The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall, The Major Lift...

I must confess that I stayed up to watch the openning ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games last night along with Yoshi, Yuya and Tess. Up until the flame was exchanged right in front of my workplace in Canmore, Alberta a few weeks ago I must confess I wasn't really interested in the games. But seeing the pageantry take place right at my doorstep changed my attitude. This was something to get excited about! In fact Tess and I made it a point to watch the show live when the flame made it into Banff later that evening. And of course we ended up with this gem of a shot as well which still shows up on the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) website...

However while the opening cermony was filled with spectacle and it kept our attention throughout, I have to say there was one moment that stood out from the rest. This was when K D Lang presented her rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. I was struck by the passion with which she sang the haunting lyrics to this great Canadian classic.

I first heard this song performed by Jeff Buckley a while back and I was instantly drawn in by the reference to David and how he played music for King Saul who was plagued by evil spirits. Only through music was Saul able to find peace. That reference alone won me over but as the song progressed I was struck by the underlying message that surrounded the word Hallelujah. There are some deep observations surrounding passion and love in the lyrics.

My thoughts turned to my own personal history and the seasons of love I have experienced. In particular I reflected upon the times when I was involved in relationships in which I was madly in love with someone and yet everything about our love was unhealthy. It wasn't a lack of awareness that kept me in them. I knew things were bad. However, when one's heart is laid open and bare it is amazing the amount of darkness it will take and yet still cry out, "give me more!"

Hallelujah!

"A cold and broken Hallelujah" as the song confesses.

The song recognizes that love can indeed be sacred and intimate but there is a fine line between the holy and broken Hallelujah. Could this be the fine line between love and lust? Even further is this the fine line between obscession and the oneness that happens when those truly in love join flesh?

Like the song confesses I too can only look back and be honest about everything. The sharpness of fresh emotion has long passed and things can be stored in the experience locker hopefully to be opened in aid of those to whom all of it is new. My love was real then but love can end and be renewed.

It is appropriate that the song ends with multiple Hallelujahs. Some have said that this just emphasizes the variety of ways one can load the word with different meaning and emotions. But I'd like to think that when the time does come when we stand before the "Lord of Song", we can indeed cry out a holy "Hallelujah!"