Orchestral manouevers in the light!

I sat in the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney yesterday, there to photograph the Spring Season concert for a family whose child was performing. I was in awe at the skill and sound that radiates from those students whose ages range from just 6 years old up. I love the purity and quality of sound that emanates from around 60-70 instruments that blend so eloquently. I noted with some degree of interest the single violin one of the students played at the beginning so that all the other instruments and their musicians could set their tone, tune or pitch by. What a wonderful thing. One lone instrument setting the entire tone for the rest. I marvelled at the sound one violin makes, and then when 20 make the same sound by playing together, it is one of the purest and most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. The Timpani, the Cymbals, the Harp, the Bassoon, the Oboe, the Flute, the Viola, the French Horn, the Tuba....and the rest, it is all magnificent Together they make a sound and convey a feeling that individually would not be possible to achieve.

With that in mind, I think of us sometimes as individuals whom occasionally get lost in the misdirected thoughts that allow us to feel we are in control of our own lives or situations, However, no matter how good, or how in-control of our own lives we might believe we are, individually we are not as melodic, sweet or harmonious as when we allow others lives and influences to subtly blend with ours. It is true that No man is an island, yet in this world of technology and excess, well certainly for those in the west at least, we are constantly being herded into corrals of loneliness and isolation. The Biggest Loser, Survivor, the Money or the Mob, the Mole, Big Brother, Idol and many other television programs are all designed to eliminate contenders and arrive at the "best". Almost as if we are telling society that in order for you to succeed, with money as the outcome, it is not only permissible, but admirable to get that money at whatever cost to another that may cause. I understand the importance of setting benchmarks, and having levels of attainment and ways to gauge the levels of success and standards by, though I accept my ideas of getting ahead by helping others get what they want, and getting on the shoulders of giants only to be there to help them up as well, is rapidly become an outdated notion. Not that the thought will stop me at all. I have a genuine care about people, I am interested in what makes us tick.

Lastly, I note that this morning as I walked around a mental health facility for their open day, amidst the beauty of the various cherry blossoms and fete like atmosphere, I watched with pleasant and respectful curiosity at some of the patients of the facility with varying degrees of challenges, I loved how they navigated their way around their world, and I looked at my son whom I was with who has Down Syndrome, How very grateful I am to God for allowing me to see people whom I might otherwise be too busy to recognise. I saw within them all in the context of the Tuba, I spoke of earlier, by itself which seems a little oafish and uninspiring, but when played together with the orchestra, or when these special people are together the total acceptance of one another’s differences with no system of ranking or discrimination had a very real orchestral beauty of equally special harmony, making a sound for those who wish to see and hear, is simply pure and unadulterated pleasure.
I love my life today. I am very tired from yesterday still but very glad to have the gift of seeing.