"laestadian, apostolic, gay, lgbtq, ex-oalc, ex-llc, llc, oalc, bunner" LEARNING TO LIVE FREE: The Tie That Binds

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

The Tie That Binds

Hallelujah! My handsome husband and I have a date on Saturday night. We're going to a friend's 40th birthday "prom." Having never been to a prom (wouldn't Laestadian Prom make a great name for a movie?), I'm not QUITE sure what to wear, but that won't stop me. Maybe I'll shellac my hear and don glasses and a whistle and be a chaperone.

The party is a few blocks away in the Masonic Temple, a pale blue building where we held our wedding reception many years ago.

What exactly are the Masons? I seem to remember that in the OALC, a former Mason (name escapes me) wrote the words to the hymn "Keys Are Given to the Christians." Anyone remember that story? I grew up thinking that the Masons were kind of freaky. (Actually, I still think that. They rent their hall for $200 when it could easily bring them more.)

Another OALC memory is "Blest Be the Tie That Binds." The internet tells me that the lyrics were written by a BAPTIST minister. Heaven forfend. I must have sung it at a lot of funerals, because it still makes me sad.

When I mention this to the adorable husband, he laughs and says "Oh, we sang that song in high school in a production of Our Town." Funeral versus musical. Well. That pretty much sums up our respective childhoods.

4 comments:

  1. Geez, that song was song at my wedding! I never thought of it as a funeral song.

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  2. Oh, dear. Have I confused weddings with funerals in my girlhood memories of the OALC? That is telling, isn't it. Could explain why I put off marriage for so many years!

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  3. Or maybe it's because it is sung at a dirge-like tempo, by a few tone deaf men, with no instrumentals.... wedding, funeral, church Sunday, it's all dead.

    Re: your question about Masons... I think they're one up on the OALC with mind-control. Check it out; it's kinda creepy.

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  4. The way the songs are sung, with that long drawn out tempo even has a name. A Swede professor told me what it's called, but I can't remember. After all these years, I can still hear it in my head. I think it's part of the whole mind control thing--is that possible?

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