the visual arts, music and dance – watercress words by Dr Aletha

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.”
Job 19:25

He is Risen-praise, honor, glory, power, king of kings-Hallelujah — graphic from LIGHTSTOCK.COM, an affiliate link

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. “
1 Corinthians 15:56-57

“Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.”

Dr. Handel and his musician son

I know families of multiple physicians, including parents, siblings, or children. My grandfather was a dentist, but he died before I was born. My sons had no interest in medicine and instead chose technology careers.

Georg Handel was a barber-surgeon in northern Germany in the 17th century. Barber-surgeons were physicians in medieval Europe who only performed surgery, often treating wounds from war injuries. Eventually, surgery and barbery became separate occupations.

His son George did not follow his father into medicine. Instead George Frideric Handel followed his HEART and studied music and eventually composed his masterpiece , Messiah, first performed in 1742, and presented countless times since then.

Modern choirs perform Messiah at Christmas, but Handel wrote it to be performed at Easter. The lyrics of the songs in Messiah explore the HEART of the Bible with passages that tell the story of God sending Jesus to earth to redeem His people.

The London Symphony Orchestra presents Handel's Messiah

Find Handel’s Messiah on iTunes.

Handel’s Messiah -Listen on Apple Music

The scripture references used in this post are used as lyrics in some of the songs from Messiah.

Dr. Aletha

A surprise flashmob

Social media created the concept of “flash mobs” although I haven’t seen as many of them posted lately. This one from 2013 is still my favorite.

I guess surprise is characteristic of a flashmob, but this one happened in an unexpected place-a hospital-and illustrates what this blog is all about-exploring and promoting the heart of health.

(This post contains affiliate links, links which pay a commission for sales made with its use)

Who was Hadassah?

The Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem is named for an Old Testament Bible character, Hadassah, whose name was later changed to Esther. Among the 66 books in the Bible, Esther is one of only two books named for women; the other is Ruth.

The story of Esther is one of the epic dramas of the Bible, full of intrigue, conflict, conspiracy, danger,risk, betrayal, discrimination and ultimate justice. As the Queen of Persia, Esther faced the choice of risking her life to save others. The story is so engaging that it has been dramatized in movies. (There is even a Veggie Tales version.)

You can read the whole story here- The Book of Esther

Who was Tchaikovsky?

The music in the video is The Waltz of the Flowers by famous Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky . If you’ve ever attended a performance of The Nutcracker during the Christmas season, you will recognize it.

I love the way this performance brought people together- the musicians, dancers, visitors, hospital staff and patients. You can feel the joy they created in a place that always needs it.

You can tell that some of the patients here are seriously ill. Perhaps they felt a sense of hope and peace and for a few moments forgot the reason they were there. Music can be therapeutic and I believe it was that day.