ONE night I went early to an orchestral concert and, as I sat waiting, the members of the orchestra filed in and began to tune their instruments all at the same time. The result was most discordant, and if I had not known the meaning of it all, I should have run away. But, knowing what was to come, I patiently awaited the beautiful music which they were soon to make, and as I waited there came the thought: Is not all this typical of the condition we are in at this hour of growth? These men tuning their different instruments seem to be working in hopeless confusion but they are not, for each one has in mind the one key-note with which his instrument must be in harmony. To this end, he must give individual attention, not listen to his neighbor's tuning and so imperil the accuracy of his own, but must keep in the chambers of thought that one steady tone. His business for the moment is that, only that. Faithful to that seemingly small duty, he will be ready, when the moment arrives, to take his part in the symphony of sound whose perfectness depends upon the quality of each and all the contributions.
So our friends of the orchestra sit in perfect calm, in 'spite of the sensitiveness of the musical ear and the proverbial impatience of the musician with discordant sounds. They know that all this scraping and tooting is only the preparation for the beautiful concerted work that is soon to come. Through years of patient labor, of hard, faithful, isolated, individual practice in the basic laws and rules both of music in general and of his own special instrument, each man has been preparing himself for this hour. He cannot do another's playing, but the more perfect he can make his own work, the higher does he raise the standard of general excellence and so encourage others to follow and even surpass him. it may be.
In a letter to the Board of Lectureship, published in the Sentinel some time ago, our Leader says: "Improve every opportunity to correct sin through your own perfectness." This is the key-note. At present, in this tuning up stage of growth, many of these human instruments that are one day to make divine music, but are now only striving to reach pitch, may have suffered from service and be in need of overhauling and repairing. Many heart-strings may have been broken, and they can be replaced only through the tender offices of divine Love. But ahead is the perfection divinely commanded: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
