Faith and Spirituality – Page 59 – watercress words by Dr Aletha

“He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!”

depiction of Christ on the cross — a church in Cuenca, Ecuador, photo by Dr Aletha

“But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.”

Isaiah 53, NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ornate altar in a church — altar in a Zanzibar church, by Dr Aletha

Jennens and Handel- musical collaborators

“Charles Jennens (1700-1773) was a wealthy English landowner and friend of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). He was a a patron of the arts, skilled in music, literature, and the Bible, so he collaborated with Handel on some of his musical compositions.

Jennens gave Handel the lyrics to Messiah, verses primarily from Isaiah, Psalms, the Apostle Paul’s letters to the early church, and Revelation.

Messiah tells the story of Christ’s coming, His victory over sin and death, His defeat of His enemies, victorious return to earth and establishment of His kingdom, and the believer’s victory over death through His resurrection.”

adapted from Handel’s Messiah at doctrine.org

Did you know Handel’s father Georg was a physician, a barber-surgeon? Find out here

Why Handel’s Messiah Is More Than a Christmas Classic

Did you know Handel’s “Messiah,” usually linked to Christmas, was originally intended for Easter, drawing from Old and New Testament scriptures. Tdditionally, Handel’s father was a barber-surgeon, medieval surgeons also cut hair.

by Aletha Cress Oglesby, M.D. April 20, 2019April 3, 2025

sharing the HEART of faith, hope, and love

Dr. Aletha

Join me in listening to RETURN a Lent devotional on the Dwell Bible app.(this is an affiliate link that helps this blog share the HEART of health).

Far from being rigid or legalistic, Lent is an invitation into the transformation of God’s renewing presence. It reminds us…that we can always return to the Lord and there find our true home and place of lasting peace.
RETURN, Dwell Bible app

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Wycliffe Bible

Charity is patient, it is benign; charity envieth not, it doeth not wickedly, it is not blown [it is not in-blown with pride],

it is not covetous [of worships], it seeketh not those things that be his own [it seeketh not those things that be her own], it is not stirred to wrath, it thinketh not evil,

it joyeth not on wickedness, but it joyeth together to truth; [it joyeth not in wickedness, forsooth it joyeth together with truth;]

it suffereth all things, it believeth all things, it hopeth all things, it sustaineth all things.

The Wycliffe Bible

“More than two centuries before the King James Version came into existence, Oxford professor and theologian John Wycliffe undertook the first-ever English translation of Scripture. The hand-printed “Early Version” of the Wycliffe Bible, which first appeared in 1382, offered a literal translation of the Latin Vulgate. It was the first time the common people had access to Scripture in their language in more than 1,300 years.

By 1395, Wycliffe’s friend John Purvey had amended the often-unwieldy translation into a “Later Version,” which was easier to read but kept much of the poetry of the Early Version. This version, known today as the Wycliffe Bible, was widely distributed throughout England – all more than half a century before Gutenberg invented his printing press.” from BibleStudyTools.com