Handel's Messiah

I always thought classical music was something you endured in the doctor's office, I never enjoyed it (nor appreciated it). My wife liked it and actually played it on the piano. She had a few songs memorized and it was amazing she could play them by ear, but I still didn't care for the music itself.

Then in 1993 we traveled to Germany where we were doing a conference with some friends. I was beginning to have a new appreciation of history. Many houses and buildings were older than the United States...

We were staying in a small village with windows tilted open, when on a crisp Sunday morning we were awakened by the sound of church bells. Then a string quartet began to play. It was beautiful! Now I had done a 180, and was wondering if the people in the village were appreciating this music.

Fast forward a few years and we went to a performance of Handel's Young Messiah at the old McNichol's Arena in Denver. As June and I sat in the nose-bleed seats, I was overcome by the words being sung.

The music was beautiful, but I felt as though a bolt of lightning pierced my soul when I heard the words "But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner's fire..." The words from Isaiah 40 were describing the coming of Jesus, and the music reflected the tone of awesome reverence. Tears streamed down my face, thinking about the unmatched glory of Jesus.

Since that evening, I've fallen in love with Handel's Messiah. It tells THE story in music, the most popular oratorio of all time.

I'm looking forward to sharing about it these next 5 weeks at Smoky Hill Vineyard.