“I think the notation is wrong. Here, take a look at this.”
I was playing a song on my guitar and the written notation appeared to be wrong. My wife was next to me singing the song. She played piano and read music so I was confident she would agree with me.
“Mi..Fa…Fa..”
“What? It’s E.. F…F!”
“I didn’t learn my music notes that way.”
I soon learned that my wife’s experience was common. It is termed Solfege or Tonic Sol-fa and many people learn music by these phonetic notes as well as later learning the names of the actual notes, or the ABC notation. For the budding musician, recreated in the famous scene from the “Sound of Music”, the Solfege method is an excellent introduction to learning the aural qualities of the music notes. However, with increasing music complexity, the ABC notation needs to be used. Both methods complement one another with the former naturally progressing to the latter. The tones are the same, only our understanding of it deepens with experience.
One of the first songs children learn in Sunday school is, “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.” This is a true statement regardless of one’s age or spiritual stage. As children grow and progress in their faith and knowledge, they can build upon this knowledge. Jesus always loves us but we learn the nuances of love in different relationships and situations. Not everything is cast as black and white and more often, our challenge is discerning and finding love amidst shades of gray. How do I love the person who has hurt and defrauded me? How do I care for the person who was responsible for the death of my loved one?
We love Him because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19 (NKJV)
The answer is we return to our basics. We love because Jesus first loved us. When we are secure in our relationship with Jesus Christ, we can build upon this knowledge and ask Him to help us navigate the increasingly murky relationships that we will encounter. Like learning musical notes, the love is the same, only our understanding of it deepens with experience.
Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.
The Bereans Blog 