Joy

The decorations are up, the electric luminaries are in place along the driveway, and the wreaths are hung. Sometime next week I’ll take an afternoon off and indulge in one of my favorite Christmas luxuries. I need to tell you the background. During 1983-84, Lisa’s final year of high school, she and I sang in the community chorus under the skillful direction of Charles Smith. Our first performance was in December: Handel’s Messiah. I had sung it yearly all during college, but oh, it was special to sing it with my daughter!

Soon after, she gave me a book with the text of “Messiah” in Timothy Botts’ colorful calligraphy. And then she gave me a set of CDs with the choral masterpiece. So now, once a year, I get very alone and quiet, light the Christmas candles, listen to the inspired music, and follow along with Botts’ artistic visual interpretation. Last year I did it between hearing my cancer diagnosis and going in for surgery. What a bright afternoon it was! “I know that my Redeemer lives.” This year I feel better than I felt then, but my short-term future is as unknown now as it was then. So I’ll sing along in my kemo-cracked voice, and let the divine words restore my soul.

Recently someone sent me the story of Messiah. It’s well known, but I’ll include it here since I’m talking about it anyway.

Seventeen-forty-one was a very depressing year for George Frederick Handel. His latest opera failed. His Italian opera company in London was disbanded. That same year Queen Caroline passed away and the commissions Handel had received for composing music for royal occasions all but dried up. A stroke he had experienced several years prior not only affected him physically but also affected his music. It seemed he had lost the genius that made his music so popular.

Late that year Charles Jennens, a little-known poet, sent Handel a manuscript and asked him to set it to music. When Handel read it, the words gripped him. Suddenly he came alive. Immediately he began to set the words to music. He labored all through that night and much of the following day. In fact, he worked day and night for 22 more days, barely stopping to eat or sleep.

His “Messiah” was performed the following year and was an immediate success.
The words that Jennens compiled, the words that lifted Handel out of the pit of despair, were from Scripture and were about the Savior:
“He was despised and rejected of men. He looked for someone to have pity on him, but there was no man. He trusted in God. God did not leave his soul in hell. I know that my Redeemer lives. Rejoice. Hallelujah!”

Perhaps it was the period of disappointment and despair that prepared Handel in heart and spirit to write this masterpiece. If so, he invested his pain wisely.

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I've forgotten who sent that, so thanks to the unknown author and sender.

Have a blessed day.
Carol