Halleluia Chorus

What a joyful community rendition of the Halleluia Chorus by Handel in the little Alaskan village of Quinhagak, Alaska!

I love the way the whole community is involved. The kids going down the slide is especially joyful to me as I remember the thrill of sliding as a child. That is something like the thrill one feels while singing the Halleluia Chorus, come to think of it -- that exhilerating feeling of flying and of not thinking at all of oneself but of the joy of song and the lifting of the spirit.

But in spite of all the classroom and outdoor play scenes, it's not just the children who participate in this rendition of Handel's Halleluia Chorus. The shopkeepers, the postal workers, and many others from the larger community take part as well. And they take part with both earnestness and quite a bit of humor. I can imagine some of them having practiced and trying hard to get it right (according to the piece's rhythm, that is). I can imagine others trying hard not to laugh out loud as they flip cards with abandon.

Having once been a teacher, I have it in my head (based on scanty evidence, I'll admit) that the teachers in the community were the ones who instigated this production. I could have that all wrong, of course, but I can't help seeing some teacher lining up a classroom of kids and explaining how he wanted them to flip their cards according to a specific rhythm. I can imagine them practicing, with some kids showing resistance until the silliness of it all took over and everyone wanted to participate.

Of course, it could have been a music lover in the community or a group of Moms who wanted to do something with their kids for Christmas and then it just spilled over to the whole community, but my bet is still on the teachers.

There's something so right about having the Halleluia Chorus performed by an entire community. The spirit of the music and the spirit of the Christmas season is definitely something that involves an entire community. We can work hard at accomplishing a task as a group, and that work involves all the different personalities of which our group is composed. That work can also be done with humor and celebration.

We are entwined with each other in our every day-ness. We stand together and we fall together. And we need each other to get back up again.

Thanks, Quinhagak, Alaska, for the reminder.