The Melody of Lent

 

This week we are letting Yiruma, a South Korea-born piano player, guide us.  We are listening not as an objective observer; not from a distance or being disconnected; not for whether we even “like” or what to give a frownie face to the piece, but we are being enfolded and held by each note.  Yesterday I gave you this prayer practice:

·        First, listen one time through the entire piece.  Pay attention to any emotion that is evoked or provoked from the piece.

·        Second, listen again, this time you may want to imagine a story that goes along with this piece of music – or write down words that stir and swirl in response.  One day this week, you may want to get out your crayons or colored pencils connecting your hand to the melody of the music.

·        Third, enter a period of silence.  Attend, pay attention to the reverberations of both the music of Yiruma and the response from your soul sit side-by-side.  What awakens within your awareness of this moment? 

The first piece from Yiruma is entitled, Lord Hold My Hand.  I invite you to click on the link above and enter prayerfully and purposefully into this time.

When I listen to this piece, I hear a tenderness and tenaciousness.  That we are both pleading with God prayerfully to hold our hands and that God is patiently persistently holding us – even (or especially) when we are not sure we should be held.  Unlike the piece yesterday which had a flowing quality, there are moments Yiruma emphatically pounds the notes like a prayer insisting God answer us.  Those resolve to moments of softness, only to have the passion of the notes come back.  I can hear a dialogue between God and myself, times I raise my voice when I am worn out and weak and weary from this world, and God meeting me there in the messiness of this art called, “My life”.  I hear the notes ascend causing emotions of hope to stir and the descending melody that meets me in the valley places of my life right now.

I wonder if this melody was what Jesus sang in the garden of Gethsemane?  Remember how he passionately pleaded for God to let the cup of the cross pass by.  How often do I passionately plead for God to stop the chaos or cacophony of life when it is too much?  Only to have God reach out God’s hand gently and grace-filled to meet me in my pain and fear and uncertainty.

Where does you need God to hold your hand?  In a relationship you cannot resolve or a situation where you feel overwhelmed?

What would it look like to have your fingers intertwined with the Divine?  Or, better yet, what would it feel like?

What colors from your crayon box would you use to color this picture?  What words surface as you lean in and listen to this beautiful piece?  Feel free to post in the comments.

Prayer: Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on and help me stand.  Meet me in the woundedness and wants of life with Your love that makes all the difference.  Amen.