“Either – Or”
While sitting on the couch, I glanced over at my two banjo’s sitting side by side on one of our recliners. I keep them in plain sight so that I will remember to practice. I can see them from anywhere in the room. One of them has flower inlays on the neck, While the other has the tree of life inlays all the way up the neck. They are both beautiful but different. The one with the flowers is tuned in a G tuning, while the other one is tuned in Double C tuning. The reason they are tuned differently is because playing Old Time Mountain style banjo you are limited to the amount of lead notes you can play. So, the banjo is tuned in the tuning where you can play those certain notes. For instance the old tune Cherokee Shuffle, is played in the G tuning. I had taught the folks in our music jam to play it this way. While I was gone, a man came along and taught them to play it in the key of D, The problem is that some of the lead notes are just not there. The tune now sounds nothing like The Cherokee Shuffle. The tune could be played on most all of the other instruments, but not the clawhammer banjo. Everyone was having a great time playing the tune, while I just sat there quietly. When playing in public, someone might ask me to play a certain tune, I choose the banjo that is tuned in the only tuning that can play the tune correctly. I kid people sometimes and say, let me change banjos because that song is not in this banjo.
I have a twin brother, we both have hands, but Charlie uses his left hand predominantly while I use my right. We both look alike, but different. We both sing, but differently. We both play music, but different. All humans have noses, mouths, ears, feet and legs, but look different.
God says: “I tuned you all, but you all play different’. If all flowers looked the same where would the beautiful bouquet be. Where would all the different fragrance be? If all sang the same, where would my orchestra be, where would the beauty of my worship be? There is a reason we are all tuned differently, so your special tune can be played.
We are taught today, that we can be anything we want to be. Not So. As the banjo tunings are different, so are we. Some are trying to play a tune that cannot and never will be played that way. Before I learned to play the banjo correctly, a man told me that I was making a lot of noise but, was playing it wrong. That hurt, but I took some lessons and have been playing coherently ever since. Some try to look and act like everyone else, to fit in, eventually they don’t know who they are anymore. Our characters were made different on purpose, so God would have, so to say, a beautiful flower garden with many different fragrances. Success in life comes with a finely tuned instrument.
Some are teaching that people can change even their gender and sexual orientation and so on. Attempting to play in a different tuning? It always leads to guilt, failure and despair. But, our so called teachers continue to teach a way they think works and never does.
The first recorded teaching of this sort was in the Garden of Eden by someone that knew it would never work and has been teaching the same tune until today.
Who would teach that disharmony is harmony? We are all in a melting pot together and if boiled enough we will all look, sound and think the same. Gasoline and water will never mix. The water always sinks to the bottom. If we were the gasoline it might be different, but we are not. Our bodies are made up of how much water? Just checking.
An instrument is either in tune or it’s not. God made us to be a beautiful sound in his ears. Jesus is the tuner. He tunes beautifully. One of the favorite Amplifier settings that rock music players like is called distortion, where nothing sounds in tune.
The in tune and the out of tune are constantly clashing in our society today. The teaching is that if we are all out of tune enough, we will be in tune. Does that sound like the liar in the Garden?
Our leaders and some churches are teaching this. Our Governments and Courts are pushing these lies on our society today. It seems that the only one’s speaking in harmony today are the christian remnant, those who love the tuner. Harmony is wonderful, but lonely at times.. Either in tune or out of tune, which do we choose. God is the God of harmony. The universe with all the stars, planets and the earth all rotate in perfect harmony and we can to, if we chose too. Jesus, will tune us perfectly.
PS: To be politically correct, is to be out of tune with God.
David McClary
“A Voice From The Mountain”
