In late December, I first heard this song - "A Hallelujah Christmas" by Cloverton. I was drawn to the familiarity of the tune, first written by Leonard Cohen, but covered by many artists and heard in Shrek, ER, House, Scrubs, The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics and as a haunting tribute to the victims of Sandy Hook on The Voice. No matter that I'd just pulled into a parking space when it started, I sat there in my truck, spell bound, until I'd listened to the entire song. As I am sometimes prone to do, I said to myself (perhaps even out loud) "Wow! That was amazing!"
When I got home, I found the video online and watched it several times. I loved the way the lyrics told the story, simply and powerfully. The words of the last verse; however, really stuck in my head: "My sins would drive the nails in you,
That rugged cross was my cross, too -
Still every breath you drew was Hallelujah!"
As one who has greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do - the image of me driving the nails was powerful. It took me back to a Good Friday memory of hammering a spike into a wooden cross. It felt so dark and guilty. A moment later, I remembered an Easter where we all inserted flowers on the cross in celebration of resurrection and forgiveness - clearly a much more upbeat feeling.
So my "resolution" for 2013 is to drive fewer nails, to place more flowers and to utter more Hallelujahs. If yours have fallen away, how about joining me?
