Playing The Scales

Playing the Scales

ALTHOUGH YOU’D NEVER know it to hear me play, I took piano lessons for twenty years, with the exception of a two-year hiatus that I call my “blunder years.” During that twenty-year stint—if my math is right—I played the scales about twelve thousand times (thank you, Mrs. Morgan, Mrs. Spindle, and Aunt ’Cil).

Playing the piano for me was, and still is, both engaging and relaxing. But playing the scales is worse than monotonous. Besides some interesting finger work in the minor key, it’s pretty much mind-numbing—especially when you are required to play the same scale over and over and over. Just poke my eyeball with a straight pin.

Sometimes our work, love affairs, or relationships with our families and friends can become so routine that—like playing the scales—we sort of zone out and ultimately miss out on the music. Our planning is by rote, lacking creativity. Our responses are mechanical, lacking thoughtful replies. Our engagement in the moment is void, lacking wonder. Life becomes b-o-r-i-n-g.

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Regardless of what you call it—playing the scales, running the drill, or going through the motions—we all do it. Our goal: to snap out of it in order to return to the melody at hand. God has created some beautiful music for us; it’s time we listened.