“Indherred, the country church where I was baptized and nurtured in the faith, with its lovely spire presiding over the surrounding countryside, was a cultural center as well as a place of worship. It actually had its own orchestra and choir, performed the Messiah every year, and so on. This is important for me not only because it indicates that culture was vital to the faith I learned, but also because in my later years I have come more and more to realize that my Christology and view of the atonement probably owe as much to the hearing of Handel’s Messiah – the actual performance – as any other single source. For weeks and months before the performances – in which eventually I also participated and sometimes soloed—the parsonage rang with practices and rehearsals. I am sure that it helped to shape that which people today would like to call my ‘spirituality.’”[1]
“The recently deceased John Chancellor, sagacious news analyst and commentator, is said to have remarked once that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans!”[2]
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[1] Gerhard Forde, “The One Acted Upon,” dialog 36:1 (Winter 1997) 54.
[2] Forde, 61.