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.