This Friday evening, December 13, 2013 (oh, what was I thinking), there will be yet another Sing-along Messiah in the District of Columbia.  If you watch the newspapers around here, you know that during the Advent season, that if you like to sing George F. Handel’s great work Messiah, you have four or five opportunities each weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So why would I bother to fill the airwaves with news about this one?

Because — on Friday evening, December 13, 2013, at the Capitol Hill Baptist Church at 7:30 pm. — I will sing publicly for the first time since my surgery.  Thursday, December 12, will be 12 weeks since that surgery;  Friday, December 13, is the fourth anniversary of my baptism.

Well, that makes for an auspicious day, doesn’t it?  But maybe God doesn’t put as much importance on anniversary dates as I do…or maybe He does.

Here is what I know on this snowy Monday:  I am so grateful to be here, writing this, living into this anniversary and yet another opportunity to sing the great texts Handel included in his famous musical statement of faith.  I am grateful for all those who loved and supported me through this event in my life; I am grateful for those who continue to walk through it with me (as I know that the recovery is not yet complete).

And I am grateful and humbled that God saw fit to keep for His use the gift of music in my life.  And I will be joyed to sing once again the greatest words I ever have a chance to sing, the words of Isaiah 40:9:

Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;[a]
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,[b]
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”

And from Isaiah 40:11:

He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.

Because in the last year, I have personally experienced both aspects of God’s love.

When:       December 13, 2013 at 7:30 pm
Where:     Capitol Hill Baptist Church
                     525 A Street NE, Washington, DC
Cost:          FREE