21 mins

A broken hallelujah

COMMENT

Photo: iStock

I recently watched the children’s movie Shrek.

I found it poignantly moving – especially when dealing with the topics of loneliness, alienation and self worth. Perhaps we should not be surprised that so many young children and adults identify with characters like Shrek, Donkey and Princess Fiona, especially if recent research carried out by numerous government reports into the inner feelings of children in the UK, are, in fact, accurate.

The inner turmoil many of our children and young adults are going through must surely be a wake up call to all of us. There is something far wrong with our society, when a government paper highlights the increase in depression among children has risen by a staggering 27% in the last year, and suicides among young men continue to rise.

In Shrek, the inclusion of Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah, as part of the soundtrack only added to the emotion and drama of the plot. Finding a way out of the quagmire, or swamp of life, is never easy, and almost impossible for those who feel they have no influence and very little strength left to bring about change. They settle for the ‘broken hallelujah’ because that is all they have left to sing; or like Shrek they think we are only worth a broken hallelujah.

This got me thinking that alienation and loneliness can affect whole communities. These feelings of inadequacy can be seen in many congregations today. There are those who feel that their praise and witness in their community, and their ability to connect with young people amounts to nothing more than a’ broken hallelujah’.

It’s easy to be tempted to become more introverted and isolated, when things go wrong and retreat into the swamp.

However perhaps ‘a broken hallelujah’ could be more about a song of resilience and hope; in the midst of our defeat we might even dare to imagine something more.

At least there is still a hallelujah! In other words there is still something worth singing about and something worth sharing, when we remind ourselves of the grace and love of God. It was a broken hallelujah from Paul and Silas that changed the Philippian jailer’s life!

We are living in a society that has been full of lonely people for a long time. Paul McCartney in the mid sixties even mentioned it in the song, Eleanor Rigby – when he penned the line: “All the lonely people, where do they all come from?” The sad truth is they come from our families and our churches and our communities.

In scripture, (Phil:4.4), we are given a way out of the swamp. We are told to learn to praise God in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.

This, of course, is not an easy thing to do especially when you are feeling low. The pain of loneliness is not just psychological, it is physical and it hurts, it debilitates, and it diminishes those who are going through the experience.

Learning to praise God in the times of hurt and deep distress is an on going shared experience by all the Children of God. It is a community activity. I think there are times when we can help carry each other. Times when we can allow others to do the praising and singing for us.

Here is a song written by Ian Walker formerly of Bo’ness St Andrew’s. This song helped many of us over the years to sing and share our broken hallelujahs. They may be broken but they are still hallelujahs! And hallelujahs can turn lives around.

We will sing in Jesus’ name

We will sing for you

We will lift you up in Jesus’ name

We’ll sing and praise for you

You may not feel like singing

We will sing for you

You may feel heavy with the cares of the day

We will sing for you

We will surround you with our voices

We will sing for you

We will embrace you with the love of the Lord

That Love is just for you