Handel's Messiah

*Disclaimer* This post has nothing whatever to do with being gluten-free.

*Disclaimer #2* It does, however, have to do with Jesus.

My youngest sister is a senior at Bethel University in Minnesota. I was able to fly up to watch her play the viola in the university's Christmas Festival this year. She was really, really great and I found myself a bit overwhelmed at having a baby sister old enough and talented enough to perform some of the complicated music she did.

The highlight of the festival for me were the selections of Handel's Messiah. I haven't listened to it in several years, and had forgotten how beautiful it is.

In the midst of what can only be called crummy, Christ-less Christmas music ("I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," anyone?), Messiah is refreshing, incredible, powerful, and rich. It's text comes primarily from Isaiah, and it arranges the words of Scripture beautifully.

I'm pretty much in love with it right now. I just might listen to it every day until Christmas, and then every single day after that. I just might.

Some fun Messiah facts:

• The entire piece was written by George Fredriech Handel in 24 days during the summer of 1741.
• It premiered in Dublin, Ireland.
• It is often mistakenly referred to as "The Messiah," but it's proper title is "Messiah" (I made this mistake just last week... oops...)
• Much of the Scripture comes from Isaiah, Psalms, and Revelation.
• Messiah is divided into three parts:
• The prophecy and realization of God's plan to redeem humankind through the coming Messiah
• The accomplishment of redemption by the sacrifice of Jesus, humankind's rejection of God's offer, and humankind's defeat when trying to oppose the power of the Almighty
• A hymn of thanksgiving for the final overthrow of death 
• Messiah was originally performed during Lent. Today it is most often performed during Advent or Christmas.
• The tradition of standing during the "Hallelujah Chorus" began with King George II of England. Historical records are mixed on why exactly he stood - some believe he wanted to show his respect for the "King of Kings," but one account states that he had dozed off and awoke with a start, standing up quickly. In the presence of royalty when royalty stands, everyone else stands. Hence, a tradition of standing during the chorus that remains to this day.
• A story that may or may not be apocryphal: At one point during the composition process, Handel's assistant called out to him several times without answer. Opening the door to Handel's room the assistant saw him slumped over his music in tears. The assistant quickly asked what was the matter. "I thought I saw the face of God," Handel replied.

A personal story about the Messiah:

When cell phones were new, I was a senior in college. I went to my college's performance of the entire Messiah (a 3+ hour event). During the performance my dad called, but I couldn't pick up my phone. I texted him instead, saying "Still at the Messiah. I'll call soon."

Because our phones were new-ish and the phone service in northern Wisconsin where my parents live is not great, the text message didn't come in for several hours.

At two in the morning, my dad's phone beeped. He groggily rolled over, picked it up, and loaded the message. Then he woke up my mom.

"Barb!" he exclaimed, "Courtney is STILL at the Messiah!"

A Christmas instruction:

If you do not own Messiah on CD or iTunes or 8-track or whatever it is that you listen to, go and get it. Seriously. It is worth every penny, and it will remind you of how awesome Jesus is and how beautiful Advent is and how much God loves you and how gorgeous and unsettling the book of Isaiah is.

Do it for me. There's no gluten involved.