Glorify Thy Name

There Are Words to Say

There are Words to Say

The day has broke
Who knows what it holds,
Who knows all events we may face-
We hope to live our routines,
Say the usual things
And on our pillows tonight we lay.

Yet, my friend,
Who really knows
What moment may change a day,
Take hold of the infinite,
In the finite you have,
For There are Words to Say.

No one knows,
When death may call
Nor when life will see its last day,
No one knows,
When life will pivot on a second
And silence the words to say.

Reach in your soul,
And let the walls collapse,
Release all fears and pride’s face,
Grasp firm to your heart
And the wonder of Pure Love,
Time’s short -- And there are words to say.

EJL

Morning Has Broken - (Piano Solo) Great Smoky Mountains Fall Sunrise

An Approach to the Piano

Playing with the consistency of a metronome is necessary when communicating or working with other musicians. It, however, is not how the average person, or the person who is just listening for enjoyment, usually measures the music. Each note has the potential of being the one that needs to be savored, enjoyed, thought about, or focused on within a stretched moment. Most people do not know all the words to each song, but they may, however, know the feelings and emotions associated with a particular tune of melody. This is how I hope a person will listen to my music. My hope is that my selection of notes, whether few or many, fast or slow, and the unique placement of them, will bring maybe just one moment of peace, reflection, or encouragement.

So what do legalism and grace have to do with piano music? It is in this light that I see the metronome much like that of the laws of the Old Testament. The laws of the Old Testament provided a guide for living for those who lived by the law. The metronome provides a guide for the musician to play the notes at their time. Yet, by faith in Christ, I live under Grace. I see the metronome and love it as a guide. I love how it gives me a guide of what it is to play a song with exact perfection. Yet I live by a higher standard for something greater than a perfectly lived life can know (Matthew 5:20). Grace has set me free to live my life as a relationship with Christ. In such a way I am free to play the piano with conviction and by faith. As such, I am held to a higher standard. I must be disciplined and not lazy and slack in my faith just as I should be with playing the piano. I must learn from daily work and living so that when faced with opportunities that try my faith or opportunities to perform praise, I am seasoned with a daily walk, ready for the moment.

I also must know that the notes previously carried out with diligence may in fact be wrong if played now just as a note of repetition. It is being lazy to just play to get to another note or point in the music. Every note, every measure, every phrase, every score must be played out of conviction and faith. Maybe it won’t be easy to put on paper so that it can be reproduced later, but neither can the conviction to pick up one’s life and move away from all that is dear to place which causes fear. One moves by faith, one plays by faith, leaving behind the old way, the necessary basic rudimentary actions to a level of spiritual flying. One flies above languages, culture and time into the realm of harmonic stimulation of the mind that reaches deep into the soul causing and isolation from the sources of anxiety and fear and a rejuvenation of what God wants us to always remember: we are not alone or abandoned, nor overwhelmed, just passing through and needing to focus on the One who gives comfort and strength in the irregularities of life, just as in the irregularities of the music.

Piano keys are a lot like people. Each one has a unique personality (tone) and can be either soft and reserved or boisterous and loud. Some notes, as people, just naturally get along or sound better when played together. Others, however, are clearly in conflict with each other no matter what volume is played. In that situation one note may try to be louder in order to dominate the other, but in the end it is just more noise and not music. The only way any music will ever be made is if each note relinquishes any resistance to being played and does not look to become another note it finds more attractive. If then, placed at the hands of the Master, each note is played at the time of necessity and at the appropriate volume, then the music will flow. Even notes with a natural disdain for each other will sound brilliant played together in combination with those before or after, or with a crucial third note which blends them sweetly into the music.

So it is with Christ, I believe. If I relinquish my desire to be heard as an individual, then the music He can make through me will be overwhelming. I am not working with Him. I am not working for Him. My desire is to be His extension of a Master’s control at this spot, this moment, this life, ready to serve in sound...or silence. Whatever His choosing may bring. The music must be as unique as I believe each Christian’s walk with Christ must be unique.

Eric J. Littleton, M.D.

Filters and Fillers

Filters in Pictures
Filters in Music
What is the fascination with the Hipstamatic camera app?
A fuzzy, hazy, replica of the original picture?
Why is that interesting?

It is the interpretation of the original that holds the appeal -

If a person wants to see (or hear) the original
then simply get the original, however -

As a filter changes a picture by its nature
So a person's life will change a piece of music is performed
What shadows does it cause?
What pauses does the performer use?
What contrasts can be seen?
What volumes are used?
Black and white?
Red? Blue? Mist?

That's the appeal -

What does the music do to you, but -
What do you do to the music?

No. 1

First blog. Whole new world out there. Tough to think without ink on my hands. EJL