A few years ago I decided to take the scriptures used in Handel's Messiah and read them through each day during Lent. I had a wonderful time concentrating on the many verses that foretell the coming Messiah. One Easter - oh, it must be about twenty years ago now - I listened to a broadcast of the work on the radio and I can only describe it as quite a spiritual experience, I was so moved by the unfolding story of God's plan of salvation for the human race. It remains one of my favourite pieces of music of all time.
Tonight, one of the movements of the work comes to mind, and of course, it is the one about sheep!
"All we, like sheep, have gone astray, We have turned, every one, to his own way..."
The music is so funny, really funny, and Handel built into the melody a wandering which so well describes sheep wandering off. It is so lively and fresh, yet as I listen to it again tonight, I am quite taken aback by the ending, which is suddenly in the minor key and is so beautiful....set to these words,
"And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
Earlier this evening we watched a few minutes of a program on the television which was all about neighbourly disputes; it was a terrible program with the people involved unable to see life from anyone else's point of view.
"We have turned, every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all...."
If only they knew.
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