Hallelujah

The thoughts behind this post derived from the song, Hallelujah, by Jeff Buckley. The song itself is catchy, but the lyrics are a little bit weird. Regardless, one line in this song particularly caught my attention: "And love is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah."

Just so you know, hallelujah means God be praised.

 Let's replace love with life, or learning to love God, or becoming more Christlike. Any of things seem to fit in to the line, as none of these things are easy at any given point in our lives, but especially when life is hard.

Becoming more Christlike, or learning to love God is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah, not because we are alone in the endeavor by any means, but because it's difficult, and can seem impossible and extremely daunting. There are days when our efforts may not seem sufficient to us, but as we continually work towards the quality we are so desperately trying to achieve, God will assist us in our efforts. People are not out to show off their Christlike characteristics, at least I would hope not! That would entirely defeat the purpose of striving to become as He is, since humility was often used to describe Him. Throughout His life, I'm sure there were moments where He felt alone, and cold, and possibly broken, but without fail, He continually praised the Lord.

When we each make an effort in our lives to continually praise the Lord despite, or rather, in spite of our circumstances, we will see that we are most definitely not alone. Whether it be in a calling, in a job position, in parenting, or in any other struggles, we are not asked to accomplish what we need to alone. There are times when we feel that we are not doing enough, or worse, we are not enough. I promise you that you are enough. With the help of God, you will be able to overcome the obstacle, no matter now insurmountable it may seem, you are facing. During the times we feel we are not doing enough, or that our efforts are not making a difference, we need not fear, but rather continue pressing forward, continually singing praises to God. On those days when we feel we can no longer sing them aloud, we should sing them in our hearts. It may seem like it would be easier to just not, to hide and retreat, but this is not for the best. God will assist us, and He will carry us when we cannot walk alone.

As we head into the Christmas season, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a new initiative called Light the World. It starts December 1st, and the goal is to provide service on a global scale on each of the twenty five days before Christmas. If you are interested, more information can be found here. There are a lot of people around each of our communities, or perhaps in our families, that are doing their best to continue forward in their lives, but their spirits need to be lifted, and this is the perfect opportunity to reach out and help. Maybe these people are not people we know, but maybe they are, and they need a little effort from you to lighten their spirit this season.

Life is not a victory march, it's a cold, and it's a broken hallelujah.