Perspective from the 19th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write. I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie. And it is where you want to be on a golf course.
As I write this on Christmas Day 2025, I reflect on another great evening last night when, with friends, we attended a Christmas Eve service at our church here in Salem, Oregon.
The service always ends with singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.
As tradition goes, persons from the audience are asked to come to the platform to sing the chorus if they know how to read music and have sung the chorus before.
It’s good that I sit in my chair because I cannot sing as lick.
So, I prepare to listen and, then as the choir start singing, I join all others in the audience to stand up. That’s what you do when the Messiah is sung and played.
If I happen to play the music while driving in my car, of course I cannot stand up, but I do so in my head because that’s what the chorus deserves – a standing ovation.
Here are the words from the chorus:
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
(For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth)
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth
(Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah)
Hallelujah
The kingdom of this world;
is become the kingdom of our Lord,
and of His Christ
and of His Christ
And He shall reign forever and ever
And he shall reign forever and ever
And he shall reign forever and ever
And he shall reign forever and ever
King of kings forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah
and Lord of lords forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah
King of kings forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah
and Lord of lords forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah
King of kings forever and ever hallelujah hallelujah
and Lord of lords
King of kings and Lord of lords
And he shall reign
And he shall reign
And he shall reign
He shall reign
And he shall reign forever and ever
King of kings forever and ever
and Lord of lords hallelujah hallelujah
And he shall reign forever and ever
King of kings and Lord of lords
King of kings and Lord of lords
And he shall reign forever and ever
Forever and ever and ever and ever
(King of kings and Lord of lords)
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah
Okay, it’s better to hear the chorus than to read the lyrics. But, if you persevere, as you read the words, they can draw you closer to Christ.
And that’s one of the basic purposes of Christmas, which commemorates the birth of the Christ-child.
So, on this Christmas day, read the words again remember the “real reason for the season.”
Accept the free gift of salvation.
Perspective from the 19th Hole 