Broken Piano Strings
Every person is born the same, but from the moment we take our first breath everything changes and our lives diverge from one another. The use of the word 'privilege' has become so over used in our lexicon that is waters down the very many things that make up who a person is and what they become.
Its often said that people are like canvas's, but lately I've begun to view a person more like a piano. With a canvas, you can't ever undo or change was what done, the best you can do is try and hide or modify, but you can never truly undo. With a piano, it is constant need of tuning and practice. No person can ever reach a point where they no longer need to practice and no instrument arrives at a place where it no longer needs tuning. It is that constant attention and practice that keeps both musician and device in harmony. If a concert pianist sat down at something which had not been tuned in fifty years, their music wouldn't sound nearly as magnificent as if they attempted to do so as one that was perfectly cared for.
Many things can affect both the natural skill of the pianist as well as the sound of the piano. A pianist can be naturally talented or the result of years of extraordinary practice. They can be gifted with long 'piano fingers' or short round ones that can barely span the octive. There is the soul and emotion that is translated into the music; the passion or heartbreak that seeps through! And even all this can vary by the day, the moment. One performance will never perfectly match another. It is the same with the instrument. Weather can affect the wood, the tension on the strings varies, as does the care given to maintenance and use. A piano missing half its keys will undoubtedly produce less beautiful music than one with full capabilities.
How does this pertain to a person? As people we are constantly given the choice to practice, to improve, to maintain. Some of us have been gifted in ways others can only dream of, while others of us make it to where we do thanks to diligent effort and tenacity while yet others never master the basics. This is not a fixed thing either, all of these change on daily basis depending on our motivation, mood, and overall standing in life. Situations surrounding our lives affect the overall sound as well. Sometimes we can be playing the most beautiful song, and something comes along and makes a key stick so that the note no longer plays. Or perhaps they it that same key so many times eventually the string breaks and that note no longer produces a sound and never will. In these situations even the most perfectly executed chord has a bad sound or an incomplete melody.
In my own life, there are situations that have caused words, perfectly common words to have the sound of someone hitting a flat or a sharp as the idea is missed entirely on me. This is another example of how even with our best efforts, the life we have lived has caused irreparable changes to our music. Is it any less than another? Not necessarily, but it does cause us to have to adjust the songs we can play and the outcome we expect from it. Sometimes the most beautiful melodies have the most somber feel and are the ones that move us the most. In our brokenness, sometimes we find the truest notes.
Its often said that people are like canvas's, but lately I've begun to view a person more like a piano. With a canvas, you can't ever undo or change was what done, the best you can do is try and hide or modify, but you can never truly undo. With a piano, it is constant need of tuning and practice. No person can ever reach a point where they no longer need to practice and no instrument arrives at a place where it no longer needs tuning. It is that constant attention and practice that keeps both musician and device in harmony. If a concert pianist sat down at something which had not been tuned in fifty years, their music wouldn't sound nearly as magnificent as if they attempted to do so as one that was perfectly cared for.
Many things can affect both the natural skill of the pianist as well as the sound of the piano. A pianist can be naturally talented or the result of years of extraordinary practice. They can be gifted with long 'piano fingers' or short round ones that can barely span the octive. There is the soul and emotion that is translated into the music; the passion or heartbreak that seeps through! And even all this can vary by the day, the moment. One performance will never perfectly match another. It is the same with the instrument. Weather can affect the wood, the tension on the strings varies, as does the care given to maintenance and use. A piano missing half its keys will undoubtedly produce less beautiful music than one with full capabilities.
How does this pertain to a person? As people we are constantly given the choice to practice, to improve, to maintain. Some of us have been gifted in ways others can only dream of, while others of us make it to where we do thanks to diligent effort and tenacity while yet others never master the basics. This is not a fixed thing either, all of these change on daily basis depending on our motivation, mood, and overall standing in life. Situations surrounding our lives affect the overall sound as well. Sometimes we can be playing the most beautiful song, and something comes along and makes a key stick so that the note no longer plays. Or perhaps they it that same key so many times eventually the string breaks and that note no longer produces a sound and never will. In these situations even the most perfectly executed chord has a bad sound or an incomplete melody.
In my own life, there are situations that have caused words, perfectly common words to have the sound of someone hitting a flat or a sharp as the idea is missed entirely on me. This is another example of how even with our best efforts, the life we have lived has caused irreparable changes to our music. Is it any less than another? Not necessarily, but it does cause us to have to adjust the songs we can play and the outcome we expect from it. Sometimes the most beautiful melodies have the most somber feel and are the ones that move us the most. In our brokenness, sometimes we find the truest notes.
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