I’ve always been a guy who has wanted to learn a bit of everything. I always seem to find myself jumping from one new trade to another. In junior high I was really into basketball and golf. In high school I was really into cars and swimming. In my first year of college I got myself into martial arts. Now, in my second year of college I started to learn the guitar. I think the saying goes “a jack of all trades but a master of none.” It’s kind of humorous that I find myself living in that very statement. As I think about all the things I started to learn, I realize that I’ve learned much about life from all of these different skills. In practicing golf I learned that it is better to be accurate than powerful. In swimming I learned that pace is everything. In martial arts I learned that we should be patient and wait for the right moment for everything. However, I think that it is the guitar, which is teaching me some of the most important things about life; the kind of things that transcend my own thoughts and seem to leak into reality and find their place in the mystery of existence.
The acoustic guitar is a simple yet wonderful piece of engineering. Comprised of almost entirely wood, the acoustic guitar is made up of a hollow body with a sound hole to release sound, a fret board, six strings and a head stock. The strings are strung around two ends of the guitar, at the headstock and at what is called the bridge at the body end of the guitar. The strings are of different size to create different sounds. There are normally six strings on an acoustic guitar; there is an e, B, G, D, A, E string. The purpose of these strings is to vibrate and produce a particular musical note. As these strings are played, the vibration echoes around the inside of the body and comes out of the sound hole. These strings are quite interesting when you take time to look at them. In a sense, I’ve found out that they, in some ways, represent life. It seems to be a bit ridiculous to equate life to a simple guitar string, but you would be surprised at what you may find in these elementary steel strings.
Take any stringed instrument that has ever been created and the basic mechanics are essentially alike. From harps, violins, chellos, guitars of every type, and everything in between; the strings are set up in practically the same fashion; the strings are wrapped around two poles. Sometimes these poles are very far apart and sometimes they are very close together. Whatever the distance, the string is still strung around these two poles and produces the same type of sound as the other sting insturments. Between these two poles, lies something wonderful, something that, when understood, has brought me closer to figuring out what this life is about.
The dictionary explains it as “the state of being stretched or strained.” in other words; between these two poles there is a tension. The strings are being stretched and strained in such a way that the tension becomes awkward and hard to deal with at times. It is almost like the poles are fighting for possession of the string. Like a sonic tug-o-war, the poles struggle to see who will win over the string in the end. Sometimes the string wants to go to one end at times, and in other times, it pulls to the other. Although the tension is so awkward, confusing, and perturbing at times, without this harsh tension, the string would have no tone. The string would cease to make sound without this tension. This tension is crucial to the meaning of this string.
As I look at it, much of life is in engaged in the same exact tension as in a guitar. There is so much polarity that can be seen in life at any given time. We see the good and the bad, bitter and the sweet, love and war. There is dying and there is birth, breaking up and getting together. Democrats and Republicans. Black and white. We see blessings as well as we see curses. All of these things are complete opposites just like the poles on a guitar. These things are always in competition with each other. These things try, just like the poles on a guitar, to gain control of us. Sometimes we find ourselves pulling toward one end one day and the next day we are headed to the other end. This is where we find things such as depression and utopia. A string that is pulled to much towards one end will inevitably destroy the string.
When we go through life looking only at the terrible things we can become depressed and sometimes, near suicidal. We could get so caught up in the negative aspects of this life, we start to believe that there is no hope for this world. But the same thing can be said about opposite end of the spectrum. When we go through this life focusing only on the good, we forget that there are still things we need to fix. We fail to see the imperfections in this life that can be made right. It is like having a ound and then try to tell ourselves that “it’s ok, everything is fine.” We try and tell ourselves that there's "nothing wrong."We try and cover the wound up and away from sight, and try to pretend that it doesn’t exist. We can’t run away from the pain, but we cannot focus only on the pain itself, we have to heal the wound. We must take action toward making things better.
So where do we find ourselves? Where do we turn to when we are caught up in this tension? I find myself back to the analogy of the guitar. We are fully aware of the strain that is placed on the string by the opposing poles, but there is a spot on the string where you place your finger and the tension takes on a new form. If the finger is placed in the right spot, the tension turns into a note. This note can sound so beautiful and honest. Jon Foreman, the lead singer and song writer of the rock band Switchfoot, when asked how to change the world, he responded simply,
“Honesty would be a good place to start.”
I think Jon hit it right on the head, to take part in this note, is to become honest with the tension. You don’t ignore the opposing poles, but you recognize them; you take them both in. We don’t stray away from the pains of this world nor do we indulge ourselves with all the sweet aspects. We acknowledge the dirt as well as the flower. We must accept the fact that this world has its terrible flaws, but even so, there is and will always will be hope for this failing world.
So the question remains, how do we know where to place our finger? Where do we find this middle ground? Where can we find this perfect note? I think the real question is this, “who do we have playing our strings?” we can spend our whole lives trying to figure out where to find ourselves within this tension and we could never get it right. I am fairly convinced that the Eternal Creator knows exactly how to play our strings accordingly. I believe in a God who adores music. I can see Him creating a wonderful symphony of sounds with our lives as the instruments. We are all different in so many ways just like instruments. We all look different, make different sounds, and played totally different ways. But in order for these instruments to make something beautiful, they need a conductor. Sure we can sound great by ourselves, but we could sound so much better when played together.
Sometimes our strings are out of tune, dirty, or even dead. However, I strongly believe that the Infinite Other Himself, is able to tune our strings, our lives to create something that we have never heard or even dream of hearing before. He is able to give life to our dead and dusty strings, to our fragile and broken frames. God clashes our lives together even more intricate than the best of composers in history. I long for the day where we all decide to allow the Eternal Conductor to enter our lives and give meaning to the tension and to the noise that we make. The wonderful part is that this decision is and has always been ours to make. We can decide to live our lives searching for this perfect spot and playing our instruments alone, or we can decide to become a part of one of the greatest songs ever written. We have an awesome opportunity to be involved in the greatest symphonies ever created. A symphony where songs of Redemption, Salvation, Grace, Hope and Love ring true into eternity. This is how I find my perfect note
How will you find yours?
