at the roller rink and drums in church music. (one of my friend's parents settled the decision by allowing her to listen to Amy Grant any day of the week BUT Sundays).


These examples of separating sacred and secular may seem ridiculous, but I am not that old and the discussions were real in my lifetime. This serves as proof that it is not the specific holiness-earning regulations being debated but the mentality behind the debate that creates all the problems. When we view God in categories instead of as a Person with whom we are invited into relationship, then we will continue these dumb-ass conversations ad nauseum. (speaking of which, consider how OK God was with entrusting his own sacred words to Balaam's dumb ass in the Old Testament story!)


When it comes to art, wouldn't it be exciting if the church would begin to consider more important how a subject was being treated instead of what subject was being treated? If God thought the same way about us as we think about art, we would all be living in ivy-covered Kinkade houses, eating Testamints, listening to Christian radio, watching Gospel TV, borrowing money from Christian debt services, reading Chicken Soup for the Soul, networking on GodTube and plastering yet one more Christian slogan on our car bumper. We'd never have to experience sorrow, never have to ask forgiveness from sin and never have to interact with anything that might give us sin "cooties" (to borrow a term from Pastor Craig).


What if, instead, we began to critique art based on the Truth, Goodness and Beauty it reflects. And, by this mean, I mean more than the rosy light of a Kinkade painting. You have seen, as well as I, photographs of horrific tragedies that demonstrate a respect for beauty. You have watched documentaries covering topics of evil that demonstrate a commitment to investigating truth -- even truth that is hard to swallow. You have read novels, listened to lyrics, rented movies, that celebrate even the smallest acts of goodness which bring redemption to cruel circumstances. After all, the story of the Incarnation (which we are about to celebrate in full-out frenzy!) demonstrates once and for all God's commitment to breaking all barriers between sacred and secular when he sent His very own self through the muck of embryonic fluid into a setting of cobwebby cow stalls and sheep dung. No ivy-covered walls here. No scented candles with a Bible verse plastered on them to cover the stench of the barn. No contemporary Christian muzak to make the envirnoment more spiritual. Nope. No such thing for our Savior.


We've got to rip out of this bubble, friends. It's killing us -- turning us into illiterate, dumbed-down, plastic-wrapped people.


I loved .love's comment, "I honestly worry more about music that is labeled 'worship' but lacks effort and creativity."

She's in good company. Here's what Dr. Hans Rookmaaker had to say, "In a way there is no specifically Christian art. One can distinguish only good and bad art, art which is sound and good from art which is false...A work of art is not good when we know that the artist was a Christian: it is good when we perceive it to be good. Nor is a work bad if we know that the artist was a hater of God." (Modern Art and the Death of a Culture)Imagine if Christ-followers who create art placed more importance on the godly traits of discipline, creativity and imagination than they did on the latest consumer demands from the Christian-bubble subculture. Imagine that! I imagine it would look a lot like the kingdom here on earth.


I officially clamber down from my soapbox, clear my throat and whisper, "Thanks for listening. What do you think?"