Faster – What Music Teaches Us About Life
Faster is not always better.
We have become a culture in love with gadgets. Most of these gadgets are assumed to make our lives better by making everything faster, thereby giving us more time.
But sometimes faster is just…well…faster. Often quality is sacrificed in the process. And quality matters. Excellence matters. The experience matters.
Sending an e-mail is faster than writing a letter, but when I write somebody a handwritten letter or note I am giving that person the gift of myself, the opportunity for a deeper level of connection. The recipient knows that I have made a greater investment of time and energy to reach out to them, showing that I value the relationship. My handwriting is my handwriting, not Times New Roman or Arial Narrow.
A written letter evokes thoughts and memories of the writer in a way that an e-mail does not. The letter is something I held in my hands that the recipient can now hold in theirs. They can carry it in their pocket to a spot under their favorite tree to read it. They can tuck it away in a drawer as a keepsake and discover it again later. It has life.
The drive through window at Burger World is faster than a four-course meal, but when I sit down to a meal I can actually take time to enjoy and savor the taste of the food. I can appreciate the table linens, the dishware, and the ambience of the home or restaurant. I can linger in conversation with a loved one or friend in between courses. My digestive system can appreciate that I’m not hastily pounding down greasy, nutritionally vacuous – or worse yet, unhealthy – grub.
Meaningful relationships cannot be created fast.
Friendships are built on experiences shared, walking together to support one another in good times and bad, listening and being listened to over years and years. We can ‘like’ all the Facebook friends we want to but that will only ever be a shadow of real connection.
And then there’s music.
Yes, you can hold down a button on a computer and a drummer in a box will riff merrily away. You can hold down a different key and a cello will sound or a trumpet. But no matter how advanced the program there is no replicating what happens when you take the time to assemble a group of talented musicians. The interplay, the emotion, the interpretation, and the personality each musician brings to the group results in something greater than the sum of its parts – something mysterious and magical that no computer will ever be able to recreate.
The week before last Kent Hooper and Phillip Keveren, both of whom have blessed Music for the Soul by sharing their prodigious talents with the ministry, had the opportunity to do a recording session at Abbey Road studios working with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
I had the privilege a few days ago to hear some of what they recorded. I put in the ear buds. I closed my eyes. And I listened. Really listened. What I heard was the miracle of music – the combined gifts of musicians who together represented literally millions of hours of practice all joining together to pour their hearts and souls into bringing an orchestral arrangement to life.
At times I found myself smiling. At other moments I had chills. Before it was over I found myself wiping away a few tears. I remembered why I love music. And I rejoiced that my friends had the opportunity to be a part of creating it.
It took years for the moment I have just described to be born. There was nothing fast about it. And therein was a large part of the secret to its beauty.
Faster is faster. And sometimes fast is what we need.
But – and I will just speak for myself – all too often I hurry past the authentic to embrace the counterfeit when there is no reason at all to do so. God grant me the discipline to seek out the depth and the richness of life that comes when I choose to take my time.
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Steve Siler – Music for the Soul
Originally posted 7/30/16