Poise and Perfection

It was advertised as 'Afternoon Tea and light music' — in actual fact it was passionate, poised perfection
from Jonathan and Elizabeth Sparey on violin and piano, respectively.
What a treat — what class, what joy they brought to those forty or so folk gathered, entranced by the music
emerging from those two instruments, played with love, expertise and understanding. The Lark Ascending
by Vaughan Williams was as sumptuous and the afternoon tea that followed — the bird rose from its' nest,
circled, dropped, rose some more, all the while the notes fluttered around the room — utterly wonderful. All
created through their lifelong love of music, displaying their innate ability to play and interpret the black
and white marks on the pages before them. It made me think that this is what we should all be aspiring to
achieve as we read the Scriptures, those black and white marks on the page in front of us, allow the Holy
Spirit to interpret and live with passion the Christian life in these dales. And passion need not be loud, as
Jonathan explained before he played one piece: it means as soft as you can, and softer — hardly able to be
heard, yet still there, true to the notes on the page.