“The tuning up of the orchestra can be itself delightful, but only to those who can in some measure, however little, anticipate the symphony.” — C.S. Lewis
Anyone who has attended a symphony knows the moment. The musicians step onto the stage. A violin hums. A horn calls out. Notes rise and fall in apparent disorder. To the untrained ear, it sounds like noise. To the one who knows what is coming, it sounds like promise.
Lewis is giving us a picture of Heaven.
This life—beautiful and broken, harmonious and dissonant—is the tuning. It is not yet the symphony. There are stray notes, unresolved chords, and moments that seem out of place. Suffering feels random. Joy feels fleeting. We long for something more but cannot quite name it.
But to those who anticipate the coming Kingdom—even “in some measure, however little”—the tuning itself becomes meaningful.
Why? Because we know what is coming.
Scripture tells us that all creation is groaning as in the pains of childbirth (Romans 8:22). Groaning is not chaos; it is anticipation. It is the orchestra finding its pitch before the Conductor lifts His hands.
Heaven is not an escape from reality. It is the completion of it. The full, radiant, perfectly resolved symphony of God’s purposes. Every tear wiped away. Every fracture restored. Every longing answered in Christ.
If we do not believe in the symphony, the tuning sounds like noise.
But if we believe in the Conductor—if we trust His score—then even now we can listen differently. Even now we can find delight.
The tuning has begun.
The Symphony is coming.
And the Conductor never misses a cue.
And that’s the mid-week memo.
Steve
