One of the songs Dad requested for his memorial service was Hallelujah. While the title seems appropriate for him with his great love for God all his life, the song itself is about being cheated on, so it seemed like a weird song for him to choose. It played on my mind, until I think I understood.
The "woman" Dad felt cheated by, was life! He had spent his life trying to do the right thing by God and by how he took care of the body God gave him. I've never known anyone to be as strict about health as my Dad. He was haunted by his Dad losing his life to bowel cancer, and was doing everything he could to ward off any genetic predisposition.
His intention was to go out of life bouncing, at a great old age. But instead, life took him down with a devastating decline - years before he wanted. So he felt cheated. And, I think, a little confused as to why God hadn't intervened, since he'd been so faithful to him. And yet, to God he clung. His hope of tomorrow. And so - the "broken hallelujah".
Just so you know - he didn't leave it with this sadness. The other song he wanted was "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban. He knew, in his heart of hearts, beyond his "broken hallelujah", there was hope. And his Hope was coming!
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