09 March 2016

Better Than A Hallelujah Sometimes – Worshiping Without Them

Greetings Dear Reader,

For those of you who do not attend church or understand my faith we have a practice called corporate worship.  This has nothing to do with corporations and everything to do with coming together to express our love to the Father for all he does for us. 

I used to find this time filled with joy and anticipation.  For a short time I got to worship with a family at a church we attended together.  As time drifted through the glass many things fell apart.  Now only Christmas attends church with me.  She prefers solitude in the crowd during worship.

I also wrestle with the emptiness I see in corporate worship at times.  My mind sings the songs along with the others but it also constantly begs the Father to restore things.  If I try to engage in the show part of the worship my heart breaks and I struggle to hold back the tears.’

My hope is in Christ alone these days.  The promises of man hold little value.  Words like “I will never leave you”: are not lived out when things become “too hard” or others have already made plans.  A promise that one will never abandon the faith and that I do not need to worry about it becomes a lie.  I am not angry over it but my heart is broken.

The hazard of really believing is that I believe it all.  I believe that the Father grieves over those who have left their commitments behind to serve other pursuits.  I believe that the key to peace is following Christ and being obedient to our commitments to him.  

So as I ponder Holy Week I realize that it will cost me.  My hallelujahs will be cold and broken because of absent friends. They will be filled with joy because of the present reality of all that I have in Christ. 

The joy in the journey is still there but so is the sorrow.  Holy week is a week of pain and suffering.  We have to have Maundy Thursday and Black Friday to get to Resurrection Sunday.  To deny the pain and sorrow of this is to forget that we pay for the party with our dearest blood.    

Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen

Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Now maybe there’s a God above
For me all I ever learned from love
Is how to shoot at someone who out drew you
It’s not cry you hear at night
It’s not some pilgrim who has seen the light
It’s a cold and broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Baby I’ve been here before
I know this room
I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
But love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and lonely hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you let me know
What’s real and going on below
But now you never show it to me do you
Remember when I  moved in you
The holy dark was moving too
And every breath we was hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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