Handel's "Messiah" Reprise

Two years ago this December I posted a link to the "Messiah", by George Frederic Handel, on NPR's website. You can click the link to the player and listen to the whole piece - it's great!

The "Messiah" is one of the most amazing pieces of music I've ever heard, not to mention the quality of the lyrical content. It's an amazing work of art, that really helps bring my heart into an attitude of worship to God. The piece is loaded with incredible Gospel truth.

Go here, and let it play!

When we don't give thanks...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving of 2010, and in an attempt to actually take traditions seriously, and develop a richness in celebrating holidays, I'm jotting down a few ponderings on Thanksgiving.

This year I've been struck by how many references I've noticed on TV, on blogs, etc., about Thanksgiving being an awkward holiday for families. For example, take Conan O'Brien, who says via Twitter,

Instead of making anyone travel for Thanksgiving, this year the O'Brien's will have tense, silent meal over Skype.

That's sad. Of course Conan means to be funny; but, his tweet is funny because so many American families lack richness and genuineness in their celebration of Thanksgiving (and Christmas, etc). Many do go on observing holidays with their loved ones because they're supposed to, even in the midst of turmoil. How many of us have pretended everything is OK while we sit down to a holiday mean with our families, when of course there are unresolved conflicts between some or all of us?

Interestingly, the Apostle Paul speaks to this very issue, in his letter to the Romans. In Romans 1:18-21 he says,

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [...] So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (emphasis added).

Scripture seems to tell us, then, that God's wrath is revealed in this world, against those who fail to give thanks to God. Thanks for what? The text seems to imply thanksgiving for everything. God is the giver and sustainer of every blessing, and even when God takes away blessing, we have Him (which means we actually still have everything). Our miseries and troubles, Scripture seems to tell us, come because we don't actually give thanks to Whom it is due, which is especially clear in the lives of those who don't believe the Gospel.

So Thanksgiving, then, is a great time to be together as family, for the purpose of giving thanks to God for how richly He blesses us. We absolutely have reason for an attitude of thankfulness. And even if our lives are fraught with trouble, we can give thanks if we know God, because in His presence is "fullness of joy," and at His right hand "are pleasures forevermore" (Ps. 16:11).

Alice Dancing Under the Gallows

Watch this trailer for "Alice Dancing Under the Gallows."

This short film is really a trailer for what looks like a really compelling documentary coming out next year. It's about Alice Herz-Sommer, the oldest Holocaust survivor in the world. What looks to add an extra intriguing element to the film, is the music - Alice is an amazing pianist, and speaks quite a bit (even in the trailer) about the power of music. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to seeing this film.

Here are some things I found exceptionally compelling in the trailer:

1. Alice's thoughts about Beethoven. He has always been my favorite composer, and Alice expresses my own reasons why, in ways I don't think I could have. She says that Beethoven's music is so much more than melody - there's so much fullness in it that goes deeper than simple melody. She says his music is "intensive," and "phenomenal."

2. Alice's genuine love for people. Alice comments that she loves people: that she loves getting to know people, and loves hearing about people's lives. This was convicting for me - how much to I genuinely just love getting involved in the lives of people?

3. Alice's comment that music is god (with which I disagree). She says that music can give a person hope, can transport them away from a hopeless circumstance, can give life to a soul. However, I do agree with some of this - music is powerful, and I believe God created music to affect and stir our souls in some of these ways. Overall, what Alice says is a testament to how powerful music can be; though music is not god, God created it to powerfully stir our affections for Him.

4. The role that music played in the lives of those in the Nazi concentration camps. One of Alice's friends comments that in their hopeful attitude, that music fed, they were "dancing under the gallows." Music gave joy to them in the midst of the hopelessness, which leads me to think about the singing of a church. When we sing as the redeemed body of Christ, music can affect us this way. Our affections can be stirred with the hopeful truths of Scripture, and our hearts and minds can unite as we joyfully praise and worship our Savior through song.