rocket domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/acolfr/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114On the 11<\/span>th<\/span> day of the 11<\/span>th<\/span> month at 11:00, the Armistice of 1918, the formal agreement that marked the official end of World War I, was signed. It would later be said that the harsh terms of the agreement led to WWII. My Dad and three uncles served in WWII.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAnd even though it all went wrong<\/span> <\/p>\n Because preparing \u201cMemoria\u201d for publication has just about caused me to lose my mind, I want to speak of the dichotomy that it is to realize that our greatest <\/span>blessings<\/span><\/i> often arise from our greatest and most difficult <\/span>offerings<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n I had the idea to speak of this for reasons of Veterans Day\u2014a day that is so necessary to those civilian victims and soldiers who know the irreconcilable\u2014the terror of war and the elation of wars ending.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Climate Change Conference left me feeling similarly. It was imperative to know the peril and the sacrifices needed for Earth\u2019s plentitude to be maintained\u2014and equally necessary for those who are experiencing the Earth\u2019s human-caused upheavals to expect more.\u00a0 In such events we can feel the truth of being citizens of the world who are strong \u201ctogether\u201d <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> vulnerable \u201ctogether.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n *Leonard Cohen<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n To be vulnerable together, <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>powerful together, we need to Be Who We Truly Are <\/span>together<\/span><\/i>. This is what will change the world.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Today, not for this reason, but for multiple reasons of realizations, we are dealing\u2014as citizens of the world, as individuals with secrets and dreams, as keepers of homes, as lovers and friends, parents and creators of every age\u2014with paradoxes that can leave us feeling fractured, uneasy and vulnerable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yet, as I listened today, to how Leonard Cohen sings a broken and redemptive Hallelujah, I was lifted. The paradoxes of life fit right into the unconventional yearning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In holy language, as in music and the arts, the liberation and the captivity exist together. It\u2019s why such songs, and such times, are cathartic. Why I cry when I hear, in the voices of Cohen and Lange, the depth with which the song is sung.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Cohen\u2019s words remind me that we all will know the journey out of exile<\/a>. So do Holy Mary\u2019s words. In \u201cMemoria,\u201d (The upcoming book II of The Way of the Marys) she says, \u201c<\/span>You come into exile<\/a> to seek refuge in your true home.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Cohen said, <\/span>“All the perfect and broken Hallelujahs have an equal value \u00a0 . . . “It’s a desire to affirm my faith in life, not in some formal religious way but with enthusiasm, with emotion.”<\/span><\/p>\n K.D. Lange Sings Alleluia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n * Leonard Cohen<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah (Live In London) – YouTube<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n<\/span>I’ll stand right here before the Lord of song<\/span>
\n<\/span>With nothing, nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah\u201d*<\/span><\/p>\n