In the early eighteenth century much so-called Baroque music was notated by a kind of shorthand called "figured bass." The supporting bass line of a piece was indicated by single notes representing the chords to be played. Beneath each note were numbers or "figures" that directed exactly how the musician should play each chord. A skilled performer could follow the directions, filling in the proper harmony and embellishing the chords as he played the music. This process of performing the musical shorthand was called "realizing the figured bass." The more skillful the musician, the more beautifully and perfectly he realized the music, making the composer's ideas audible to himself and his listeners.
Any musician, or nonmusician, can grasp fairly readily the concept underlying the figured bass. However, in order to realize the music, to make it beautifully audible, he has to actually play the exact chords on his instrument. This playing may seem difficult or laborious at first, but the more he practices, the more easily and immediately the musician can perform the music that is called for in the score.
I have found this idea of "realizing the music" a useful metaphor in my efforts to practice Christian Science healing. For example, one might think of God's harmonious creation as the composition, because, as the Bible tells us, "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Gen. 1:31 Therefore, God's creation, including spiritual man, must be harmonious. Just as musicians produced audible harmonies by understanding and practicing the composers' "figures," so we learn to demonstrate in our daily lives the harmony and oneness that characterize spiritual reality, including man's relationship to God. We do this as we understand and practice the direction God gives.
