Laudate Dominum

Love songs, praise songs and celebration are easy when you're young and partying. But to thank God and mean it, is harder when you see no way out of trouble. In the movie "Crazy Stupid Love" Steve Carrel said, "I love you even when I hate you" to his wife character Julianne Moore. Well I can say that now because I see that through all my past troubles, pain, downers, hopelessness, disappointments and even then I felt abandoned by God, I can see He has been there waiting for me.

Stravinsky's "Expectans Expectavi Dominum" which is the second movement of his "Symphony of Psalms". I felt pain when I listened to it 10 months ago. Click on the link to see the text. I felt so hopeless.

Now, here is the 3rd movement. It just says "Praise the Lord" but under music that is tragic, dramatic, sad and seemingly painful. Only I can now be grateful like the sassy choir who sings The gospel song of the same name. My favorite line is, "Be Grateful, cause there's someone else who's worse off than you. Be Grateful, cause there's someone else who'd love to be in your shoes..." Then the song becomes an African beat celebration of being thankful during adversity.

Similarly, Stravinsky's 3rd movement lifts my soul as I can feel the need to be uplifted during hard times of change. Joy and thanksgiving through thick and thin.