MINISTERS MUSINGS

July Musing

THE MUSIC of LIFE

As this season of ‘The Proms’ gets under way many would agree that a world without music would be a dull place indeed. One of the longest running and most popular radio programmes is Desert Island Discs, where a well known person is allegedly marooned on a desert island with only eight records. Some may choose anything from Beethoven’s 5th symphony to heavy metal. Others are much more predictable and often include some well loved music.

Life is really a bit like a symphony with several different movements. Some passages are rapid and vibrant, perhaps reflecting our early days when we are full of vigour, ambition and hope. Other passages are more tranquil but still move apace which mirrors our middle and later years, while the slower parts foreshadow the Autumn of our lives. Mostly the big orchestral works end with a triumphant flourish and that says something to us as well, particularly if we are Christians with the hope of resurrection.

However well written no music is worth listening to unless it is played as written ( not like Eric Morcambe who protested to Andre Previn that he was playing all the right notes of the piano concerto, but in a different order.) All the instruments too must be in tune. Listening to an orchestra tuning up makes an interesting prelude to the music. The oboe sounds a clear, unambiguous A and all other instruments tune from that one true note. How like life that is. We all need a standard ‘note’ to tune into if we are to live as God intended us to. He provided us with His Son Jesus to set an absolute standard for us. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Finally of course there is the conductor to direct and combine all the players to make one glorious, combined sound. That is what God is. He is the divine conductor and as each individual player in an orchestra submits to the directions of the conductor, so must we submit to God who is the true Maestro, if we are to achieve our potential. Yes, life is just like a symphony.