Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Victory Chant -- Joseph Vogels



What does your favorite championship-winning song sound like? I remember one from my favorite baseball team’s last World Series-winning year –1979 and the “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge. It’s about togetherness, and how that propels a group toward its destiny. How about that rock-n-roll classic “We Are the Champions” by Queen, wherein the composers conjure up feelings of us-against-the-world? Which works better, people focused inward on bonding together, or focused outward in fending off their adversaries? How about both of them, or neither? Does the victory sign, like the kind Winston Churchill flashed during World War II (see the picture), always mean that it’s within our grasp, or does it merely convey confidence in the eventual outcome? What was Joseph Vogels thinking in 1985 when he wrote “Victory Chant”?

Joseph Vogels’ composition must have struck a chord with lots of other people. His website says the “Victory Chant” he wrote has become one of the most often-recorded worship songs since its inception. If Vogels lifestyle is any indication of his attitude, he really has used its message as a springboard for the last several years. The song’s words indicate the influence of the Lord has imputed the power, freedom, loyalty, and life direction for its composer that continues today. Vogels, a native of New Zealand and Australia who now lives in North Carolina, still gets around. He reportedly travels with the divinely inspired message that he delivers with a flair and energy that helps him communicate that God’s presence permeates this planet. Celtic, African, and New Zealand sounds emanate from his music, covering wide areas of the globe. “Victory Chant” calls upon Him through several names, as diverse as the musical genres that Vogels employs. In the same song, the Lord is the lamb, but He’s also the Lion of Judah – sacrifice and conqueror at once. One senses that Vogels felt vigorous, alive as perhaps he hadn’t felt with any other earthbound method, compelling him to write words and music that communicated the elation he felt in knowing his journey has a certain destination.

Victory contains something common in any language. Everyone wants to be a winner, but because only the relatively few find it, including in the world of sports, you have to wonder if most people really know what makes someone a ‘winner’. While it may be a certain amount of luck, health, timing, nerves, talent, and confidence, who can order all of these into perfect synergy? Maybe I cannot expect to very often, terrestrially, at least. And, since I know I’m imperfect, spiritually, what are my chances of the afterlife’s prize? Someone says ‘You can’t know for sure.’ Vogels answers emphatically ‘Yes you can!’ with “Victory Chant”. Jesus was Providential synergy, our victor, humankind’s nexus. So, listen to those champions’ songs, root for your favorite team, and rejoice if they win it all. Remember that feeling, and imagine it going on forever, like the ultimate high multiplied by a million…yow!


See the following site for information on the composer: http://josephvogels.tmgartist.com/bio/

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