In January of 2014 my husband of nearly 30 years passed. He passed consciously and with no fear. The hospice nurse told me she had never felt such palpable peace and I knew he was fine, but well, I still had problems going to sleep.For a year or so after that, pretty much every night, I listened to a clip I had made from the movie Sister Act 2, because the music and dancing was so joyful and full of promise and it helped me get to sleep, and trust that the unknown was not something to fear, but something to welcome in.
Yesterday I happened to stream an episode of The View, which I had not watched for quite some time and Hmmm, the one immediately available was the 30-year anniversary of Sister Act 2. Many of the teen/twentys kids in the movie were on the View, singing O Happy Day and Joyful Joyful. And it had the same effect. It was joyous and comforting and even more, it was a GET UP AND BE JOYFUL kind of kick in the butt. Since I have been “cocooning” (aka being reclusive) for days, I do suspect it was a kick in the pants from Spirit for me to break out of the cocoon (again, because I do this periodically) and get back into communication. So. I give to you the original, and the reunion, Sister Act 2 with a radiant Lauren Hill and joyous Whoopi in the first, and the now grown and 50-ish kids and others, plus a clearly emotional Whoopi, bringing it all back to the forefront of my brain. Not really an earworm, but a reminder from Spirit because I feel Spirit, and an enormous unconditional love, in both versions.
I put most of the lyrics under the url, but (I discovered) if you click cc (I can be slow) you have subtitles.
Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaEH1e_DLm0
The song uses Henry van Dyke's poem, "The Hymn of Joy" (1907) which was the lyric to Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy,” the final movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony. Some of my favorite lyrics of all time.
Joyful, Joyful Lord, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee
Hail Thee as the sun above
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness
Drive the dark of doubt away
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light
Fill us with the light Oh, fill us
With the light of day......
Come and join the chorus
The mighty, mighty chorus
Which the morning stars begun
The Father of love is reigning over us
He watches over everything
So we sing:
Joyful, Joyful Lord, we adore Thee
God of glory Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee
Hail Thee as the sun above
Melt the clouds of sin, sin and sadness
Drive the dark of doubt away
Drive it all away!
Giver of immortal gladness
We need you, come right away,
we need you, need you today, we need you,
I'm here to say
Fill us, fill us, fill us, fill us!
Fill us with the light of day
Light of day!
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/06/entertainment/whoopi-goldberg-sister-act-2-choir-reunion/index.html
@Tesseract you post on the future of DJT reminded me of this video by Barbara Streisand. She wrote this BEFORE Covid. Can’t image what she would have included had that been happening as well
https://youtu.be/kNrj87Q-4Yk?si=kaaEI5DGghqsu_bt
@tesseract Thank you so much for sharing your story and the wonderful clips from “Sister Act 2.” I’m smiling with tears running down my face.
@freya I cry (with joy) every time I watch the kids in the original and I've seen it a kazillian times over the ten years since Larry passed.
I also cried watching the reunion. The entire View episode was amazing. The things Whoopi did for these kids as they began their careers was eye-opening. Their love and respect for her came through with a power punch vibration. Spirit abounding. Her emotion at the end was powerful in a different way from the joy she exudes in the original. The film was acting, I know, but maybe, just a little not-acting as well and actually FEELING what "Sister Mary Clarence" was feeling. The reunion was layers upon layers of what I think of as "giving and receiving" are one motion. "Teaching and learning" are one motion. You can't do one without the other and the "one motion" was vibrant both in the original, and in the reunion. ❤️
@tybin Wow. Just WOW. I had never seen that video. It was actually kind of difficult to watch, but so powerful! I knew she was against t but oh my. Words (my comfort zone) 😳 Fail me. Thank you! ❤️
https://youtu.be/p4dhIB4Ei6c?si=V0Sqga8Pb8aov2WA
Things Can Only Get Better
Song by D:Ream
You can walk my path, you can wear my shoes
Learn to talk like me and be an angel too
But maybe you ain't never gonna feel this way
You ain't never gonna know me, but I know you
I'm singing it now, things can only get better
Only get better
If we see it through
That means me and I mean you too
So teach me now that things can only get better
Only get, they only get, take it on from here
You know, I know that things can only get better
I sometimes lose myself in me
I lose track of time
And I can't see the woods for the trees
You set 'em alight
Burn the bridges as you've gone, I'm too weak to fight ya
I've got my personal hell to deal with
And then you say
"Walk my path, wear my shoes
Talk like that, I'll be an angel"
And things can only get better
Can only get better now I found you
(Things can only get, can only get)
Things can only get better
Can only get better now I found you and you and you
You have shown me prejudice and greed
And you've shown me how
I must learn to deal with this disease
I look at things now
In a different light than I did before
And I've found the cause and I think that you can be my cure
So teach me to walk your path, wear your shoes
Talk like that, I'll be an angel
And things can only get better
Can only get better now I found you
(Things can only get, can only get)
Things can only get better
Can only get better now I found you
Things can only get
Things can only get better
Can only get better now I found you
(Things can only get, can only get)
And you and you and you baby
Things can only get better
They can only get better now I found you
@tesseract Wise as always, tesseract. I'm aware that "teaching is learning." If more understood that simple fact the world would be an immensely better place. Glad you joined the Forum!
After I posted from my phone this morning in the Elections thread, I was scrolling through Instagram, which I use for music clips, mostly, and this popped up:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C62nF2vhi09/?igsh=aWoybXhoazkwbW1y
Loved it from the start and then Groban popped up in it! (HA! coincidence??? 😉 I think not!) wearing his FIND YOUR LIGHT (Groban's Foundation) t-shirt with one of the groups he funded. Then I went and found the YouTube of the entire production (2018?) from Playing4Change,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g4UWvcZn5U
Oh, and I have that t-shirt! 😀 I've been dancing, as I did chores, to the Everyday People YouTube all morning. & dancing is not as easy now as it once was, 🤣 but the body just would not sit still, so dance I did.
This YouTube is such a wonderful example of the Energy I now feel because of (and with) Kamala and the election.
@ana (Iridium) from your post on the election thread: I have to say that TRANSFIXED is the word I have looked for, for years, to describe my reaction at that first sight of Obama, of Mayor/Sec Pete, and how I felt the first note I heard from Josh's voice on Charlotte Church's CD as they sang The Prayer. Thanks for reminding me of it for these extraordinary, Lighted, moments.