Music appreciation was a required course for individuals seeking a Bachelor of Arts during my college days. We listened to many of the greats, Mozart, Beethoven, Hayden, and several others. For relaxation and to rest my ears from the typical music that is filled with words, especially when the religious station is devoting time to talking with callers about local, state, and national politics, I often listen to contemporary symphony music played in the mornings on a local university radio station. Monday, as I tuned in to listen to the classics or newer classical music, I thought about the symphonia of the Christian’s life. Symphonia is the Greek word from which the word symphony is derived. I decided to do a little research and see if the movement structure in symphonies could represent the Christiam life. What you are about to read is my explanation and I offer it to you for your meditation today.
In the First Stage of a symphony, there is a structure that balances both drama and coherence. In of your life as a Christian, you established a balance between the drama of being saved from the penalty of sin and you reached a level of coherence that in order to go through your life living holy to the best of your ability, you would have to depend upon Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Also, as a lot of energy is expressed in the First Stage of a symphony, the initial, on-fire for the Lord impetus is very energetic and observable.
In the Second Stage of a symphony does not have as much energy as the First Stage. There is a theme, a contrast to the theme, and a return to the theme. Doesn’t this remind you of the Second Stage of the symphonia of your life? You started with a theme that suggested that nothing was going to stop you, nothing was going to steal your joy, and you declared you were on the battlefield until you died. Then there were happenings in your life that were in stark contrast with your initial theme, and even though your trend line showed upward movement, there were many contrasting dips where you were off the narrow path of righteousness. You didn’t worry, however. Instead, you got back to your initial theme and continued to press on toward the mark, committed to the climb. Thank God for His grace and His mercy, as well as His guidance to higher ground.
The Third State of a symphony is typically like a dance, faster, and with a burst of energy. In the Third Stage of your symphonia through life, you really have stepped up your game as a follower, a disciple of Christ. You start feeling the joy dancing through your bones, rejoicing in the fact that you can say, “I’m saved!”
The Fourth Stage of a symphony is the finale. There is a satisfying sense of closure. As this relates, in my mind, to the Fourth Stage of your symphonia, it is where regardless of crisis, chronological age, condition, circumstance, a feeling of coursing exhilaration and certain triumph cannot be hidden! You know for certain at this stage of your Christian symphonia that because of the amazing grace that saved you, an eternity awaits you!
My friend, keep the faith as you go through your symphonia of life, for in the finale, whenever it comes, it will be the time you will spend an eternity in a place where joys will never cease. Have a good day! Be blessed!
”All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead. And God has reserved for his children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.” (I Peter 1:3-4 The Living Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King