Contact Me

If you enjoy my blog and would like to contact me, you may reach me at this email: dena.netherton@gmail.com

Some of my stories are published in:
A Cup of Comfort Devotional for Mothers and Daughters (Adams Media, 2009)
Chicken Soup: What I Learned from the Dog (2009)
Love is a Flame (Bethany House, 2010)
Extraordinary answers to Prayer (Guideposts, 2010)
Love is a Verb (Bethany House, 2011)
Big Dreams from Small Spaces (Group Publishing, 2012)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Art of Slow Enlightenment

I've probably taught thousands of music students during my 35 years of teaching.
And one of the biggest, most important points I try to instill in my students is the art of "milking" the music.
Most beginning musicians hurry through  the music --the mark of an amateur --like it's their duty to get it over and done with as quickly as possible.
"Do you see how this part of the music should be emphasized?" I'll ask my student. "Slow down. Make a statement here. Bring out this note in the harmony; It'll make the audience cry. Spend more time at this cadence. Make the audience wonder what's coming next.

Books are Like That, Too.I just read The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. The book is masterfully written. The author sets up the three distinctive and fascinating main characters with just enough information to really make me want to find out more. Then she skillfully lets slip more details and facts as the story progresses. However, the tension of these questions:
  • What was the terrible thing Minny did to Miss Hilly?
  • Are the society ladies going to discover what Skeeter is doing?
  • Will Skeeter's book get published, and if so, will it affect any great societal change?
  • What if the secret interviews get outed?

These questions remain unanswered, making me, the reader, breathless to find out what will happen next. (I didn't find out till the very end.)

I think this art of "slow enlightenment" should imitate the ways of our heavenly Father. Of course He knows everything about us. But we are thrilled as He gradually reveals the wonders of His character, His love, His grace, His plan for our lives.
No book is more thrilling, no music can compare.
And you can see His wisdom at gradually giving us a greater picture of Who He is.
Because we couldn't take it all in at once.
Enlightenment. . . but at a mortal pace.
What a consummate artist God is!
Let us imitate His skill and artistry in our own art.

"If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened,
more strength is needed
but skill will bring success." (Ecc. 10:10 NIV Bible)

6 comments:

  1. you are invited to follow my blog

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  2. Hi Dena. It has been a while. This blog is great! I'm on Blogger also. I hope to reconnect.

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  3. I think God originated the idea of giving us information on a need-to-know basis. :)

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  4. Yep, Susan, that's pretty much why, when we imitate His "style", we can't lose!

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  5. I can't wait to see what God will reveal in the family that I am just beginning to get to know. Trials, surprises, disappointments, revelations all come with no guarantees and yet we seek them out like precious jewels(if we're smart).

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  6. Clark,I so admire that attitude. But I do think that we have some guarantees from the Word:
    ". . . He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil.1:6)

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