“Ouch!” I exclaimed with a sigh, “That’s one painful sounding chord; it also must be my one hundred and tenth mistake.”
My latest piano book had some beautiful songs in it, but my blunders had a way of disguising their beauty very effectively.
Maybe I missed a flat. I checked the notes and tried once more.
“Are you sure that’s right?” Mom’s voice wafted in from the kitchen. “It sounds a little off to me.”
“I’m not sure; the note sounds all wrong, but, according to the sheet music, it’s correct. Could it be the book’s error instead of mine for a change?” I replied, somewhat frustrated, and scrutinized the page again.
Deciding to try for a less aggravating chord, I began experimenting.
Ah, so much better! I thought as I settled on the perfect chord. This piece should sound immensely better now without that error.
Much to my surprise, however, the next chord sounded completely out of place. “Whatever could be wrong?” I asked aloud. “That one was equally unpleasant.”
As I looked back at the first “inaccurate” chord, a thought occurred to me. “I wonder if…”
I replayed the offending chord and added the next one, which had previously been so out of place, and-wonder of wonders- they became totally and completely harmonious! The notes had been right all along; I had played them correctly, and the sheet music certainly wasn’t a misprint. The problem was simply that I had stopped too quickly in an effort to fix a predicament that didn’t even need fixing! If I had continued by adding the next note, the harmony would have been obvious.
Sometimes we do the same with life; as soon as a “sour note” comes our way, we begin to wonder if perhaps our life’s “sheet music” has a misprint. We wonder if God might have made a mistake this time; after all, a slip-up is bound to happen sometime, isn’t it?
What is often overlooked is that it may not be a slip-up at all. Not on God’s part, nor on ours. The “chord” is correct. The only mistake is when we get caught up in trying to fix or understand the inharmonious chord. We think we can replace it with another, only to find, as life’s song continues, that the following events will require the harsh chord in order to be in harmony.
Unfortunately, we do the same when a dissonant note sounds in someone else’s life. Instead of waiting to see what chord God may bring into play next, we try to find all the other chords that would be better suited to their song. So often Christians will try to fix another’s erroneous note that the Master knows is no error at all! Only the future will reveal the harmony that He has in mind.
Certainly, we will make mistakes; life’s song is much too complex for even the most advanced. But before we label every sour note as inaccurate, and try to replace it with our own, let’s ask the Composer; He may say to keep playing. The next notes in life’s song might harmonize with the offending ones perfectly!
2 comments:
If you were doing what I believe you were that is called the blue note, basically a note that stands out and screams sorrow, it gives a sacrifice to the bigger music so it can keep the whole song moving. Just like in life through the hard times we feel like we just can't go on, like the world will collapse around us but that blue days seem to bridge the good times, and push from one point in life to the next. It builds tension, and makes wish you knew what was next even though the fun part is never knowing what tomorrow brings.
Good insight :) Music offers many analogies to life, I think.
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