BONUS EPISODE: EASTER SURPRISE
Once upon a time I really liked the Triduum liturgies. I don’t remember us much going to them as kids, so when I first discovered them they were sort of a revelation, each day’s liturgy so completely different from each other and, at least on Good Friday and at the Vigil, what we get the rest of the year.
These days I seem to have itchy feet. When I'm not presiding, somehow the liturgy that speaks to me seem to be somewhere out on the streets and not so often in the churches. That’s not always a comfortable choice, but when it gets to me I try to trust it.
And tonight as I was trying to “find” my Vigil a couple songs leapt out at me. None of them are exactly what you might think of when you think “Easter” or “resurrection”, but I don’t know. They spoke to me, and I thought as a little Easter gift I would share them with you.
You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me: Everything is Saved.
Okay, this song may seem a little on the nose. But in its own way it is the great promise of the resurrection, and in more ways than one.
(If you want a live version, I recommend this video from last week, where Mayer sang the song as a tribute to Charlie Murphy at a Dave Chappelle show.)
Audition: So Trust and Leap.
If you saw “La La Land”, you’ll remember this song from the end, where Emma Stone tells a story about her aunt. It’s kind of a sad story, but she has this amazing, essential insight, which is that the dreams God plants in our heart, no matter how crazy they may be, they’re important, the bets we have to take. They lead us where we need to go, and whether they ultimately succeed or fail, they feed others, too.
If Jesus’s life, death and resurrection say anything, it’s that.
She told me
‘A little madness is key
To give us new colors to see
Who knows where it will lead us?
And that’s why they need us.’
Runnin’ Home to You: Our Road Goes On Together.
I posted this in my links a couple weeks ago. It’s a song from “The Flash”, actually, a love song that Barry Allen sings to his girlfriend Iris. But I don’t know, that first line, it just leaps out at me every time as something more, not only what loved ones say to another, but how Jesus feels with regard to us.
Can’t say how the days will unfold,
Can’t change what the future may hold.
But I want you in it, every hour, every minute.
Bonus Song: “I Found You”
Okay, I’m not totally sure why I’m sharing this song from “The Batman Lego Movie”, but it somehow seems relevant. The movie is all about how since losing his parents Batman won’t let anyone in, because he doesn’t want to get hurt again. And the journey of the character is to realize he doesn’t have to be alone. (I know, for a comedic animated film about Batman the themes are pretty heart-rending.)
This song is played over the credits; it’s Dick Grayson, the orphan who becomes Robin, singing to Batman about how they kind of saved each other.
And though the contours of the relationships are totally different, I kind of like it as a suggesting some part of the relationship between God and Jesus that we celebrate at Easter.
We were meant to be together
We’ve both been through some heavy weather.
It’s all I wanted for so long,
A broken bone heals twice as strong.
And I feel like we’re the perfect team,
The greatest the world’s ever seen!
And it proves that wishes do come true,
‘Cuz you found me, and Batman, I found you.
Happy Easter. May the year to come bring us all joy and life.
