Dr. J. Michael Flynn December 2016
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Sometimes there is a good reason to just say Hallelujah! Like when an election is over. Hallelujah is a Hebrew word which is often translated “Praise the Lord.” If you want to hear a beautiful rendition of the song Hallelujah, written by Leonard Cohen in 1984, Google Choir! Choir! Choir! 1500 singers. It was performed in a vacant factory this past June. The song is a ballad infused with religion and realism. Many will have heard this song in the popular movie “Shrek” in 2001. Hallelujah can be used after a triumph or a victory, often after great struggle. There is a dark perspective to the song and one verse includes, “It’s a cold and broken Hallelujah.”
How many generations have raised their voices in singing “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore, Hallelujah?” This song was written during the Civil War when a plantation overseer, Charles Pickard Ware, heard freedmen singing it. The song was first published in “Slave Songs of the United States” in 1867. The song is about hope.
Abraham Lincoln, as the Civil War was coming to an end, made this profound statement, “My dream is a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope on earth.” That best hope, as sung by the freedmen, reflects on liberty. Liberty is accomplished by a nation, and by individuals, with a price of courage, sacrifice, responsibility and love. Maya Angelou was one of America’s most revered poets who said, “Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”
The 19th century British author and clergyman Charles Caleb Colton wrote, “Liberty will not descend to a people, a people must rise us to liberty, it is a blessing that must be earned before it can be enjoyed.” How precious is the word liberty to anyone confined or held down against their will? Through the choices we make and the responsibilities we accept every day we earn our rise to liberation.
21st century slavery can be defined and chained to the habits of bad choices. How many needlessly suffer and are held down by addiction as personal will succumbs to: drugs, alcohol, gambling, negativity and food, to name a few of the serious bad habits that are robbing many of liberty.
In this December holiday season let us all share hope for joy to the world and peace to men and women of goodwill. To those of good cheer who have the will to create better lives for themselves and those they love; and to those who will set good examples for all of us to follow in overcoming obstacles and challenges in their lives, let’s offer a Hallelujah!
As we prepare for the New Year, choose to be healthier and happier. Break any chains of bad habits with a can-do attitude. Eat to live and don’t live to eat. Drink water, exercise in some form daily, smile often, get proper rest and be kinder and gentler with yourself and others. Above all be hopeful!
Originally published in POV Magazine
