Singing Praise - And Otherwise

The great thing about marriage is that two people can honestly say (or sing) what’s on their minds, without fear of judgement (but not comment). What I mean is - the other night, Dave and I were sitting in our backyard. He was assembling our new grill. Come to think of it, I was actually the only one sitting.

I was singing my own lyrics to “The Hallelujah Chorus” – which I’m afraid to admit, I do rather frequently… This practice began when my friend, Mark and I used to leave messages on each other’s answering machines. I’d hear the Beep and sing “Mark, Mark, Bo Bark, Banana Fannah Fo-Fark, Me, my, Mo-mum, Ark… Mark!” Then he’d call me back and sing, “Kell-Bop ba-doot, ba-doot, ba-doot, Kell-Bop – Where the hell is Kell-Bop? Ba-doot, ba-doot, ba-doot, Kell-Bop, woah, woah!…” I called him back and sang “Mark-A-Lu-Jah, Mark-A-Lujah, Mark-A-Lujah, Mark-A-Luuu-hooo-oooh – Jah!”

Then I became amazed at how many people’s names could be made more fun – if only sung to the Hallelujah Chorus… I even found myself in Haiti – singing to our housekeeper’s son, “Rolf-a-lu-yah!” It’s quite possible that the kid had never heard the song, and perhaps didn’t even knew who Handel was – but he was very polite – and I’m sure thought his name sounded great in song…

I might even change my last name to LUYAH – Kelly Luyah. If I changed my first name to “Holly,” well then….

Anyway – back in the yard, Dave was entering into the spirit of the song… and sang about a guy he isn’t very fond of (can’t remember who – or why…) – “He’s a jerk-wad, and a something – and a blah blah, Hallelujah!” And then, he mindlessly sang a little tag “Asshole…”– like one might sing “Amen” at the end of the Doxology…. And without a beat, continued bolting the grill together, not thinking anything of it. When I told him what he’d done, we laughed forever…

We now walk around the house, punctuating every sentence with a phrase that I’m praying the neighbors never hear…. “Assholeeeeeeee…..”