Saturday, March 2, 2013

TL;DR

Teenage Dream - Warblers GLEE cover (Katy Perry)

So yeah interesting thing happened today: I had the most views on my blog that I have ever had. Interesting. I wonder if it's because I'm suddenly more popular or because I'm so interesting? Probably just the fact that I posted in on Facebook on a Saturday morning when most people are waking from their shenanigans from the previous night.

Either way it got me excited so definitely going to post more. However, I think that most of my posts are going to become a mixture of my job and how I can relate that to the spiritual. I say this so that any of my friends that are atheists, agnostic, or any other religion than non-denominational Christian don't suddenly get offended. I hope you continue to read the blog and get some insight as to my spiritual belief and how I relate it to work place.

That being said please feel free to comment on the blog as well as message me if you have questions about repair or spiritual things, can't really think of a better word there.

Well now so here is what I am thinking of while typing all of this: we as humans are constantly being repaired when we seek forgiveness from our Creator.

When you are doing brass repair or even some woodwind there is no way to return the piece to perfect conditions. Every dent leaves a scar on the metal or crack in the wood. My job is to make the dents or cracks invisible to remove them from the instrument and return it into working condition. I feel like I am pretty talented in this area, I mean I have a lot to learn, but compared to how bad I was when I started there is definite visible progress.

Now the difficulty that comes with diagnosing and repairing doesn't quite fit into this analogy if we are working under the idea that there is nothing outside the power of God's will (No I do not think God could microwave a burrito too hot that He cannot eat). Which most deists will say that the previous is true, otherwise said being isn't God and we need not fear Him. Watch Kingdom of Heaven and you will understand that quote.

Sorry for the complication, but it is important to clarify where I (and most Christians) stand on this.

So now we come to the analogy: We are all instruments. We all fit somewhere in the orchestra. Whether we know where is a different topic all together. So here we sit going through this existence getting the living snot beat out of us everyday. From nasty break ups, hearts broken, personal failures, triumphs that cost us some moral dignity, and tragedy. Lets face it it's a nasty world out there, lots of bad things happen all the time. Here is a visual of what most of us would look like after one day. So imagine what years of abuse would look like?

Que this man, well God/man: Jesus. He is perfect at what he does; and what does he do? Well he repairs instruments. Now this is where most people just tune out, because they have heard it all before and they think it's silly. But here me out: We are trucking along, taking a beating and slowly but surely we get worn down. Our valves no longer work. Our joints get loose. We become 'out of tune' to put in in layman's terms. But the cool thing is that there is this perfect instrument repair technician out there who can fix us. And best of all it's free. It takes no effort on the instruments part. The technician does all the work and doesn't charge us a fee at all.

So what does this mean? Well once we become 'fixed' we start working properly and never have to be repaired again? Not quite, despite this popular idea among parents of 6th grade band students, we go back out into the world again but we start getting dinged up, bent, lose pads and break braces. Now here's the cool thing: we are always given that option of repair and it is still free. We are perpetually being fixed and sent back into the world. No matter how messed up the instrument(person) becomes there is no fee to bring it back into working condition. And that my friends is grace. Grace is getting something amazingly silly and impossible to comprehend, for free. Not because we deserve it, but because in the end God(Band/Orchestra director of the Universe) just wants us all to play in tune.

So yeah, there you go. Sorry that was so long, but the first post is usually the longest when you start up something like this. I promise to keep subsequent posts shorter and filled with less doctrine and more spiritual insight.


Ephesians 2:4-9 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.


TL;DR: God is a band director, we are instruments. Jesus fixes us for free constantly so that we can play for the band director better.

3/1/2013

The Hardest Part - Coldplay

So I have been on a serious hiatus from blogging and updating this thing. I'm not sorry, just thought you should know. I figured since it is a slower season I should probably update more often and also I am learning to code so this gives me a place to practice. 

Well everything has been pretty normal going around work. There was only one project that I really took as a giant learning experience: overhauling and restoring a Selmer Series 3 Bari-Sax. Here are some pictures of the before and after. As you can see in the pictures this instrument has seen some years of battle. It was a horn from Dallas ISD, and if you read some of my earlier posts concerning the condition of their instruments you know exactly what I am talking about when I say 'battle'. 

Well my boss decided that it would be a a good experience for me to completely overhaul this: disassemble, clean, remove dents, straighten the body, level tone holes, re-cork and re-pad the keys and then make it play. I started working on saxophones in April of last year. So I had less than a years experience on saxophones in general then add to that it is the largest instrument and it has to be perfect; I was feeling quite nervous about the whole process. 

Well it took me about a week and in that time I learned a lot more about saxophones, specifically: patience, as close to perfection, and make sure to check the side keys very slowly. Over all I feel like the experience helped me grow as a repairman and as a human in general. 

I was very angry while working on the saxophone because I was so concerned with money. I was falling behind on my paycheck and was so upset by that I tried to take every shortcut I could think of to make it work only to have every single one blow up in my face. A bible verse that was very near to my heart and thoughts was Psalms 46:10, "Be still and know I am the LORD." 

The reason I would think of this verse specifically is because I have it on the cover of my notebook at work. But it applies because while I was getting so upset I started to micromanage and cut corners because I was so obsessed with the end result. I began to rely on my conscious skills. However when I started to rely on God for peace rather than skill, I started to notice the work became easier to me. It wasn't that God granted me skills I didn't already, but rather the Holy Spirit interceded for me and gave me peace and stillness to my weary, wandering, and frustrated mind.

I think that there is a lesson there for all of us: when we get caught up in the action, or duty or encased in our own mind we begin to start over-think, over-compensate, and over-analyze our actions. What we need in those moments is clarity and peace. I get my peace from the Lord, it is my hope that you would too.

"...but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." - Joshua 24:15