Tuning

"Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace."

I was, perhaps, fourteen years old when I attended my first orchestral concert. It was an unusual treat for me because there was only one professional orchestra in Haiti and ticket prices were steep. I was privileged to go because my older brother had taken his girlfriend to hear the orchestra two days earlier and was so impressed that he bought tickets for the repeat performance so my sister and I could also enjoy it in person.


I was not at all prepared for the cacophonous noise that was emanating from the stage when we walked in the hall some fifteen minutes before the scheduled performance. Clarinets, trumpets, cellos, drums, and oboes were all playing at the same time and it sounded awful. I could not believe that my brother wasted his precious money on such “awful” music.


Later, a short man, with a tiny violin in his hand, walked on the stage and silence invaded the room. When everything was quiet, he proceeded to play a single note and all the other instruments joined him on that note. I still doubted that anything good could really emerge from those musicians. Yet, from the time the conductor gave the downbeat to the last note of the performance, my heart soared with the beautiful music of Franck, Paganini, and Mozart which I heard that evening. It was unbelievable!


On our way home, I could not resist any longer and simply had to ask my brother why that short violinist played that single note and the others joined in. “The orchestra was tuning before the concert,” was his brief response. 


Now, over two decades later, I truly understand the meaning of that familiar ritual. Tuning is one aspect of all the preparations that make a big difference in the success of any endeavor or project. A good concert requires a great deal of preparation on the part of the performers, "behind-the-scenes" workers (family members, teachers, coaches, crew members, etc), and also the audience members. 


The performers have to refine their skills for a flawless execution, family members learn to encourage and assist the performers in every possible way, teachers and coaches train the performers to do their absolute best, crew members ensure the smooth operation of all technical elements of the production, and audience members prepare themselves to receive the musical offering with graciousness and gratitude. Without adequate preparation and the proper alignment of those different parts, however, this whole thing would collapse.


When one takes the time to adequately prepare and properly align specific tools for a job, it is called fine-tuning.  Fine-tuning is the job of the musician who looks upon all the elements of music with precision and care, ensuring that they are observed correctly. Choirs, bands, orchestras, consorts, and soloists all take a great deal of time to polish and refine every aspect of a performance before the program begins. 


Yet, even more important than fine-tuning is the actual tuning that must take place in each instrument. String players, perhaps more than any other group of musicians, spend a fair amount of time learning to tune their instruments because they are keenly aware of the ill effects of poor intonation. 


As a singer, I think of the concept of pre-phonatory tuning before each phrase. As I breathe, I make a quick mental note of the pitch I have to sing, the position of all the physical elements that contribute to efficient singing, and decide to trust them for a beautiful and meaningful vocal phrase. When I fail to do that, I run out of breath, out of tune, and out of steam.


Walking with God requires no less time, thought, energy, or preparation. We have to tune ourselves with the Lord before we can do anything worthwhile. We cannot presume to grow spiritually if we do not take the time to practice and consecrate ourselves on a regular basis. 


Joshua 1:8 says, 

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; 

meditate on it day and night, 

so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. 

Then you will be prosperous and successful." 

So, when we allot time in our busy schedules to soak ourselves in God's Word and prayer, we are tuning ourselves to pour out God’s Word into the lives of others. When we meditate on God wherever we are (in bed, in the car, at the gas station, in the classroom, and everywhere else), we are tuning ourselves to wear God’s holiness. 


For some of us, it may mean that we have to go to bed early so we can get up early the next day to invest in a quality quiet time with the Lord. For others, it may mean that bedtime should be even later than usual because they are night owls and can focus best when everyone else is asleep. The point is we all need to take the time to adjust our lives and allow God in. 


Tuning involves a keen ear and a commitment to obey the pitch of the tuning fork. In other words, if we are to tune ourselves with the Lord, we have to listen to His Word and obey what it says. And what does the Word of God say? It says in Galatians 5:14, 

“The entire law is summed up in a single command: 

'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " 

So, the believer’s true pitch is love. When we love people with all we have, we are well in tune with the Lord and we are well in tune with each other. Our lives, then, are being played beautifully in God’s symphony.


When we fail to remain connected to God, we cannot possibly love our neighbors. When we fail to love our fellow man, we are basically not tuning ourselves for what lies ahead. The performance that God has scheduled for us is one of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Without His guidance and our obedience to Him, our performance will instead become hardheartedness, unkindness, arrogance, rudeness, and impatience. 


Sometimes, temptations come and we succumb because we are not spiritually fit to resist them. As a result, we complain instead of praising God. When it feels easier to gossip about or slander the name of someone, we need to choose to recognize the positive aspects of that person and express those things instead. When all we want to do is to be lazy, we need to press on and work hard. When people wrong us and we are intent of chastising them with the truth, we need to remember that unless we can share the truth in love we are but clashing cymbals – out of tune!


So, are we in tune today? Is the music that comes out of our lives one that is harmonious, filled with the love of Christ towards our fellow brothers and sisters? As we interact with those placed on our path, can we sing tunefully as part of the sublime unison in which the baton of Christ leads us?


Savior, those spiritual traits do not materialize overnight – they take tuning, preparation, and practice. Will you please empower us and tune our hearts to sing Your grace? Help us to love You with everything we have and open our hearts so we can love others wholeheartedly. In Jesus’ name, Amen.