Where Did My Inspiration Go

I suppose it’s the season of life that causes me to still rise early, most mornings to devote, write, read and pray.  It’s most often during these hours I sense an inspiration upon which I will immediately respond.  But of late, I also sense a type of physical, mental and spiritual exhaustion at which point I take a little nap before breakfast and my daily obligation.  Then again, about two pm I seem to loose my inspiration and feel just plain tired.  I don’t like it, even when my friends confirm and comfort me in their paralleled stories. Now maybe, it's that I've been bored this past winter that I find myself of an evening falling asleep when reading or heavy eye lids when watching news or a favorite television program. 

There has been a paperback copy of The Essential Canon of Classical Music on my self for years.  I hardly read anything in it, with exception of a time when I was comparing various music styles for a debate that was rolling within my own mind concerning modern music.  I noticed it and began leafing through one morning.  George Frideric Handel’s story captured my attention.

It informs that on February 23, 1685, the man whose music would forever inspire the world was born in Halle, Germany—ironically, to parents who desired him to become a lawyer.  But George Frideric Handel would quickly grow to be a famed composer and beloved musician.    By the time he reached his twenties, Handel was the talk of all England and Italy.  Queen Anne had him commissioned as official composer of music for state occasions.  Seats at his performances were often fought over, and his fame was quickly spreading throughout the world.

But the glory soon passed and it seemed the inspiration had left him.  Audiences dropped off; his popularity was eclipsed by newer talent.  Financial ruin, failed productions, and festering stress took their toll on the musical giant.  Weary from the strain of overwork and disappointment, Handel suffered an attack of a paralytic disorder that left his right arm crippled.  At 52, the once famed musician was now seen as invalid and obsolete.  "Handel's great days are over," wrote Frederick the Great, "his inspiration is exhausted."

But sounds of the harpsichord soon reported otherwise.  Not long after Handel withdrew to recuperate, his fingers were moved to play again and the artist set out to compose.  Nonetheless, his next two operas were altogether unsuccessful.  A charity concert he had promised to conduct in Dublin had become his only prospect for work.  Yet, given a manuscript that included the opening lines from Isaiah 40, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people," Handel was stirred to write.

On August 22, 1741, at the lowest ebb of his career, George Handel enclosed himself in a room and set to composing Messiah.  The entire oratorio was sketched and scored within three weeks.  And on April 13th, 1742, the first audience in history resounded in applause to the stirring music of Messiah, conducted by Handel himself.

The composition would become his best known, and most beloved work, unsurpassed as sacred music.  Considering the fact that Messiah was taken from both Old and New Testament Scriptures, I understand that it considers the entire human experience.  Therefore listening to it again on my recent extended drive to Quiet Rest, I have been moved in my soul from creation and hope, to exhaustion and pain, to redemption and resurrection.  Also it portrays the full range of human response to God, from holiness and hope to resignation and repentance, faith and triumph. 

Ironically, Messiah enjoyed only moderate success while Handel lived, though he performed it annually each Easter for his favorite charity.  In fact, he continued to conduct oratorio performances and revise his scores throughout the rest of his life, even in blindness the last 7 years.  Of his lasting effect on humanity, a British historian once commented, "Handel's oratorios thrive abundantly—for my part, they give me an idea of heaven, where everybody is to sing whether they have voices or not."  I'm wonder if perhaps this is the reason that audiences everywhere will stand in reverence to the last lines of his inspired work, words of inexhaustible inspiration, words befitting of a resurrected king:

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the Lord God, Omnipotent reigneth.

Hallelujah!  Thank You, heavenly Father, for Your encouragement through the life story of George Handel.  I praise You, this morning, for reminding me that You have everything under control and it is at Your will I remain mortal with all it's ramifications such as tiredness, aces and pains.  Even mental exhaustion and spiritual dryness. I confess; inspiration comes from You and I do not own it. I am committing to finish strong in the gifts You have provided me.  I ask you to continue in strengthening me in my times of just being physically, mentally or spiritually tired or exhaustion, knowing that You do all things well.  Amen