Three weeks ago I sat in Gantner Concert Hall at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire witnessing a performance of the Hallelujah Chorus of The Messiah. At its apex, the audience stood in reverence and austere appreciation. Last night I entered the Oakwood Mall food court to the sound of the Eau Claire community band performing a Christmas concert, making its way through, yes, the Hallelujah Chorus, right there in the middle of hundreds of crowded cafeteria tables, Sbarro, Taco Bell, and Orange Julius strewn everywhere, baby strollers, winter jackets, and public garbage cans dotting the congested landscape. Folks periodically glanced up from their plates of sesame chicken, then ducked back into eating, the sound of gnashing teeth mingling with brass, woodwinds, and percussion in mid-air. I don't know what this means, or if it needs to mean anything. It's something, though. It reminds me of the epiphanic end to a Herman Hess novel, and it lures me into loving humanity.
