My wife sent me a link to this video yesterday:
I had 2 reactions to this:
My cynical/suspicious side wanted to know how genuine it was - the sound quality is exceptional and I wondered if it had been dubbed on afterwards. I've now watched it 3 times and am as sure as I can be that it's genuine or that if it is dubbed they've done an exceptionally good job! It was apparently organised by Alphabet Photography as a Christmas thankyou to their patrons. The singers are from Chorus Niagara.
My other, more credulous side, found it deeply moving! I wondered how many of the singers really understood what they were singing about. I have to confess to occasionally watching Songs of Praise - although I blame my wife as I usually only watch it because she's put the telly on! I have another confession - I sometimes enjoy parts of it. There - I've said it! - I've bared my heart and abandoned my street cred! When there's a hymn or a chorus though, I sometimes like to pay close attention to the singers' faces. You can often tell which ones are really enjoying it and understand and believe what they're singing about. Chorus Niagara are not an explicitly religious group as far as I can tell from their web site, but there is a palpable joy and enthusiasm on many of their faces.
I'm currently reading Virtue Reborn by Tom Wright, which I may get round to discussing in more detail in another post. In this book, Wright says that human beings are made for glory where he describes "glory" as "the effective rank and status which shows that human beings are indeed the God-reflectors, the ones through whom the loving wise sovereignty of the creator God is brought into powerful, life-giving presence within creation".
This glory often isn't very visible and there's certainly a lot in the world - and in human behaviour - that isn't very glorious! Every now and again though, the glory shines through, and the Hallelujah chorus is all about humans displaying the glory of God. I love how in this clip, this glory appears - apparently spontaneously - in such an ordinary and day to day setting, and the wonderful effect this has on the shoppers, and then on myself and millions of You Tube viewers around the world. This is just a small foretaste of the glory that will one day fill the world - although I think it will involve more than just singing!
I had 2 reactions to this:
My cynical/suspicious side wanted to know how genuine it was - the sound quality is exceptional and I wondered if it had been dubbed on afterwards. I've now watched it 3 times and am as sure as I can be that it's genuine or that if it is dubbed they've done an exceptionally good job! It was apparently organised by Alphabet Photography as a Christmas thankyou to their patrons. The singers are from Chorus Niagara.
My other, more credulous side, found it deeply moving! I wondered how many of the singers really understood what they were singing about. I have to confess to occasionally watching Songs of Praise - although I blame my wife as I usually only watch it because she's put the telly on! I have another confession - I sometimes enjoy parts of it. There - I've said it! - I've bared my heart and abandoned my street cred! When there's a hymn or a chorus though, I sometimes like to pay close attention to the singers' faces. You can often tell which ones are really enjoying it and understand and believe what they're singing about. Chorus Niagara are not an explicitly religious group as far as I can tell from their web site, but there is a palpable joy and enthusiasm on many of their faces.
I'm currently reading Virtue Reborn by Tom Wright, which I may get round to discussing in more detail in another post. In this book, Wright says that human beings are made for glory where he describes "glory" as "the effective rank and status which shows that human beings are indeed the God-reflectors, the ones through whom the loving wise sovereignty of the creator God is brought into powerful, life-giving presence within creation".
This glory often isn't very visible and there's certainly a lot in the world - and in human behaviour - that isn't very glorious! Every now and again though, the glory shines through, and the Hallelujah chorus is all about humans displaying the glory of God. I love how in this clip, this glory appears - apparently spontaneously - in such an ordinary and day to day setting, and the wonderful effect this has on the shoppers, and then on myself and millions of You Tube viewers around the world. This is just a small foretaste of the glory that will one day fill the world - although I think it will involve more than just singing!
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