Ha le lu jah

Sorry to anyone who came to the blog yesterday hoping for new material and found the same old drivel. I had a day off and that included blogging!

However, I am now back in harness and have Handel’s Messiah playing in the background as I prepare our All Age Nativity service for this Sunday morning. It is uplifting, inspiring and best heard at full volume, focusing my thoughts on Jesus! (A bit like God really.) (I can’t believe I actually wrote that!) I love the way that Handel takes on the journey from the prophecies of old through the birth to Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Hallelujah Chorus has been misappropriated in many ways – for example it is used on BBC Radio’s ‘Fighting Talk’ to mark the best punditry.

I think sometimes that this is a shame because it takes the music out of context. The ‘Hallelujah!’ makes most sense because it comes after ‘He was despised and rejected’. But at the same time I think everyone can do with a ‘Hallelujah’ moment in their lives from time to time so I think we should celebrate the way in which it has become an integral part of our culture.

If you get emails from friends you may well have seen the random act of culture in Macys (here) or the silent order of monks (here) both of which I think are brilliant.

The random act of culture has got me thinking about the what, where and when and if we might be able to do something similar in our town to bless people and give them a ‘Hallelujah’ moment. Ideas welcome!!

Blessings to you. (The funnies are in the video links)