Remembering What We’ve Always Known
plus a violin video for Easter
Easter is tomorrow, and it’s a holiday that tends to remind me of all I still don’t know and how much I want to understand. But it also reminds me that there are some beliefs and realities that have survived deconstruction; things that have remained more or less unchanged since childhood.
One Easter in high school, I played Michael W Smith’s Angus Dei for my church’s worship service. That memory popped into my head today, and it came with more than just a memory of sound. The lyrics open like this:
Alleluia,
Alleluia,
for the Lord God Almighty reigns.
Alleluia,
Alleluia,
for the Lord God Almighty reigns.
Alleluia.
Holy, holy, are you Lord God, Almighty.
Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the lamb,
Amen.
The word “Alleluia” has always evoked a special resonance in my soul. It’s a word in which I remember feeling God. It’s a word where I still do feel him. When I played Angus Dei that Easter there was no dissonance in my soul, only a feeling of awe and love. There’s nothing to deconstruct from that; there are some things that have always been true. That we’ve always known. Even in a season of rebuilding faith it’s good to remember that it doesn’t all have to be rebuilt; it hasn’t all disappeared.
I played Angus Dei today to honor those formative moments of faith, and ended up recording it to cap off this post. It is just the portion that follows the lyrics I listed above. I hope you enjoy