Orchestra
Each week during the summer in Colorado, Vail and surrounding areas offer musical venues that will provide a variety of sounds that will tickle the ears, soothe your soul or even make you move a little while you are listening to them. This past week my husband and I and daughter and son in law got to go hear the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, a company noted for their precision, power and soul. They performed at the Gerald Ford Amphitheater in Vail.
I am not much of a music connoisseur, so I was really along for the outdoor adventure, fellowship and the picnic that we packed. The performance highlighted a composer named Carlos Simon who has titled his piece “Fate Now Conquers” and he refers to it as a musical conversation inspired by a journal entry in Beethoven's notebook in 1815 referencing fate. In this composition Simon, "has composed musical gestures that are representative of the unpredictable ways of fate....and the uncertainty of life."
As I sat there listening and watching the totally energized and fun conductor and the white jacket ensemble he was conducting, it was amazing to see how precisely the timing was, the strict attention to detail, and the conformity of the various sections of music were. It was a perfected sound of the blended instruments. It was the artful creativity of the composer, Jaap van Zweden who had the conversation of song in his head and put it to paper. But then it was the individual talents who read the music and with much practice, put it to sound with their selected instruments. But it was the conductor, who had to interpret the composers’ intent, and coordinate the players and their instruments. He had to direct each note, each section, and know the precise timing for the composition to be constructed and completed.
“Each instrument of the orchestra had its own voice but plays in harmony with the whole. Despite the size or power of an instrumental section, no one group lords it over the others. Each needs the other because no one group incarnates the full meaning of the composition.” Written by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J.
I became entranced with each composition, and as I watched the various components of the orchestra, it occurred to me that this could be a reflection of how the world is suppose to work. There is only one composer….God. And it is Christ, our conductor, who God has given the authority and gifted understanding to of each of the talents of his ensemble.
We each are instruments in this world that God uses for His glory. We too have a voice, in our everyday life and our daily walk. We are called to train and practice and learn how to use those precious gifts for not only the glory of God’s kingdom, but for the love and support of our world of family, friends and those who God has put on our path. As we play out life, Jesus, God's conductor, has his eyes on you and I. And if we watch carefully, he will point his baton directly at us to tell us it is our turn to play our part in unison.
This concert was a reminder to me that when I am unsettled, or get angry or am self centered in my thinking that it doesn’t just effect me but it effects a whole other group of people who God has called me to be in sync with. We are all a part of something much greater than ourselves and in this crazy world we are called to be an instrument of grace and love and goodness, and serve others.
God has got a plan for each of us…we are seated in his kingdom ensemble for his purposes, and we are blessed, so blessed to be called to be part of his orchestra. Praise God for continuing to compose a lasting story for each of us. Amen
speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
Praise God wherever you are or whatever situation he has allowed you to be in...for his Glory will shine through!
