October 23, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Friday, October 23.
Happy Birthday to Charles Ives. He turns 152 years old today. Well, he would have, if he hadn’t died in 1953 - but, I digress. Ives was an American composer. One of the top five American composers of the 20th century. He’s my favorite “modern” composer. And he wasn’t even a full time musician. His day job was insurance executive. Music was his hobby. No, hobby is the wrong word. He sold insurance to make a living, but music was his life.
Ives created music that was different, that was, in fact, revolutionary. The main feature that set his work apart was the use of dissonance. Webster defines dissonance as “a lack of harmony among musical notes”, and in a general sense, “a lack of harmony among people”. Dissonance was a tool that Charles Ives explored, developed, and made unique use of. So, is dissonance a tool that can be used in God’s kingdom? Does God use dissonance for His purpose? The New Testament describes a significant amount of disagreement and conflict in the Early Church. Peter and Paul often had very different ideas about how the gospel should be shared, and who it was intended for. Paul and Barnabas, missionary partners, disagreed about the young man Mark - so much so that they ended their partnership. And Jesus, time and time again, had dissonant encounters with the Pharisees.
And God, as He promised in Romans 8:28, worked all things together for good. Peter and Paul continued to lead the Early Church, and their disagreements led them to rethink, develop, and strengthen their views on spreading the gospel. Paul teamed with Silas, and Barnabas joined with Mark, and where there once was one missionary team, then there was two. And Jesus, every time He spoke truth to power, set us an example of the power of truth.
Proverbs 20:3 says “avoiding strife brings a man honor, but every fool is quarrelsome “. We can disagree without being disagreeable. We can stand up for what we believe, while treating with respect those who believe differently. And God, as He promised, will work good . . . even through dissonance.
Meet you back here on Monday,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
