After Mozart passed away, the town drunk heard some
strange noises coming from the grave site. Terrified, he ran and got
the priest. He bent close to the headstone and heard some faint,
unrecognizable music. The frightened priest got the town magistrate.
He listened for a minute and said, "Ah, yes, that's Mozart's
Symphony No. 41 being played backward. And there's the 40th ... the
39th ... 38th ..." Then he stood up and said, "Nothing to worry
about. It's just Mozart decomposing."
"Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in
the night?" (Job 35:10, NIV)
Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the world's
greatest musicians, was born into a musical family in Germany. As a
child, he spent many lonely hours practicing his music every day.
By the age of eleven, he was already composing his
own music and conducting an orchestra. In his late teens, he went to
Vienna for further study. There, he reached fame though not fortune.
One evening as he was out walking, he passed a
cobbler's house where he heard someone inside practicing one of his
compositions. As he stopped to listen, he overheard a girl say that
she wished she could hear a real musician play it properly.
Beethoven went into the house and, noticing the young
lady at the piano was blind, offered to play the piece for her. He did
so for more than an hour and while he did, darkness fell and the lone
candle in the room had gone out.
Outside in the night sky, the moon shone brightly and
sent its radiant beams glistening into the room where Beethoven sat
playing beautiful music. He was so inspired by the appreciation of his
music by the young lady and the beauty of the atmosphere in the room
that he composed his famous "Moonlight Sonata."
Do you ever feel that your dreams have been
shattered and you feel all alone in the darkness of despair? I
certainly have. However, when our lives are committed to Christ,
it's in these "dark nights of the soul" when God is working in us to
help us grow, to give us more understanding of life and compassion
for others that, in time, will bring back the music into our lives.
SUGGESTED PRAYER: "Dear God, thank you for the dark
nights you have led me through ... dark nights that have helped me
grow, become a healthier, happier and more whole person, and given
me a much greater understanding of others. Gratefully, in Jesus'
name. Amen."
From "Daily Encounter" (c) Dick Innes 2001. Subscribe here
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