Thought for the Week - 22nd May 2022

Dear Friends,

Well, did you stay up for the occasion? The annual humiliation for the UKs entry into the Eurovision Song Contest, this year staged in Turin, Italy, is as traditional as fish and chips, cricket on the green and queuing without complaining. But this year there had been an anticipation that things might be different, and different they were. As the evening wore on into the night, and as the points were awarded from various European cities (and Australia!), the UKs Sam Ryder with his song ‘Space Man’ began to rack up the points. To the astonishment of the host – Graham Norton – and probably many others too, lots of first and second place positions were given, and as the excitement grew it became clear that he had done well, very well indeed. He topped the jury vote and was only knocked off the first-place position when the public vote was announced catapulting Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra to win the competition. There were no hard feelings, just joy and delight that Ryder’s second place position had ended the dismal showing of previous UK entrants and was hailed as the best result since 1988. Singer-songwriter and worship leader, Philippa Hanna, speaking of her love for all things Eurovision told Christianity magazine, ‘This weekend, watching the nations share their love and support for Ukraine crystallised everything I love about Eurovision. True to form, the show was spectacular, witty and colourful. But it was a display of something much deeper too, a unity I’ve only really seen in two places in my life, the concert venue and the Church’. And she noted that it seemed that Sam Ryder too had noticed this because in a BBC Radio 4 interview speaking about his second-place finish, he compared performing at Eurovision to being in the presence of God saying, ‘It was like being in a church, because there was so much joy’. We know that there is a connection between people when they are united in song, be it in a concert hall, a church or on the football terraces, there is something that is mysterious and compelling when voices are joined together in song. In the Bible the Psalmist encourages his audience to ‘Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise’ (Psalm 47:6-7). It is a well-known fact that singing is good for us, and that singing in a group can aid our physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. So as we celebrate Sam Ryder coming second in Eurovision this year, perhaps it will encourage us all to tickle our vocal cords and sing out our praises to God.   
Grace and peace,

Neil
      

                                                   

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