C.S. Lewis writes “If all experienced God in the same way and returned Him an identical worship, the song of the church triumphant would have no symphony, it would be like an orchestra in which all the instruments played the same note.”
Is it any wonder that God made us all differently? So, who sets the bar on the protocol on the way we worship then? It shouldn’t be anyone other than God, Himself. “When jealousies, suspicions and competition infiltrate our lives, we are living by our standards, not God’s and we drone on.” ~ a loose interpretation of something read in “Come Away my Beloved.” Think about it for a second – the voice of complaint is a never-ending sour note through our lives right to the ears of God.
As a child (4th grade), I wanted to play the violin, so I tried out. I don’t honestly remember what the tryout entailed, but I lost out to my best friend Carol. She was more musically gifted – they at least had a piano in their house! Somehow, my parents came up with the idea of a guitar; I don’t even think I knew what one was! My first guitar wasn’t all that expensive – I use to say it must have been made out of balsa wood – it was really lightweight and it had steel knives for strings! I practiced that thing constantly until my fingers bled and in frustration at not getting a particular “piece” right, I’d bite it. Ok, remember I was in 4th grade! I can’t imagine what went through my guitar teacher’s mind when he’d get my guitar to tune it and see the bite marks around its edges!! Ok, that was a tangent….
Initially I would practice scales, and then move on to one song. Every day for a week it was the same thing, scales and the one song – only the notes. It was boring until I mastered those notes. Then I’d try to sing the song (Row your boat, Twinkle Little Star) again another tangent, but just so you know, I’m NOT a singer either! Finally, after months on the notes, I was taught the chords and when put all together it was finally “music.” By this time I was in 6th grade and I was taking group lessons, so some of us played the notes and others played the chords and we thought we sounded pretty good! (Linda – do you remember this?) J
Our lives mirror that lesson. We all have notes that need to be learned first and then as we master those lessons, we get our instructions on the chords of life. It might take some of us to age 55 and beyond to finally get to play the intended concert, but it isn’t about the age. It is ALL about the practice. God can’t use us until we can play His melody!
My guitar (a newer model #4 in fact) sits collecting dust with its steel strings waiting to devour my uncalloused fingertips once again. I am woefully out of practice, because I’ve let other things come between the time I should be “playing” and in doing so, I will have to start over and refresh my memory. Sometimes I wonder if I would still bite the guitar in frustration?!! L
The lesson I learned this much later in life though is to enjoy the lessons as well as the practice and wait patiently. God fine tunes each of His instruments. What might be your place in his orchestra? Are you a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal jarring His ear with complaints or have you been shaped into melodious instrument playing His Masterpiece?
Looking up! ~ Barb
PS…..On my bucket list -I now want to learn to play the piano – any teachers out there?
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