Happiest Day!

For the last several years we have wrapped up our Easter celebration by singing, “Oh Happy Day.” Or maybe I should say, by trying to sing “Oh Happy Day.”

Let’s just say we’re not exactly a gospel choir.

It's not the fault of our excellent musicians. It's not our size, or anything like that. It's just not a typical tune for any of us.

But there are reasons why it's worth singing.

Most people know “Oh Happy Day” from the movie, Sister Act. Whoopi Goldberg's character teaches the quiet nuns how to belt it out. Lots of stars have taken a turn with the gospel tune -- Aretha Franklin, Glen Campbell, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples. George Harrison said it inspired him to write “My Sweet Lord.”

But why are we singing it?

The main reason: It's joyful, and joy is the primary response to the Resurrection. Easter is not about getting inspired to be better people, change the world, repent -- none of it. Easter is a divine lark, a side-splitting joke on death. Sometimes it takes a song to teach us to be more joyful, less serious -- to be happier about the day.

Another reason we sing it: when Edwin Hawkins rearranged the hymn in the late 1960s, he added "fight" to "watch and pray." Dr. King had just been assassinated. It doesn't take a history buff to see what Hawkins did there. The struggle for justice and the joy of the Resurrection go hand in hand. As we celebrate, we are all the more determined to realize the happy day Jesus won for us on the cross.

And finally: we should sing it because we're not good at singing it. The resurrection should stun and bewilder us (please, please read or re-read the original ending to Mark's gospel, 16:8). It takes a little practice, a little awkward blundering, to switch over to the Way of Forgiveness, the Way of Healing, the Way of the Happy Day.

(You can see one of the earliest performances of Oh Happy Day in the recent documentary, Summer of Soul.)