Week 6. Day 6 – Wonderfully Made

One God. Above all, through all, in all.

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made
Wonderful are your works;
That I know very well
Psalm 139: 13-14

Velma barely sees over the top manual.  Her fragile one-hundred-pound frame appears more diminutive as she sits by the organ console. Whenever she centers herself on the wooden bench, her body extends as she stretches her legs to reach the pedal keyboard beneath her feet. 

Petite, Velma feels even smaller within. She was often been ignored as a child. Her twin brother had received most of the attention as the only boy in a German Lutheran family in the early 1900’s.  As the youngest, there is no money available for Velma to receive formal training on the organ or to go to college despite the fact she is Valedictorian of her high school graduating class.

Playing the organ gives her a place safe within the music written by gifted composers. Committed to regiment of practice, Velma pours her feeling and thoughts into the sounds resonating from the keyboard. Her hands love the touch of the keys. As she pulls open various stops, she delights in the sounds created at her finger tips. Her feet march through each note.

When Velma switches on the pipe organ, its motor pumps air into the pipes and life into her soul. The console becomes her being. Music becomes her words. The sounds singing from the pipes become her voice.

From the organ Velma leads a congregation in worship and praise. She boldly plays with passion and strength. This instrument and its music remind her that she too is wonderfully made.

Breathprayer:  

              Breathing in:          All Praise…

              Breathing out:        …. echoing into the universe.

Reflection: How are you wonderfully made?  

This reflections was written for the Online Lenten Reflections 2019 for the Southeast Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

www.seiasynod.org