Uplifting

Yesterday, on Sunday, November 4th, I got to sing one of my favorite hymns (all eight verses) with choir, organ, and tympani—the Ralph Vaughan Williams setting of “For All the Saints.” It comes round once a year, and the refrain for every verse is a two-fold Alleluia, noble and stirring.

The thrill of singing the hymn, however, paled in comparison to my amazement when the New Orleans Saints beat the previously undefeated Los Angeles Rams 45-35. The victory was noble, stirring, and seriously uplifting in a whole other way. In similarity to the hymn, be assured every touchdown was also followed by (somewhat louder) Alleluias, which were in turn followed by sips of scotch.

No coincidence for either of these events; it was, of course, All Saints Sunday. Although their fate was decided before they ever traveled to New Orleans, the cocky Rams had no clue.

The third event occurred immediately after the game, due to the profound effect the spiritual always has on the physical. The very ground of the state of Louisiana, reacting to the joy of its people, rose up. Where there were swamps, there now stand mountain ranges. The alligators are a little nonplussed, but eventually they’ll slide down the slopes to the coastal plain, chanting all the while with the populace, the Louisiana All Saints hymn: “Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?”