One of the biggest pleasures of the Christmas season is to attend a performance of Handel’s Messiah. Over the years Paulette and I have enjoyed many of them in several cities and states; all were moving, and all focused our attention on the reason for the season. Our favorite was in 1995 and took place in a large church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The music was excellent, and the reverent audience gave us a sense of community, but we were equally blessed as we left the church. The church was on a park-like square, and as we exited we entered a fairy-tale like scene. While we were in the church, God had decorated the square for Christmas with 6 inches of new fallen snow. It was absolutely beautiful.

What is your favorite song from the Messiah? It is hard to choose, since there are so many good ones. Everyone loves the “Hallelujah Chorus”; the audience always stands when it is sung, and indeed it is so joyous you want to stand, although the story that the tradition was started when King George II stood for it is apparently apocryphal. “The Trumpet Shall Sound” and “Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage Together” are also very popular. Paulette’s favorite is “For unto Us a Child is Born.” Mine is “I Know My Redeemer Liveth.” The lyrics are “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day Upon the earth. And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. (Job 19:25-26) For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that Sleep. (I Corinthians 15:20).” It points out that Handel’s oratorio is not about Christmas; it is about the Messiah, and the promise of the Messiah is realized in His resurrection.

Remember: God loves you unconditionally.

Jim