Journal of Sacred Work

I did think I did see all heaven before me and the great God himself. – George Fredrick Handel – August, 1741

   He had been writing almost non-stop for three weeks in his humble home in London. Toward the end of this time, a servant entered the room where Handel (1685-1759) had remained continuously during the writing of one of the greatest compositions in history, The Messiah. He found Handel sobbing. That is when the composer uttered the words above.
   If you have been lucky enough to hear a performance of Handel’s great work during this Christmas week, you have listened to what many experts consider the most perfect piece of music ever composed. And who are we to doubt Handel’s words about God’s presence?…

   Handel was fifty-six when he composed his greatest work. Deeply in debt, he had so despaired of his career that he had considered his latest concert his last. A friend handed him a libretto based on the life
of Christ and asked him to compose something for a benefit concert in Dublin for the poor languishing in debtor’s prison. Alone in his room on London’s Brook Street (left), distraught and depressed, the music landed in Handel heart like an angel.
   Much later, after his composition had become wildly popular, Handel was asked what had inspired him. He responded by quoting the Apostle Paul: "Whether I was inside my body or without, I know not."
   Are such transcendent experiences available to all of us? I think that they are. And there is perhaps no better time for us to contemplate the power of Love than during this Christmas week.
   Love is the great energy through which God’s power is expressed. This energy is available to any of us at any time. Most likely, when it arrives it will come unexpectedly. Those who have described "God-experiences" typically say that God came at a time when they had worked so hard at something with their human efforts that they had become exhausted to the point of forgetting themselves.
   It is so difficult to get our ego out of the way, so hard to transcend the enormous seductions of the world. Yet, clearly, this is what happened to Handel beginning on that night of August 22, 1741. After his great work was performed in April 13, 1742, 142 men were freed from debtor’s prison with the proceeds of the concert.
   Was Handel’s gift enabled in part by the high purpose for which he directed his efforts? Handel was a great benefactor of charity, giving to the poor even when he himself was debt-ridden.
   Love appears when our ego  disappears. Love finds her way into this world as we open the channel of our being by getting out of the way and opening our hearts to others.
   Peace be with you in this holiday time.

-Erie Chapman