The Essence
Essence: the basic, real, and invariable nature of a thing …
I was listening on-line today to my brother’s 13 year-old violin student playing in a very prestigious competition on the other side of the world, which he won, by the way. (If you want to watch, click here: http://menuhin.rwcmd.ac.uk/watch_again/play.asp?movie=18042008A&competitor=7As he was playing, I was transported back to the school of music I attended as a teenager, while trying to make a recovery after my arm had been broken.
I remember sitting there that night, a young, aspiring violinist, listening to other young aspiring violinists. All of them were much further advanced than I was, and I was in awe, listening to them play these incredibly haunting melodies. As I listened to them, it was touching a place deep inside of me. I so longed to be able to make my fingers, my arms, my heart and my soul to be able to connect with that particular piece of music in the same way.
But, not having the skill or ability to do that, I could only be content to listen. I had hope that one day, I would be able to taste the “essence” of that piece of music. To consume it within myself…to make it my own.
Unfortunately, I was never able to do that. The break of my left arm proved to place limitations on me that could not be overcome to allow me to play some of those pieces. So, I moved on with my life, and went in other directions. God is sovereign. He knows what He is doing. I found Him during those years of not playing my violin. Or rather, He found me.
And then He gave it back. And I play for Him now. And besides that, I do other things for Him. Sometimes, when I am caught up in the “doing” for Him, I have to go back to “being” in Him.
Today, as I was listening to this young violinst, a prodigy, play a familiar piece, Sarasate Zigeunerweisen, I began to weep…not just cry, but weep…(there’s a difference). This was from deep inside of me. I felt a longing for something that I had felt before. I felt that familiar longing to connect with the essence of that piece of music. And I was weeping, partly because of this young man’s brilliance in playing this piece, but also because it had been unfulfilled in me.
And yet, if I had been able to achieve that level of playing, what would my life be now? I always have to wonder. Would I have become more interested in how I “performed” than playing the music just for the sheer joy of connecting with the “essence” of the piece? I could tell that this has not happened to this young guy who was playing…he connected with every note. He could feel the essence of the music and was passionate with it. And even though in this particular round of the competition, he had a “fauble”, a momentary memory lapse that could have cost him the competition, he still won. Why? Because his oneness with the essence of the music overshadowed any mistake he made.
How does a violinst get to the essence of the music? Part of it is an inborn talent, no doubt…something they are born with, that they had nothing to do with. The other part of it is on the part of the student…how do they cultivate what they have been given? They spend many unseen, lonely hours, with nothing but them, their violin, and the notes on the page. Much has been laid aside in their personal lives to achieve this level of intimacy with the music. It’s as if, during those long hours of practice, there is no one to applaud their efforts, no pats on the back, no encouragement. They do it for the sheer joy of becoming one with the music, and experiencing what the writer had intended.
I thought about how, as believers in the atonement and saving blood of Yeshua, Jesus, it is like this. When we think of our first love experience with the Lord, we have experienced the very essence of who He is. We have eaten His flesh, and we have drunk His blood. This is the essence, “the basic, real and invariable nature of a thing…”
Deep still calls unto deep. He still wants us to drink of Him, daily. He has given us our “talent” (as in the parable of the talents). Now, how will we cultivate it? We can never cultivate it by being social butterflies, or doing things for man’s approval. Our goal must be HIM, and Him alone. His words are our life. We must eat them. Only for the experience of knowing Him.
We must never get caught in the trap of our agendas and our work for Him, that we forget about Him, or rather His essence. It’s the essence that is our driving force. It’s what should be motivating us to do anything. These are the works that will last, that will not burn up. And He will look at our heart, our passion for Him, not how perfectly we did everything. It broke my heart to see the countenance on the young man playing, when he came to the end of the piece. Although the entire piece was amazing, with the exception of that one little mess-up, when he took his his bow at then end, he looked like one cast-down…unworthy. And yet, from the perspective of the viewing audience, his performance was magnificent. In his final performance, he brought even the judges to tears, and they gave him what he deserved…the first-place prize. If you want to watch him play the Vivaldi Four Seasons, it is here: http://menuhin.rwcmd.ac.uk/watch_again/play.asp?movie=18042008B&competitor=7
When you see how it winds up, and how radiant his countenance is, you realize that in the end of the day, our faces will be radiant with His Glory, because we have known His essence…the thing that REALLY matters.
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