Hallelujah

Icicle and red globe

I think most of you know that I’m not Christian, which means I do not celebrate Christmas – or at least, not in the way most Christians do. At the beginning of the month I attended a mass wedding where 25 same-sex couples got married. And they sang the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. I tend to just tune out and not pay attention to the words when anything related to Jesus comes up. For some reason, when they sang He shall reign I replaced He with love in my mind, and I just loved it so much. So I thought I’d play around with the rest of the lyrics that specifically referenced a deity and here’s what I came up with. Wishing you all light and love in the coming year.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the [LIGHT OF LOVE] [LIGHT OF LOVE] reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the [LIGHT OF LOVE] [LIGHT OF LOVE] reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
The kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our [LOVE],
And of [THE LIGHT], and of [THE LIGHT];
And [LOVE] shall reign for ever and ever,

For ever and ever, forever and ever,
[LIGHT OF LOVE], and [LOVE OF LOVES],
[LIGHT OF LOVE], and [LOVE OF LOVES,
And [LOVE OF LOVES,]
And [LOVE] shall reign,
And [LOVE] shall reign forever and ever,
[LIGHT OF LIGHTS], forever and ever,
And [LOVE OF LOVES,],
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And [LOVE] shall reign forever and ever,
[LIGHT OF LOVE]! and [LOVE OF LOVES],!
And [LOVE] shall reign forever and ever,
[LIGHT OF LOVE]! and [LOVE OF LOVES]!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!

Original lyrics for quick reference

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6 thoughts on “Hallelujah”

  1. Camille

    I feel like I’m still on a long journey in terms of my own spirituality, but if God is love (and the Lutherans taught me this), then your lyrics make perfect (and beautiful) sense.

  2. Anne R. Allen

    I absolutely love this. I’m not a Christian either ( I think all religions are true as metaphors and respect all people’s beliefs as long as they don’t tread on mine.) But I grew up in the church and adore the music. Your new lyric gives us the best of all worlds. I hope you’ll spread this around. Perfect for non-denominational weddings!

    Love your “Slow Bloom” message. Saw your tweet about my post on the Slow Blog Manifesto. Everyone has to bloom/blog at their own pace. Love it!

    1. slowbloom Post author

      Thanks for stopping by and thank you for your kind words. Please feel free to share my version of the song, too!

  3. Elizabeth Hunter

    Marvelous! I’m going to share this with our Music Director–I think it would be a hit with our UU congregation.

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