A Middle C Life

When we were recording “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” for the Christmas cd, our poor tenors had to stay on a middle C for 22 straight notes!

Last Thursday evening in rehearsal, as we worked on “More Holiness Give Me”, our altos joked that we needed to wake them up when it was time to move, as they stayed on an Eb for 6, then 10, then 13 notes in a row!

I thought about how that can be so much like our day-to-day lives. While routine has its benefits, before long we can also begin feeling as if we’re stuck in the same rut for days, weeks, months, perhaps even years on end. Our life begins to feel as if it has no purpose, no direction, no excitement. One may feel that all they do is get up for work, perform the same tasks a monkey could do, come home from work, watch TV, go to bed, and get up to do it all over again tomorrow. For another, they may feel as if all they ever accomplish is feeding and cleaning up after children and performing one household chore after another. The student may feel their life consists of one assignment and test after another, with a couple of extra-curricular activities thrown in to consume the remaining time. Significance is the farthest thing from our minds.

Some of you may feel like you live a “Middle C Life”. Stuck on the same note for months on end. Wishing you could have greater depth in your life to match the deep, rich bass tones that resonate in a person’s bones. Wishing someone would notice you like a sky high soprano note that rings throughout a room.

Instead, you find yourself stuck on middle C, where it seems no one notices your existence, and feeling as if you make no difference at all in the chord of life.

My friend, don’t fall asleep! If you have, then it’s time to wake up! Not every note is full of glamour, but each note is important to the chord.

Take one note out and the whole chord sounds empty. Sing one note flat and the chord may change from major to minor, or it may drag the entire song down.

You play an important role, even if you feel stuck on middle C for notes on end while everyone else seems to be moving around you. Have the confidence to be that anchor for us. Keep the rest of us on pitch and in tune by your consistency.

The day will come when it is time to move on to that next note. And you’ll be ready for that next challenge, blessed with the maturity and strength that can only be found at middle C.

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Master’s happiness!” Matt. 25:21