Saturday, October 9, 2010

Prelude 2 in C minor, Unexpected Gifts

Last week a much anticipated parcel arrived safely in my doorstep graced with that beautiful amazon logo that I love so very much. Ah amazon, you undo me.

In the spirit of disclosure, the little bit of joy housed within the nondescript little cardboard walls on my stoop was purchased AFTER my vow of amazon abstinence. Fail. Thank you, God, for mercy and forgiveness!

I know that at this point you, reader, are simply bursting with anticipation and curiosity so I'll tell you what it was. This little unassuming bit of brown wonder contained Mr. J. S. Bach's "The Well Tempered Clavier" (books 1 & 2) or "Das Wohltemperierte Klavier" as we say in the Biz ("Sarah, no one says that!"-the Bonafide members of the Biz). Since then, I've been a bit of a kid in a candy store because, to my way of thinking, few things are as exciting as new music.

Whether you're a musician or an audience member; a novice or a master; a concert pianist or a girl who sits in her room playing the piano in her pajamas with hair still dripping (and, haha, no the piano is NOT in my pajamas), you simply must spend some significant time in your life experiencing classical music. There is so little modern music that can compare with it in terms if depth, subtlety, creativity, intelligence, and full sensory delight. Not to turn you off with my hyper artsy geekiness, but there are times when I've listened to a piece of music and honestly thought, "That is my soul written in sound." It's a truly beautiful experience that not even the illustrious Kelly Clarkson can emulate.

And I don't mean contemporary classical music, but that rich, dusty stuff with beautiful, fascinating names like: 2nd Piano Concerto in C# Minor, Invention #8, or Prelude 2 in C minor. I've always secretly thought that truly magnificent classical music must have a boring name. Only the pansy composers have to give their music fruity names like "Song of the Lark" or "Claire de Lune" (What, Debussey?! Pshhh).

It was actually the third of these, Prelude 2 in C minor, that I was fiddling with this morning. A great piece, friends, I'm a sucker for a minor key. As I was gracefully working my way through, stomping and chanting "Wuh-uhn-ee-ee-aah-and-uh-uh! Wuh-uhn-ee-ee-aah-and-uh-uh!" as if my life depended on it, God popped into my had and dropped me a little unexpected present, as He always does. I tell you truly, the greatest gifts of your life nearly always come without warning and from unexpected quarters.

I realized, as I was playing, that I was never going to play this song for an audience (you're welcome), yet the desire, even need, to learn it and perfect it was still so very strong. God asked me why I thought this was as He nudged me toward the gift He had prepared for me. I realized that there are things that our Father has written into our souls, passions and gifts, for no other purpose than the pleasure of watching us exercise them.

Certainly these are often practical gifts that are meant for the edification of the body of Christ, but I truly believe that, like any Father, His real delight is in watching us play with the toys He's given us and learning to use them well, creating lovely things that we can be proud of.

I'm reminded of the building of the tabernacle in Exodus. I can imagine the all-star list of Israel's greatest crafstmen coming together to create beautiful things to house the presence of God. He did not need that. Why would the artist who sculpted the solar system, who created the musical scale, who paints a new sunrise every single morning, who created RHYME, need a few men to build a house for Him, a petty little shack compared to His throne room in heaven? We are created to honor God with the gifts He has given us, but we are designed to do so with JOY!

What a beautiful and unexpected gift indeed!

In Him
Sarah Elizabeth
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.2

1 comment:

  1. I like this. And I like you. You made me laugh and you got me thinking. Miss you, friend! We really will talk soon!

    ReplyDelete