Enharmonics

Happy November!

I always feel giddy when November comes along because it means so many wonderful things to me. Things like the fast approaching end of the fall semester, autumn leaves, new holiday recipes, reconnecting with friends and family members, and my favorite holiday --namely, Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving brings with it memories of cooking with my sweet Grandma Cone who has gone to be with the Lord. If ever there was a grateful spirit, she embodied it. She touched everyone with her positive attitude, her thankfulness, her amazingly delicious pies, and her warm smile. She taught me many things about life. Yet, of all the lessons she taught me, the one that has stuck with me the most is the need for truthfulness in all my dealings.

On a beautiful but cold Tuesday afternoon, I remember taking some apples to her Covina home in order to help her with her baking in anticipation of the Thanksgiving feast to be held at her house two days later. That afternoon, she told me how hypocrisy is a filthy practice that has infiltrated the church and that, no matter how much it hurts, I must speak truth and reject all notions of deception. She told me, "Lou, it is true that things are not always what they seem, but that should not be how you function. What you are inside is what I want to see all the time and so must the rest of the world. If you need to change, as all of us must, you can only change if what is inside of you is exposed."

I miss my grandma so very much!

As I think of hypocrisy, the musical term that comes to mind is "enharmonic equivalent." Enharmonic equivalents are notes that are named or spelled differently in musical tonation but produce the exact same pitch or sound. I am reminded of a musical moment that happened recently at OBU. A wonderful colleague of mine showed a passage of music to one of my students. It was an excerpt from my song called From Ashes to Beauty. The passage, though theoretically spelled in the right way, could have been read more easily had I chosen to write it like the ordinary chord progression that it truly is.

I wonder, how many of us are like that? We are one thing at work and another at home. We speak malicious words against people behind their backs but quickly sport a smile when they are in our presence. We are "holy" on Sunday mornings and diving head first into a sea of wickedness as soon as we leave the church building. Quite often we go there even while in the pew. Still, the sin of hypocrisy is not new to us. We are told that the level of deception was so high among the Thessalonians that the apostle Paul wrote,

"Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction."
(2 Thessalonians 2:3)

I came across a speech given by Mark Twain to the Society of American Authors on November 15, 1900. In his speech, he addressed the two-faced life human beings tend to live. It goes like this:

"I am constructed like everybody else and enjoy a compliment as well as any other fool, but I do like to have the other side presented. And there is another side. I have a wicked side. Estimable friends who know all about it would tell you and take a certain delight in telling you things that I have done and things further that I have not repented. The real life that I live, and the real life that I suppose all of you live, is a life of interior sin. That is what makes life valuable and pleasant. To lead a life of undiscovered sin! That is true joy."

I must remind us all that leading a life of undiscovered sin could not be more bereft of joy. We may be happily enjoying anonymity but deep inside we know that sin hurts, pricks, pokes, and picks away at our souls leaving us extremely miserable in the solitude of our hearts. Solomon speaks of that in Proverbs 28:13,

"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

The word of God further clarifies in 1 John 1:9,

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Let us remember that there is One who sees through us. Jesus, our wonderful Master, has eyes of flame. No matter how we try to cover them up, Christ knows all the details, flaws, and failures of our lives and still extends grace. He can penetrate beneath the veneer to touch hearts, expose sin, heal pain, forgive, and quench the thirst of our souls. So, let us open our eyes and hearts. Let us wake up from the slumber of deception. Let us leave the sea of hypocrisy and walk in the light of truth.

May Christ remain our guiding light in our quest for truth!