Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Reflection: We Laugh, We Cry

Dave Weber
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Palo Alto, CA

Those of you who know me well may wonder what I’m doing up here. I have at times been a vocal critic of our hymns. I am one of those UU’s who reads ahead to see if I agree with the lyrics, and if I don’t, I stand silently. Yet today I want to declare from the rooftops that in my opinion our music program has undergone a great renaissance in recent years. The hymns we sing have been more spirited and uplifting, while the choir, with a professionalism that simply amazes me, treats us to songs about the real world written in our lifetimes. In fact, there are quite a number of our hymns that I enjoy singing.

I come before you however to extol the virtues of one hymn in particular, “We Laugh, We Cry”. Let me start by saying that it isn’t a dirge, it doesn’t contain nineteenth century exalted language, and it doesn’t have a strange syncopated tempo with unnatural tonal transitions.

What this song does is describe life in rich poetic terms. We live and die, and in between we seek answers to the important questions Ð why are we here, how should we live, where do we find meaning. We laugh and cry, and seek friends, community, and love. We witness the miracle of birth, knowing that with this new life will come hopes, dreams, and perhaps great feats, but most certainly the joy and sorrow which is everyone’s birthright, and the responsibility to help care for the future of this fragile earth. Think of the imagery of “imagination running wild”. If you want a piece of that action, come to the kindergarten or 1^st and 2^nd grade classes any week. I recommend a stint of teaching our kids to every one of you — it’s good therapy. You’ll come out feeling better about the future of the world.

The hymn then courageously takes on death, the waste of human strife, and the absence of absolute answers, and concludes that life is still worth living. We endure death by touching each other’s lives and creating memories that linger. We fight the injustice and strife by working to overcome them while dreaming of peace, and we live in spite of uncertainty through friendship, community, and love.

Yes the song is long, but considering the subject matter is what Douglas Adams called “Life, The Universe, and Everything”, maybe it’s not so long. Yes it is hard to sing, not because of the language or the music, but because of the emotions it evokes. When I sing this song, my mind turns to thoughts of dancing and singing in joy and images of kindergartners and their laughter and positive energy. I think of close friends I’ve had for decades and how we care for each other, and of being accepted in this community of seekers who like me, have no answers. My mind wanders to thoughts of loved ones who touched my life deeply, are no longer here, yet linger on in my memory. But most of all, the words that touch my soul are the ones we repeat most often. “I believe in life, and in the strength of love, and in the joy of being together”. Although I come here for community and am a firm believer in it’s virtues, I’m not so sure I really believe in life and the strength of love, as there’s a bit of the negative in me. But I want to. Singing out these words repeatedly makes me believe that I can. The act of singing becomes my personal religious experience, a kind of a prayer to the universe to feel good about it all. And in doing so I am transformed if only for a moment, to a different plane. Not bad work for a hymn.

 

Other Hymn Reflections:

Meanings in Our Music
Spirit of Life
The Fire of Commitment
Raghupati
I’m On My Way
We’ll Build a Land