Music Lessons
Amidst the chord progressions of G-C-D, God has been infusing me with several lessons...
On strumming versus plucking...
I have always been taken with the sound of plucking; could, in fact, listen for hours to the light and hastened melodies sharpened by the playing of individual strings. But there are relatively few times when the majority of a song is played with that technique; if anything, strumming is the constant, so as to draw our attention to the seeming “interruption” of that more precise sound.
Likewise, we as Christians are surrounded with the low-lying, all-pervasive awareness of God’s goodness. And yet, it is in those defined moments, where we learn a specific attribute about Him which strikes us as altogether “new,” that our attention is riveted, not only by the complexities, but also by the sharpness of the reality which He has interposed.
On leading and logistics...
Had e-mailed a family member with comments about music:
“Strange to again (after spending the past couple of years learning to praise as a way to train my eyes ‘up’), now be going back (like during days of choir practice) to more the ‘mechanics’ of singing (ex. hitting [every note in] a run, breathing at the right interval, etc.). It's odd how God takes us through those seasons of needing to learn something personally, and then putting into practice for others that which we've been trained by.”
God patiently takes the time to teach us individually, and then, when that lesson is grounded within us, He draws it out of us for the sake of others. I had spent earlier years learning quarter notes, and later years learning that God is eternally worthy of praise. To now be back to “quarter notes” seems a backsliding -- except that one friend, also in leadership, remarked that there is an aspect about worship leading which is a form of service: that we are not necessarily participating for our own expression of praise, but for the sake of helping others to ‘enter His courts...’ (Psalm 100:4). And so, there is the knowledge that worship can sometimes take the form of communing with God directly, and sometimes, uplifting those in the Body as they enjoy fellowship with Him.
On learning harmonies...
If given the freedom during practice to pick a harmony, I will experiment. If however, I’m still shaky when it’s time to sing, I will more than likely revert to the melody I know. It doesn’t seem to matter that I’m willing to “fill out” the song; that I want to blend a harmony with the voices and instruments around me. If I’m not totally solid on the part, I can’t seem to “perform” when it’s time, and the only reason I can account for is fear.
Perhaps the frustration is a gift, to make me mindful that “the fear of man brings a snare...” (Proverbs 29:25). Perhaps it is also a grace to recall the truth of 2 Corinthians 3:5: “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God..."
On meeting “standard”...
Remember getting ready to practice one day, and concerning myself with whether I would be able to sing well; whether the songs would be worshipful, and not tarnished by any mistakes. It was then that God gently reminded me that I pleased Him just by ‘standing there.’ How it relaxed me to know that, even before I opened my mouth, He looked upon my presence as a dedication to the calling, and a willingness to be used by Him as He completes what He initiated in me (Philippians 1:6). Odd to think that ‘availability’ takes precedence over ‘ability;’ that He is pleased not with flawlessness, but faithfulness, which is revealed in the outward sign of obedience to the vocation.
On choosing one’s audience...
Colossians 3:23 makes the decision clear: “…do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” The temptation is always to evaluate one’s ability, or even one’s worth, through the lens of others’ appraisal. Having been caught in that trap, I have been returned to Ephesians 6:6 on various occasions. I am often in need of the reminder that I am not to act “by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”
If my “ambition” is truly “to be pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9), then the litmus test which measures the quality of my serving is not found in the evaluation of another creature, but in the God who ‘formed me for Himself’ (Isaiah 43:21); the One ‘for whom’ and ‘through whom’ I exist (1 Corinthians 8:6).
It was in His mind that harmony and melody were birthed, and it is in His keeping that we are brought to appreciate more fully that He has created us to highly exalt Him, who is Himself ‘our strength and our song’ (Exodus 15:1-2).
On strumming versus plucking...
I have always been taken with the sound of plucking; could, in fact, listen for hours to the light and hastened melodies sharpened by the playing of individual strings. But there are relatively few times when the majority of a song is played with that technique; if anything, strumming is the constant, so as to draw our attention to the seeming “interruption” of that more precise sound.
Likewise, we as Christians are surrounded with the low-lying, all-pervasive awareness of God’s goodness. And yet, it is in those defined moments, where we learn a specific attribute about Him which strikes us as altogether “new,” that our attention is riveted, not only by the complexities, but also by the sharpness of the reality which He has interposed.
On leading and logistics...
Had e-mailed a family member with comments about music:
“Strange to again (after spending the past couple of years learning to praise as a way to train my eyes ‘up’), now be going back (like during days of choir practice) to more the ‘mechanics’ of singing (ex. hitting [every note in] a run, breathing at the right interval, etc.). It's odd how God takes us through those seasons of needing to learn something personally, and then putting into practice for others that which we've been trained by.”
God patiently takes the time to teach us individually, and then, when that lesson is grounded within us, He draws it out of us for the sake of others. I had spent earlier years learning quarter notes, and later years learning that God is eternally worthy of praise. To now be back to “quarter notes” seems a backsliding -- except that one friend, also in leadership, remarked that there is an aspect about worship leading which is a form of service: that we are not necessarily participating for our own expression of praise, but for the sake of helping others to ‘enter His courts...’ (Psalm 100:4). And so, there is the knowledge that worship can sometimes take the form of communing with God directly, and sometimes, uplifting those in the Body as they enjoy fellowship with Him.
On learning harmonies...
If given the freedom during practice to pick a harmony, I will experiment. If however, I’m still shaky when it’s time to sing, I will more than likely revert to the melody I know. It doesn’t seem to matter that I’m willing to “fill out” the song; that I want to blend a harmony with the voices and instruments around me. If I’m not totally solid on the part, I can’t seem to “perform” when it’s time, and the only reason I can account for is fear.
Perhaps the frustration is a gift, to make me mindful that “the fear of man brings a snare...” (Proverbs 29:25). Perhaps it is also a grace to recall the truth of 2 Corinthians 3:5: “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God..."
On meeting “standard”...
Remember getting ready to practice one day, and concerning myself with whether I would be able to sing well; whether the songs would be worshipful, and not tarnished by any mistakes. It was then that God gently reminded me that I pleased Him just by ‘standing there.’ How it relaxed me to know that, even before I opened my mouth, He looked upon my presence as a dedication to the calling, and a willingness to be used by Him as He completes what He initiated in me (Philippians 1:6). Odd to think that ‘availability’ takes precedence over ‘ability;’ that He is pleased not with flawlessness, but faithfulness, which is revealed in the outward sign of obedience to the vocation.
On choosing one’s audience...
Colossians 3:23 makes the decision clear: “…do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” The temptation is always to evaluate one’s ability, or even one’s worth, through the lens of others’ appraisal. Having been caught in that trap, I have been returned to Ephesians 6:6 on various occasions. I am often in need of the reminder that I am not to act “by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”
If my “ambition” is truly “to be pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9), then the litmus test which measures the quality of my serving is not found in the evaluation of another creature, but in the God who ‘formed me for Himself’ (Isaiah 43:21); the One ‘for whom’ and ‘through whom’ I exist (1 Corinthians 8:6).
It was in His mind that harmony and melody were birthed, and it is in His keeping that we are brought to appreciate more fully that He has created us to highly exalt Him, who is Himself ‘our strength and our song’ (Exodus 15:1-2).
posted by Purple at 4:02 PM
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