Let’s say hello to hallelujah. A friend you need to keep by your side at all times.
A powerful word. A powerful practice. A powerful form of expressing pain and praise.
When you say hello to something new, introductions are necessary.
So what is hallelujah? It’s an exclamation.
Hallelujah (n.) is an utterance that expresses worship or rejoicing. The hebrew meaning is directly: ‘Praise the Lord’ (essentially an eloquent word to say ‘Thanks God!’)
Hallelujah is not a friend in a physical body, but it embodies what our physical bodies yearn for in a friend.
We want intimacy. We want love. We want joy.
There is all these and more in our friend hallelujah.
Hallelujah is what we’re made for. We are made for praise, and we were made as a form of praise.
Creation created by Creator to give glory to His name.
For those who almost stopped reading at the mention of God, you may also know hallelujah as: thanksgiving (eucharisteo), gratitude, appreciation, thank you, giving thanks, worship, praise, rejoicing, prayer or a song. Whether you are God-believing or heart-and-faith chewing, hallelujah is still the friend for you.
Since hallelujah has many different forms, we often ignore this friend. We choose other friends – anger, fear, sorrow, despair, swearing, etc. – instead.
We find ourselves lost, not realising that we are looking for hallelujah instead of the hollow, empty words and utterances we pick up off the street. We hunger for affirmation and acceptance, when really we already have it, we just don’t acknowledge it.
When we forget to bring hallelujah into our speech and practice, we get lost in our journey, in our life, and we can lose our joy and love of life.
So how can we tap into the happiness in the hallelujah?
How can we find that joy and love that we all want in our lives?
Here are some ideas for how to practice hallelujah:
- Say it
- Scream it
- Sing it
- Pray it
- Make poetry with it
- Speak life into others
- Start a gratitude list
- Capture photos of the praiseworthy in your day
- Draw a photo of praise
Ultimately the greatest, most fulfilling hallelujah, is given to God. An exclamation to the Creator from creation. If you don’t believe in God, or aren’t sure about your beliefs, why not try practicing hallelujah.
See where it takes you. See if it changes you.
Next week, we’ll look at ‘The Hard Hallelujah’, the other side of our friend.
For now, I hope hallelujah with bring health, healing, and hope to your hearts, Xx