Moments of Happy

What I really want to write about tonight is the symphony, and why hearing those three oboes, those tenor-singing cellos, those delicate violins makes it impossible to keep from smiling.

 

I’m not sure, though, if I can explain it.

 

Perhaps my love of music, and in this case, classical music, is comparable to my love of books. They have to be the right kind, and good. They can only be enjoyed individually; my enjoyment of them is entirely personal, mixed with my own experiences, feelings and interpretations, not exactly the same as anyone else’s enjoyment of that same tome.

 

Recently I got to enjoy the aforementioned instruments live, rich, warm and up-close at a performance by the Nashville Symphony and special guest the Claremont Trio. Because our beloved symphony center is still undergoing repairs from the Nashville flood damage, the concert was held at David Lipscomb University’s alumni auditorium. And it was kind of nice. More relaxed, less conventional. Lots of great steps to climb up to the grand red doors; a great courtyard complete with little tables and lemonade and, during intermission, one lone star suspended brilliantly above the building’s pediment.

 

Not to mention a gorgeous selection of music by Telemann, Beethoven and Brahms. The result of it all for me were some new downloads from iTunes, especially of those oboes. And they’ve made me smile all week.

 

Why do I feel the need to write about this? Simply because it was beautiful, and it made me happy. Happiness doesn’t come upon us all the time, and it’s not always a choice. When it comes, it is often spontaneous, unexpected, even unsought. It was, however, invited that night. It was asked for, and celebrated.

 

And often, happiness comes, for me, through music, through violins and cellos. And oboes.

 

Tonight, when sadness seems so easy to come by in this season of my life, I simply want to memorialize that happy evening of carefree music. I want to remember with gratitude all the undocumented moments of happy. They are gifts and glimpses of life as God intended it to be long before the world was created, long before the world was fallen. They are reminders of God’s plan to redeem and resurrect this earth and all its inhabitants. The truest of glories has yet to shine.

 

Hidden deep in the notes of those oboes, in the strings of those cellos, are traces of the truest happiness. The best is yet to come.

 

 

One Response to “ “Moments of Happy”

  1. Dianne says:

    Thank God for these little snippets of happiness among the crazy storms of life!

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