A few weeks ago I went to the local United Church to photograph the Community Messiah Sing. I’ve never heard the entire Messiah, so I thought it might be interesting to stay through it all, so I did.

Two or three things happened that really got me thinking about how religion, and in this case Christianity, works on the mind. The Messiah, of course, is beautiful and majestic. I wondered what the difference was between listening to and enjoying it and enjoying any other opera about the supernatural. After all, Richard Wagner wrote about gods and goddesses in both Das Rheingold and Gotterdammerung, the early operas of the 1600s were about gods and goddesses, and even Gilbert and Sullivan got in on the act with Thespis.

The difference was obvious - most of the people at the Messiah sing, I would assume, would feel that what they were listening to was about real, factual, actual events, people, angels and Gods. Christianity believes its mythology is real, or at least many Christians do, and that is its undoing when the mythology contradicts facts.

Then there was this other mind game that happened. The afternoon was cloudy and dark, with a strong wind. It was nearing sundown as the sing approached its climax in the "Hallelujah Chorus." I was sitting with a friend in the very back pew in the left corner of the church. Diagonally across from me there was a large window looking off to the west. I could see the black clouds blowing across the horizon where the hidden sun was setting.

When the chorus got to the "Then Shall the Eyes of the Blind Be Opened" part, the clouds really did open for several seconds and a beam of sunlight came in the window and directly on to my face. It wasn’t even shining on the person next to me. Seventy-five people in the church, and I alone get hit by the ray of light. Even my friend noticed and commented on it. Considering the music, it was ironic beyond words. I also knew that if I was religious-minded, that would certainly have been seen as a Sign from God. I would have known beyond all doubt that God was trying to tell me, well it was a little vague exactly what, but certainly He was trying to tell me something, and I’m also certain that I would have figured out just exactly what, given a little time and thought. If I’d been so inclined.

What I did get out of it was an idea for my first blog.

One other quick note. I was surprised to see a beautiful young woman I’ve known for years there, a soprano soloist during the performance. I live in a small community, and I love the unknown talents I find in people I see in my day to day life. It wasn’t a surprise that she was a great singer. She comes from a multi-talented family. Her father is the famed graphic novelist Rick Veitch (www.rickveitch.com/) and her uncle the singer/songwriter Michael Veitch (http://michaelveitch.com/), both old friends of mine from high school.

After the performance she introduced me to her boyfriend. How different from the Kingdom Hall, I thought. In the world of Jehovah’s Witnesses she’d not be singing soprano solos in front of the congregation, she’d be meeting with the elders in front of a judicial committee in the back room!

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