One of the fun things about taking my son to hockey practice twice a week, is that I get to spend a few minutes watching figure skating. There are a dozen or so girls, of varying ages, on the ice when we get there, so as he heads to the locker room to change, I sit down on a bench in the blissfully cool rink and watch. It’s only about ten minutes until their turn is up, and the ice needs to be resurfaced, but it’s a beautiful ten minutes.
The routines are choppy, to be honest. If a jump doesn’t go the way they want, they often just bring everything to a halt. Maybe they skate over and consult their coach, maybe they try again. Sometimes they fall, and then just sit there for a moment, getting their breath and envisioning again what they are working towards.
Sometimes, there is music playing. And though there are several girls on the ice, the music “belongs” to only one of them. That is someone’s chosen song, and this is their chance to focus on that music while they try to perfect the program they’ve been working on.
But you know what’s interesting? It’s hard to tell which of them is skating to that music. In a way, they all look like they are. Each of them is lovely and graceful, gliding and spinning… and there are many different ways to interpret music, so any of them could be doing that in their own way. And really, they probably are, even without meaning to. Each of them is hearing that music; how could they help but respond?
And I wonder if sometimes that music encourages someone, pushes them on. I wonder if, even when it’s not their music, if they continue skating past a mistake, in order to take advantage of the music while it’s there. Maybe when they fall, they get up a little quicker and try again. Maybe they’re just a little more graceful, a little more delicate.
There’s just no end to the ways He can inspire us to go on, is there?
~ “indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make a sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, ‘For He is good, For His mercy endures forever…” ~
Light Expectations 