Headline in yesterday’s Lowestoft Journal: ‘Pakefield chalets facing demolition due to coastal erosion.’ The article explained: ‘Three chalets that perch precariously on a vulnerable clifftop are to be demolished.’
Due to unprecedented rates of coastal erosion one chalet on the site was demolished last year, and these properties were deemed unsafe. Weather permitting, the demolition will take place this weekend.
Yesterday I was chatting to my friend Rocky. Rocky has a physical condition that has for caused him huge anxiety and discomfort for many years. He’s sought medical help – unsuccessfully; he’s spent a lot of money on treatment; prayers for healing have become a regular part of his life.
Rocky’s faith isn’t diminished, but he can’t understand why his prayers aren’t answered. He says that at times he’s felt close to the edge.
Last night we watched BBC Children in Need… comedy, music, stars and surprise guests. The real stars were the amazing children – young carers who selflessly care for sick parents, children who battle against physical or mental conditions, young people who’d suffered loss and bereavement…
…The programme included Erin singing ‘Hallelujah’ with Alexandra Burke. Erin is a young carer for her mum who has a rare form of multiple sclerosis…
We recognised the strength, determination and resilience of young people close to the edge; we appreciated generous British public (giving £33.5m so far) caring about children close to the edge; we saw compassionate, skilful, good people who work tirelessly, pulling the children back from the edge.
Musing… Times when I’ve been close to the edge… Like Rocky, I’ve prayed and asked ‘Why?’. My faith has encouraged me to ‘be strong and courageous’; I’ve taken comfort from a caring God who knows, understands and gives determination and resilience.
The song Hallelujah (the Hebrew word Hallelujah means ‘God be praised’) has helped me… particularly the line ‘It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah’… When I feel cold, broken and close to the edge I can still be grateful to my God.
malcolmsmusings.org 
You know, don’t you, Malcolm, that Cohen was singing about sexual ecstasy . . . which is OK, as much as it might sound blasphemous to some . . . because even secularists and pagans, as well as Bible believers, have equated this God-given experience as the one second only to seeing God, Himself, face to Face. “Hallelujah!” https://youtu.be/4hjgkvuKES8?si=A8hBurph306ugBIx
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Here’s an old Leonard Cohen singing his song. https://youtu.be/YrLk4vdY28Q?si=b1DjhP5vKQYSgVvV
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Your post just inspired one of my own, Brother, maybe not what you’d intended, but thanks for the muse! https://themjkxn.substack.com/p/hallelujah
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Thanks, Majik. I’ve returned to the song many times, read the book about it, looked at the many verses that have appeared at different times. Many thanks for the beautiful version you included
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Cohen conflates beautifully David’s Bathsheba and Samson’s Delilah in his lyrics with the ominous warning to men of God, even a “man after God’s own heart,” what can happen when his devotion to God of Love transmogrifies into a sensual longing after the goddess of love . . . but what man, but Jesus, never so succumbed, huh?
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For me any Cohen version is always the best.
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