Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
A virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,
And will call Him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
When I was growing up in Phoenix, Arizona, we attended the Phoenix Central Church. Housed in an old sanctuary near the downtown area, the church congregation was young and vibrant – never more so than in the area of music.
Dr. James Bursey was a medical doctor and a musician extraordinaire. In the summer of my eleventh year, Dr. Bursey approached my mother with a copy of the Messiah and suggested I might “play around with the accompaniment” as a summer project. My piano teacher was always giving me something to “play around with,” so I attacked the Messiah accompaniment with great vigor. My hands have always been tiny, and the chords were very big, so a little ingenuity went in to making it all work.
By Christmas of my 12th year, I felt like I was ready. Dr. Bursey asked me to begin playing for the Messiah choir rehearsals, and I did so with great pride and a little trepidation. For the next ten years or so, I accompanied every Messiah rehearsal, even when Dr. Bursey moved to the new church in Scottsdale. While I played the music, my heart absorbed the text. To this day, I can quote long passages from the book of Isaiah, because I learned them in Messiah rehearsals. All I have to do is think of the music, and the text flows through my soul like a mighty river.
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