The Creation

When I first heard Haydn’s Creation,

I was alone in my dorm room

At the University of Colorado.

My then best friend came jogging by

With my now husband,

And when they called up, “Hey!”

I made them come upstairs to hear

This incredible musical moment—

When God said, “Let there be light.”

For nine minutes, all is quiet and lovely, preparing.

Then God speaks, and, in one of the

Most glorious moments of words matching music,

The dynamic range explodes,

And the timpani goes crazy—

“And there was LIGHT.”

Choir Reversal

My mom once told a story of her college choir.

The director handed out two pieces to rehearse:

Lord Nelson Mass by Haydn

and German Requiem by Brahms.

The Mass they loved from the first moment—amazing.

But the Requiem? Ick! What was the director thinking?

By the time of the performance, though,

Their thoughts had entirely changed.

Lord Nelson Mass was so simple, they were bored

(As they might have guessed, when they sang it well the first time through).

But the Brahms? They had wrestled and worked that piece,

Until, by their performance, it was entirely transformed into a work of beauty.

They loved it thoroughly.

As well they should. It is magnificent.

Catastrophic Disappearance

The wise men saw the star in the East

Proclaiming the King of the Jews.

Six hundred years in the waiting,

Since their Daniel prepared the way.

Yet the star, which guided the wise men

Directly to the place where the young child was,

Was absent earlier. Hence, their disastrous visit

To mad King Herod.

This is one of those uncomfortable moments

Where the reader wonders . . .

Did the star vanish simply

So the prophecies may be fulfilled?

Out of Egypt I have called my son and

In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation.

And if so, with so much precision,

Why could the prophecies not have been

For good

And not for ill?

Perhaps because the story of Jesus

Is a story of a foreigner, of grief

But also worship, successful quest,

Miraculous provision, invitations

Accepted,

Rejected.

Perhaps the star’s catastrophic disappearance

Accurately foreshadows much of the whole story.