Our offertory anthem has meant so much to so many. A quick Google search of F. Melius Christiansen’s setting of “Beautiful Savior” will reveal its profound significance in the world. Every Lutheran and choral director knows it. What are the ingredients that make this work so appealing? If only I could bottle that ineffable delectability!

The music doesn’t seem to have any special tricks. It’s in the key of D, and it uses ordinary musical conventions. It’s a hymn arrangement, simple enough. What makes this stand out? Listen to it. It transcends. It has a power in it.

There are chiselers who try bottle and sell this unrestricted power by claiming they can show you how to become a leader in your field; how to get the most subscribers; how to become an award-winning writer or actor; how to learn to make your products stand out; or how to make your digital content go viral. If I knew what made all that happen, I would unlock the secrets of the universe, and the entire dominion of nature would be mine.    

This anthem has gone viral. A virus is ‘a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism.’ A modern definition of the word viral is ‘relating to or involving an image, video, piece of information, etc., that is circulated rapidly and widely from one internet user to another.’A virus is invisible and can only work inside. In other words, doing something of great significance is an “inside job.” Yet, we’ve got snake-oil salesmen who are trying to teach the world how to make people, services, and products stand out.

The truth is simple. It’s within. For example, if you want to get in shape – eat less and move more. We all know this. Yet, if you keep searching, you can find alternatives. You can find an “easy way,” or so it seems. But the truth remains – eat less and move more. There is no backdoor. The same is true of achieving greatness. The access is through an inner compartment. Extending inwardly is the only way to increase the chances of detonating this invisible, explosive power. You can’t bottle it up. It’s in you, and you’ve got to reach in and take the cap off.

This anthem went viral because Christiansen touched the epicenter of power – the unconditional love within. Extraordinary things are achieved by simple practices – prayer, meditation, and self-reflection. I can’t harness that power, but I can learn to allow it to work and flow through me by discovering the release mechanism within me. To touch the world is to first touch the root source of love and let it flow up into your life.

The ingredients of elusive virility cannot be bottled, but merely discovered within and poured out into the world. Pouring your heart out is the way. Deep within the wells of your being, you’ll find the Inner Core, the molten lava of enthusiasm, the gooey, unconditional boundlessness of love, and the endless spark of radiating creativity. Dig deep, and “eureka,” you’ll hit a gusher, and your heart will gush with love. All that you are will be found inside, complete, whole, and perfect. That trademark discovery will be affixed to everything you do in this life, and people will wonder how. Dig deep, and don’t keep it bottled up inside. Release it. It’s that simple. Soli Deo Gloria!