Love (and song) Lifted Me

How strange and wonderful that we can now do things such as downloading a movie to a tablet, then take it just about anywhere to watch. We huddled around our little screen with son and daughter-in-law while at a cottage a couple of weeks ago. We were watching Bernie starring Jack Black and Shirley McLean and while the screen was small, the laughs were big.

This is based on a true story and Black plays Bernie,a small-town Texas funeral director who is well-loved but ends up in what is a tragic relationship with an older and richer woman. Somehow this rather serious tale is told with humour, and Black manages to dial down his usual manic acting to offer a wonderful performance. And of course the guy can sing. Here though he is warbling gospel music at church and funerals and as he drives along in his car. The scene above with Bernie singing as he is on his way to work is worth the movie alone.

All summer our senior choir sang an anthem each week and it was such a positive and uplifting aspect of worship. This past Thursday was the first choir practice of the Fall and the children's choir will get going soon. Young or not-so-young, choir or congregant, music can be a powerful expression. Praise is an essential part of the life of faith. Bernie's boss in the film reminisces "he sang like an angel" and there is something heavenly about music.

Are you a shower or automobile singer?  Does praise matter for you, as a singer or listener? Have you seen Bernie?