Merry Christmas 1.

It's cold, but I say, "This is a day the Lord has made". like that strange preacher in the glass cathedral said a long time ago and I have adopted. So far I have managed to shower and eat a brownie and straighten a bit and throw the coffee filter, with the wet used coffee, into the garbage and taken out the garbage. I'm not sure that is the best thing to do with a day the Lord has made, but it's a start and in just 15 minutes I can take my nap.

Yesterday, I rang the Salvation Army's little red bell. They probably won't let me do it again because I accosted everyone who came by to give me their change. Only two people ignored me, they were the ones in the big cars who looked wealthy. And so it goes. Anyway, I managed to do it for two hours and made the bell ring along with Christmas songs in my mind. People are great. Rich people (some of them) are no damn good.

And then came the Hot Springs Christmas parade. It had one small band from Marshall, a town down the road 30 miles, and many fire trucks and several tractors and the girl scouts, and one real float, tiny but festive, and a few horses and old restored cars. Hysterical. But it was fine.

And then I went for soup at a dinner for the family who's child has some unknown illness that is costing a fortune already that the doctors still don't haven't been able to identify yet. I also planned to take brownies for their bake sale but unfortunately (like in the case for the valentine's fudge) never got hard enough so I gave them money and said that I bought my brownies.

Feels quite Christmassy now. Let me know about you. . Do have an excellent day the Lord has made. Love, peace, joy.

Susan's Program Note for the Casa Grande Choir's Messiah

The Glory of the Lord: Singing The Messiah

Of all the platitudes I’ve heard, “Worry is like a rocking chair – it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere”, is the one I remember best. I excel at worrying. I can worry any time any place but most often it’s either when I’m drifting off to sleep or just waking up. Lately, however, something else has occupied my mind.

It started in early November when I woke up in the middle of the night. Instead of some crisis or other, my brain was full of this musical phrase from The Messiah: “Arise, arise, say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God! Behold, the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” I couldn’t get that phrase out of my mind.

This change of head wasn’t just happening to me. Out of the blue, my husband, Fred, would sing “And the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace”.

Turns out that most of the members of the Community Choir, organized by Marilyn Cooper to perform Handel’s classic oratorio, shared our experience. Throughout the month of November all of us, mostly amateur singers, went to rehearsals twice a week and then played our Messiah CDs so often and practiced our parts so much that the sacred words and music penetrated our minds and hearts and spirits.

Sister Cooper, who serves as Stake Public Affairs Activities Specialist, conceived of the choir as a way of bringing the community together. Now in it’s third year, it has grown to nearly 100 members from at least six local churches. Including Sis. Cooper there are four directors, each from a different church.

By deepening my understanding of The Messiah musically, each of these directors provided new insights into the life and mission of Jesus Christ. Under director June Graber I imagined myself among the choir of angels, singing gently so as not to frighten the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth”. Tom Beckett’s sensitive interpretation of Behold the Lamb of God made real the onerous, infinite and pulling weight as the Lamb “taketh away the sins of the world”.

With Bob Reese directing, the choir sang that Christ “shall reign forever and ever” with such sincerity that I glimpsed the joy of an eternity with Jesus forever at the helm. Each rehearsal started and ended with prayer, invariably thanking God for the opportunity to sing His praises. We are indebted to Sis. Cooper for giving us that opportunity..

Scripture tells us the Lord’s “soul delighteth in the song of the heart” and that the singers are “answered with a blessing upon their heads.” I’ve felt that blessing literally upon my head as songs of praise and exultation replaced troublesome worries. So I’ll be going to Office Max to have my score laminated like the other veteran choir members. I’m hooked.