Looking beyond the surface

A 20th-century German composer once went on an extended mountain climb in the Alps during which it stormed quite strongly, and he got soaked to the skin. When he returned home from this adventure, he sat himself down at the piano and improvised a piece based on the experience. Over time, he composed “An Alpine Symphony,” a musical mountain-climb up an Alpine mountain to the summit, a moment of exhilaration on the top of the mountain, and a return down to the base with a storm along the way.  

I first heard this piece during the summer before my senior year at the university and was taken back by the beauty of the composition. It brought up a string of images within me, teaching me that music is more than just playing the “black dots.” There was a whole world behind the notes, and what a wonderful world it was!  

A familiar hymn for us contains the words, “look beyond the bread you eat, see your Savior and your Lord; look beyond the cup you drink, see His love poured out as blood.” I had a Sunday school teacher once upon a time who taught us that religion is all about looking beyond. With Richard Strauss’ symphony about a climb up an Alpine mountain, I was beginning to see the wonders of looking beyond. And what a beautiful world to behold!  

Now that we’ve begun Lent, it is a time for us to see the wisdom in going beyond the exterior and investigate the depths. The surface is comfortable and familiar to us because it is something we can wrap our hands around. It is tangible.  However, going deeper is not very comfortable; it is entering into unknown territory.

Why did the Israelites start bowing down to a golden calf? That type of god is easy to deal with – it is a god that I can wrap my hands around, that will always be there to answer all my questions and be the kind of god I want. 

The God that Moses brought before the people – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – is a God who is abstract, a God I can’t totally understand, a God who may not always give me direct answers and may not always do as I want Him to do. That was a God that the people couldn’t deal with, so they created a god that suited them.  

Being in the Lenten desert, without the usual distractions that we so readily look for, is an opportunity to stand before this God who is Creator – the God of Jesus Christ – and renew our relationship with Him. We can begin to see as He sees and learn from Jesus how our relationship with Him enables us to truly relate to the rest of creation. Being given the opportunity to look beyond enables us to join with the Psalmist and say:

           Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all the depths of the sea;
           Lightning and hail, snow and thick clouds, storm wind that fulfills his command:
           Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars;
           Animals wild and tame, creatures that crawl and birds that fly;
           Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all who govern on earth;
           Young men and women too, old and young alike.
           Let them all praise the Lord’s name, for his name alone is exalted,
           His majesty above earth and heaven.
                                               -Psalm 148: 7-13

The Lenten journey has begun. Are we ready to look beyond? There’s a beautiful world beyond. Getting there will be challenging, but so is climbing up a mountain. In our journey of looking beyond, we can get soaked to the skin! 

But if a challenging climb can lead to an inspiring piece of music, imagine what looking beyond can bring us in our relationship with God:

• Looking beyond the words of prayer and recognizing an offering of myself to God.
• Looking beyond comparison with others and recognizing how I fit into the whole schema of creation.
• Looking beyond a host and wine and recognizing Jesus’ body and blood.

There is so much to see if we go out into the depth. Are you willing to take that step?  

A blessed Lent to you and yours!