"'Comfort ye, my people,' saith your God." And with that, one of humanity's crowning achievements in inspirational music gets underway. Who couldn't use some comfort as we approach the winter solstice? Maybe that's why Messiah, which was written for Easter and first performed in April, has become so inseparably associated with Christmas. You know it; you love it. Like many oratorios, George Handel's 1741 masterpiece uses a technique called text painting, in which the score reinforces individual lyrics. That's why the line "Ev'ry valley shall be exalted," for example, sounds so ... exalted. Christ Lutheran's production will be conducted by Anne Lyman and highlights professional soloists and instrumentalists. If you'd rather wait till Thursday the 18th, you can catch the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra playing the whole blessed thing at St. Charles Borreomo in Tacoma. Alternate suggestion: you could lend your voice to Oly's Messiah Sing-Along at the Washington Center in downtown Olympia Dec. 22. My wife and I will be in the choir for that production, which features the Olympia Chamber Orchestra and Anna's Bay Chorale. Rejoice greatly!

MESSIAH SING-A-LONG, 2 p.m. Christ Lutheran Church, 8211 112th St. SW, Lakewood, $10 suggested donation, 253.581.0331