(submitted by Kerry
Patton)
You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts,
known and read by everyone. 3You show that you are a letter from
Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of
the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3
“Alexa, Play Vivaldi”
As I am writing this, it is Friday before the Super
Bowl. Friday’s are normally my day off
from serving at the church, and my day to catch up doing normal things. There is laundry to do, projects that I have
in progress, general house work and maintenance, and an opportunity for me to
also be still and rest as well.
On this particular Friday, my wife Laura has also taken off
and we are tag teaming in these home duties.
Only minutes ago, we were both working in the kitchen unloading and
loading the dishwasher. To make the time
go more enjoyably, I spoke a command to our Amazon Echo: “Alexa, play Vivaldi.”
To which the device replied: “Playing music by Antonio Vivaldi.” And beautiful music began to play.
It’s Not About the Device
As I worked there in the kitchen with Laura, I asked in
passing: “I wonder if Vivaldi had any idea that his compositions would be
played over the World Wide Web, in my kitchen, on an electronic listening
interface, two hundred and sixty-six years after he died?” The answer of course, would be ‘No’. How
could he? How could any of us have
imagined even twenty years ago what wonders technology would bring about.
But this writing is not about the technology. It’s about the music. It’s still playing as I continue to type for
you. It’s Vivaldi’s legacy…the body of
musical composition that he left behind him when he passed from this
earth. And people all over the world are
still being affected by what he did almost three hundred years ago.
As a musician, songwriter, singer, and artist in my own
recordings, I have on occasion wondered if my music will live on after I pass
from this world. Perhaps for a while,
but probably not across generations...The point is that while the songs I have
written and sung may or may not be remembered, these are not my legacy! My legacy is being written in the lives that
I have taken time to touch, the children I raise, and the friendships I make
and maintain. My legacy, and truly yours
as well, is the eternal effect of the words we have spoken for Jesus, and the
love we have shown others in Jesus’ name.
Each of these affect the future and are passed forward through
time. As the love of Christ is
communicated and passed from generation to generation; as souls are converted
to Christ and disciple into maturity, the eternal destiny of persons is being
written. Eternal destiny...Changed lives
and changed hearts are a legacy that each of us sow into the fertile soil of
the future.
These are our greatest witness that the Gospel of the living
Christ is not merely a religious tale, but a living testimony that is effective
and eternal in how it transforms lives.
With no disrespect intended to the vast repertoire of Vivaldi, these are
our symphonies, these are our love songs, these are the legacies that will
shine in generations to come, and for all eternity through the lives of those
who follow.
Almighty
God, let our greatest witness to the future not be engraved on tablets of
stone, nor recorded in halls or museums, but on human hearts and lives. Use us this day, and every day to affect the
lives of those around us for your Kingdom.
Make us sowers of souls, singers of hope and healing, and may our
legacies be written in the lives we guide into eternity in Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ holy name I pray, Amen.
