SYMPHONIC MOVEMENTS

Recently during the all class reunion I, a former graduate from someplace other than Chinook, was granted the privilege of marching in the alumni band for the parade. It was great fun to dust off the ol’ clarinet and play a little part in the CHS fight song. It brought back nostalgic memories of my own high school band whose amazing director took a bunch of goofball teenagers and taught us how to march in step with one another on the field and to play some of the most melodious overtures on stage.

While it was heartwarming to reminisce and joyful to celebrate Chinook grads from years gone by, my attention has been drawn to reflect on how our community has over the past couple of months delighted in some remarkable highs, but in the midst of a number of devastating lows. The whiplash can leave one reeling. Life can feel just a bit out of control. It’s all so…

…dissonant.

That’s a musical term. In essence, it can be a moment when harmony seems lacking. It’s when minor and major chords shift into uneven pitches.

One of the crowning achievements of my high school band was a composition by Vaclav Nelhybel titled, “Symphonic Movement.” It was an intense piece that took our concert band months to piece together. And piecing together it was since nobody’s part seemed to compliment anyone else’s. But our director was tenacious. “Keep your eyes on me,” he would say as he swung the baton. In other words – if we just played our part in time to his direction we would begin to hear the music, even if at times the tune sounded like the laying of nails to a chalkboard.

In so many ways we come upon symphonic movements in life. Just when we find harmony, dissonance happens. It can feel like a battle, taking months or even years to sort out as we struggle to regain rhythm. It can be hard to pick out a melody beneath all the noise. It’s those times when we experience grief in the midst of celebration or when bouts of joy hit amid trauma. It can come in the form of the demolished ruins of a home, a spouse who leaves for other pleasures, the death of an infant, a Savior suffering on a cross. There are countless ways in which life simply feels unfair and out of sync… when all is just not right with the world.

The psalmists recorded this dissonance, not in notes on a staff, but through emotion crafted through words. In Psalms 3, 4, and 5, David cries for deliverance from his enemies, relief from distress, and sighs deeply in woe. And yet, in each one of these psalms, he speaks of sleeping peacefully as his desire to control the situation is released to God whom he trusts to faithfully sustain him through the night. Within laundry lists of striving and suffering and cries for deliverance, David still finds cause to praise the One who gives him rest.

Throughout the world people experience dissonant tones that underscore the melody of life. A few measures of our lives may come out of alignment with our own desires, values, or even morals. Or maybe a few dissonant riffs may suddenly clash against the broader context of community. Whether the experience is personal or communal in nature, we can weather through these discomforting movements by not only playing our part to get out of it, but also by allowing others to play a part too. That’s how we make music together. Symphonic Movement played as a clarinet solo is nonsense. It takes an orchestra with its many moving pieces and instruments to make it musical. So don’t fall into the trap of believing you have to wrestle with dissonance alone. Instead, allow space for accompanists to gather and offer sympathy, support and prayer.

That’s why God created us to exist as a community. Our lives are a mosaic of so many pieces - some dissonant; some harmonized. But God can pull it all together in one grand symphonic melody.

So whatever may be reverberating through your life right now, know that you do not have to struggle through it alone. Seek the comfort God and others. Let them fill in so you can take a few measures of rest. If your life feels grossly imbalanced by something you have done, something that has been done, or something that has been done to you, remember the psalmist and know that in God’s symphony, there is purpose for every part. There may be cause for realignment, and your heart may cry, “Deliver me from this wreck!” but know that God will sustain you. He hears when you’ve fallen out of tune and knows there is something still worth redeeming. There’s always room for forgiveness, and in a life that’s fallen flat, there’s still something worthy of praise.

If there’s a lesson that I take away from Symphonic Movement it’s in the way our band grew from that challenging experience. Likewise, we can all grow through those jarring moments in life if we stay resolute to our parts in God’s greater orchestra. We can’t stop playing just because the music doesn’t flow like a lullaby. And if we keep our eyes on the One who desires to direct our lives, ultimately we’ll hear the music rising above the chaos.

Theresa Danley, CLP

Milk River Churches

(American Lutheran Church of Chinook, Presbyterian Church of Chinook, United Methodist Church of Chinook, First Presbyterian Church of Havre)