LIFE IS A MEDLEY

  (Musical terms in italics. From Leona's book-in-progress, chapter 10 "Singing on my Summit")


Sometime I sing a capella without accompaniment. Advancing age brings with it inevitable lonely experiences. However, I will never sing alone. God will be with me always, never leaving or forsaking me.

My summit season is for singing in F#. I am “sharpening my focus” to value things that are eternal, not the things of this world which are temporal.

The Holy Spirit is like the little harmonica that our choir conductor blew to start us on the right pitch for the next song we were to sing.

God's limitless graces are like a bulging repertoire. God has prepared them for me so I could perform for His glory when called upon.

At times I live my summit life con dolore with sadness, sorrow, plaintively doloroso. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Life inevitably has grieving times but there is singing after the Lord dries my tears.

Life also has allegro times, serendipity moments, when life still moves briskly and I am cheerful and joyful. God has given us richly all things to enjoy at every season of life.

God guides me tenderly con amore, with love, as I stumble over life's rough terrain, through dark valleys, and up steep mountains.

I must maintain the proper perspective that this life is only a prelude, an introduction, a proving ground to prepare me for what is to come in God's eternal presence.

There are times when I am called upon to give a solo recital, to give witness to what I have learned personally through the life experiences the Lord has brought me through.

Always there is an audience to my life's performance, even in my chronologically advanced years. I cannot let them down. I must take care to persevere and present a strong, joyful song for the Lord for my finale.

Sometimes God composes a medley of my life. Everything looks mixed up and there are only parts of existing pieces, sometimes overlapping. I must remember that He plans each piece for my good, whatever it looks like at the present moment.

I have many monotone days—ordinary, routine, and common. But they all count with God, all are a part of my life classroom experience.

Often I must repeat the lesson God has patiently been trying to teach me, singing the same refrain when I'd rather go on to the next verse of my life song. 

I sometimes pout under the necessity of still practicing scales when I think I am ready for performance. Becoming older does not necessarily mean I am becoming more mature.

The longer I live the more frequently I listen to requiems. I'm singing sad songs for the friends and loved ones who are leaving this life ahead of me.

God gives me “songs in the night,” nocturnal melodies, when He has my ear and my attention in the silence of the night. 

In my faith and practice, I must try diligently to stay on pitch and live in balance, offering melodious praise not an uncertain sound.

On my summit it is inevitable that I have down-tempo experiences, slow in pace, cast down and dismayed. Sometimes I am laid aside and suffer downtime. God wants to teach me through both the highs and lows of life, my “downsittings and my uprisings.”

Too often my life seems made up of muddled melodies, when everything seems harsh, discordant, lacking harmony. Dissonance does not come from God and needs to be replaced by His peace.

God provides happy times of singing in unison, together times of fellowship and camaraderie, praising Him in chorus, sometimes in chant sung in unison in free rhythm because Christ has set me free.

God doesn't tell me in advance how many verses there are in the song of my life as He has planned it. I am only to trust Him.

I must keep my eye on the conductor, God. He has the final say for the tempo of my life, the phrasing, the dynamics and style of His original composition—me. I must heed His facial expressions and gestures as He interprets the concluding opus of my life.

Grace Notes from the Inspired Hymnbook

“I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise [make music] to my God while I have being [while I live]. May my meditation [thoughts] be pleasing [sweet] to him, for I rejoice [find my joy] in the Lord....Bless the Lord, O my soul!” (Psalm 104:33, 34 Amplified version)

“Let all who take refuge in Thee be glad, let them ever sing for joy” (Psalm 5:11).

“Sing to him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy” (Psalm 33:3).

“Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing” (Psalm 100:2).

“I shall sing with the spirit and I shall sing with the mind also” (1 Corinthians 14:15).

“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).

“Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises” (James 5:13).

“And they sang a new song saying, 'Worthy art Thou to take the book...” (Revelation 5:9).

“But the righteous sings and rejoices” (Proverbs 29:6b).

“I made the widow's heart sing for joy” (Job 29:13b).

“Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, 'I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted....The Lord is my strength and song...” (Exodus 15:1 and 2a).