Jack’s Winning Words 11/15/16
“Hallelujah!  What’s it to ya?”  (Leonard Cohen)  The word, Hallelujah, means, ”Praise the Lord.”  It’s usually shouted enthusiastically in church services.  Contrast that with the slow, mesmerizing way Leonard uses it in his hit song.  Kate McKinnon sang a version of it on SNL and ended it by saying, “I’m not giving up, and neither should you.”  If you’ve had setbacks in life, or successes… in either case, the song says, “Hallelujah!  God is with ya.”    ;-)  Jack

FROM TARMART REV:  “Hallelujah! Amen!"====JACK:  Do you encourage responses like that when you're preaching?  For example, "Everybody say...Amen"  or, "Praise the Lord, right?" ====REV:  Not as much anymore as I am not in the pulpit as often....not ever noted as "evangelistic" in my style of preaching.

ROM CS IN ROYAL OAK:  Yes!  I'm listening a lot to Leonard Cohen these days.  I've. Collected his albums for a long time--love his voice and his poetry.====JACK:  Do you listen to music while you paint?  I sometimes like to turn on Mozart while I'm writing.====CS:  I do listen to all kinds of music--classical, alternative and even hip hop--and a lot of NPR😊  I actually think I have my own inner beat.  So sometimes I need silence in order  to get a momentum  going🙃

FROM DR J IN OHIO:  Hallelujah!  A great message and performance by Kate McKinnon… did you see her in ghost busters? It was a gut buster!====JACK:  "I'm not giving up" was a powerful message of encouragement for when 'the going  gets tough."

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  that whole SNL show was a stitch from what I gather. (have only seen snippets but I did see that opening segment.) it was the most watched SNL ever if I got that right from the media.====JACK:  Evidently "the group" that watches SNL is different from "the group" that watches Fox News.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  My grandson Josh sang the Christmas words to Cohen's Hallelujah song in church on Christmas Eve.  They are beautiful words!====JACK:  Since Leonard was Jewish, someone probably appropriated the song and wrote some Christian lyrics.  What words did Josh sing?

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Got a good laugh from the Limburger cheese story in yesterdays blog! Hallelujah! :-) I used to sing a song in one of my programs: Sing Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Gets you through the darkest day; when cares pursue ya, Hallelujah! It will drive the blues away; Satan lies awaitin' and creatin' skies of gray; So Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Sing to shoo those blues away! Very upbeat tune, and a spirit-lifter!====JACK:  I'm particularly taken by the slow and moody music of Cohen's song...quite a contrast with "Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu-jah...praise ye the Lord."