July 23, 2006

 

Instrumental Faith

 

   When Ben Franklin looked at life, the glass was always half full — which is probably why he invented the little-known armonica.

 

   The armonica has its roots in the “singing glass”party trick:  wet your finger and rub it around the rim of a crystal cup and you get a pure musical note.  Add water and the pitch gets higher.  Remove some and the pitch goes lower.

 

   That simple diversion is mentioned in documents from ancient Iran  and the astronomer Galileo wrote about it in 1638.  But it was Ben Franklin who raised the musical glass idea to become the toast of 18th Century classical music.  After the American inventor heard British musician Richard Puckridge performing on “the singing glasses,”he and London glassblower Charles James created a set of crystal bowls that made different musical notes because each was tuned to its own pitch.  

 

   Painted various colours to represent each note of the musical scale, the bowls were nested inside each other and looked like a stack of goblets on their side.  An iron rod ran through the centre and was attached to a foot pedal that made them turn.  To create music, a player touched the spinning glasses with moistened fingers. swelling or softening the notes depending on the amount of pressure used.  Franklin called his invention the armonica, the Italian word for harmony.

 

   Immediately, the instrument captivated composers like Mozart, Strauss and Beethoven, all of whom wrote music for it.  Its angelic tones were so soothing, many believed the instrument had healing powers.  Dr. Franz Mesmer — the father of hypnotism — used the armonica to calm his patients, and Ben Franklin said it cured the longand intense “melancholia” of a Polish princess.  

 

   But when virtuoso player Marion Davies became gravely ill, rumours blamed the armonica.  Soon, other performers began to complain of nervousness, dizziness, numbness in the hands and muscle spasms.  Caught up in the hysteria, even some listeners became ill.

 
 

  When blind concert artist Marianne Kerchgessner died suddenly at 39, it was blamed on “the deterioration of her nerves caused by the vibrations of the armonica.”  Some even believed the instrument’s harmonies had mystical poweers that disturbed the spirits of the dead and drove listeners insane.  By 1820, the armonica was all but forgotten.  It stayed that way until 1984 when Boston glassblower Gerhard Finkenbeiner recreated Franklin’s instrument and began making replicas.

 

   Of course, the armonica was just an instrument, neither magical or malevolent.  And in that way, it’s a fitting metaphor for faith.  Though a genuine trust in God is a powerful and profound thing,  it’s not the instant solution to every problem as some preachers proclaim.  As Jesus said, God “gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good and sends his rain on the just and the unjust, too.” (Matt. 4:45)  

 

   Faith is an instrument designed to bring us closer to our Father and generate harmony, both with the divine and the divided children of his great family. But it’s not guaranteed to always bring us what we want.  God never promises that trust in the love and power of Jesus will always change our circumstances, only that it will always change us. Sometimes God does work miracles.  But even when He doesn’t, He uses faith to bring us help, hope and holiness.  Trust in him leads to healing and wholeness.  It gets us through; gives us wisdom, strength and patience; soothes us; and saves us for eternity.  

 

   Sadly, that’s not enough for some.  When they see bad things happen to people of faith, they assume faith isn’t working when, in reality, they just haven’t recognized its true effects because of their faulty expectations.  Even some Christians abandon faith when they become disappointed or discouraged.

 

   Our task is to replicate the faith of the earliest believers who trusted God to do what was best and right, regardless of the outcome.  Let’s demonstrate the comforting, confident, life-calming consequence of faith, without trying to turn it into a magic cure-all.  If we do that for our Father, it’ll be music to his ears.

 

By Rick Gamble.  Published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.  Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications.  To subscribe to this free weekly article, send a note to Rick at sgamble@bfree.on.ca