19: The world, in solemn stillness, lay to hear the angels sing...

Sometimes I will pose thought-provoking questions to myself. Like, "If you could hop on a flight to anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?" or "Erin, why did you eat so much?"

One of my favorites that I like to ask myself and other people is, "If you could time-travel to any moment in history, which would you choose?" I have a hard time settling on just one answer, but always in my top 5 is the night of Christ's birth. I envy the shepherds who were able to listen to the angel of the Lord bringing them "good tidings of great joy" and hear the heavenly hosts proclaiming "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." I would love to know how that angelic choir sounded.

I think Handel may have felt the same way, and his Messiah oratorio probably comes closer than any other music out there in recreating those joyous strains. The first time I went to a Messiah sing along was my sophomore year in college. The second time was two nights ago with my mom and Dallin. We went to the annual performance held at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in DC. We were in line for 2 1/2 hours in the cold, but it was worth the wait. It was amazing to sing the Hallelujah chorus with 2,000+ other people. At one point, the conductor told the audience "Whether or not you are a believer, it is still one of the greatest stories ever told."

During the intermission, I wanted to go over some of the choral parts that were coming up in the second half, so I started digging around through my purse. Dallin asked what I was looking for. "My tuning fork," was my answer. "Really, you carry a tuning fork in your purse?" It was only then it occurred to me that a tuning fork might be an odd thing to carry in your purse. Dallin, you didn't marry a history, engineering, or exercise science major. You married a music major--deal with it.