A New Meaning to "Drunk on the Spirit"
When I was in High school I used to show up at Church with a tie and one wicked headache from the night before. Hoping no one would notice, including my parents, that I was still drunk as a skunk singing songs that sav the soul, I played the part and sang the hymns, quietly, so that God would be appeased. Ironically, I attended a strict Baptist Church where drinking was of the devil, PG-13 was equivalent to R, and dancing too close to girls got them pregnant. Silly Deacons, 3rd base gets girls pregnant.
To the point. Beer and the Church are actually distant cousins. Monks brewed it, Jesus drank it(well, actually, we're not really sure that he drank beer. Wine yes, beer no. But he could have been the one that said, "They come in pints?!" But, whatever.), and Hymns were inspired by it. Kind of.
The story goes that Beethoven, when writing the Ninth Symphony, took a tune from a German tavern song, set it in the midst of huge orchestration, and attached it to a largely humanistic poem by Schiller "Ode to Joy". The music was later copied directly from Beethoven's Ninth and set to a new text by Dyke that we now sing as "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." This very important hymn tune began in a secular environment and moved into the realm of the sacred without the consent of its composer. To this day one can experience this masterpiece in the secular concert hall or in the sacred halls of churches throughout the world.
Pass me Guiness and let's praise the Lord!