Disfunctional harmony

[Margaret]

As I listened to my son working on a piece of music for classical guitar it occurred to me that our flocks, like our own lives, are similar to music. Like a complicated piece of music written specifically for us we learn to respond/play through most of it well. But some sections are rough because we are still trying to respond/play correctly. Illnesses, difficulties, and unexpected problems within our flocks or within our own lives are indicative of a more complicated piece of music. For instance, the piece my son is currently working on, Usher-Waltz by Nikita Koshkin, has a chord progression that is considered functional harmony but there are unexpected, unanticipated, and unconventional harmonies that, when isolated, appear unnerving and unresolvable - they just don't make sense. It is only within the context of the whole piece that you are able to see how they work.
It is difficult to play through these times, these issues; they don't make sense. They are unnatural, unconventional, difficult, and do not seem to fit or have any foreseeable resolution. Yet within the context of our lives and the lives of our flock, within the whole, these work themselves out and add richness because of the depth of their complicated arrangement. Our flocks are made up of people and people are often very complicated.

[Margaret]

This morning I was reminded that sometimes the places in our lives can be so overwhelming, so crushing, that all we can do is pluck at the 'notes' or bang away in frustration. Maybe even simply stare at the instrument and remain paralyzed and numb at the prospects of where we are in life. Remember, at those times the Lord himself puts his own hands around us and 'plays' the sweetest, most comforting of melodies; he reminds us that he is there, that he knows what we are going through. It doesn't take him by surprise. At those times we just need to 'rest' against him and let him carry the melody himself.