A musical concert or an aggravating noise?
To say the least, and I usually do, this summer has been quite a journey for the kind lady of the parsonage and myself. I don’t remember a summer like the one we just went through. The fact that we got through it is amazing.
We have stayed home more often than usual, but I am not complaining. What better night than the kind lady of the parsonage and I sharing what we are doing?
One night last week, I turned off the television; we were getting ready for bed when my wife said, “What’s that aggravating noise?”
I didn’t know what he was talking about. I asked him to tell me what noise he was referring to.
“Listen,” he whispered, “don’t you hear that noise?”
I have to say that one of my problems is that even though I listen, most of the time I don’t listen. There is supposed to be a connection between listening and listening, but it doesn’t always work for me. I guess I am connected differently to my wife.
When they say that men and women are the same, obviously they have never been married. Both men and women have their eccentricities. Mine is more obvious than my wife’s.
A husband soon discovers after his marriage that there is a great difference between him and his wife. It takes you a while to figure it out and figure out how to deal with it.
As I tried to listen, I couldn’t hear what she was hearing. And then I heard it. Somewhere in our living room, a tree frog invited himself to give us one of his concerts.
There is nothing I like more at night than listening to a tree frog sing its last song.
“That’s not an aggravating noise,” I replied, “it’s a tree frog singing a musical concert for us.”
“It’s not music,” said my wife, “it’s an aggravating noise and we have to get rid of it right now.”
Now if anyone knows anything about music, it’s my wife. He plays the piano, the organ, the guitar, the flute and many times it touches me. But that’s a different story.
For me, I have no musical experience. If you ever heard me sing, you would understand.
When I met my wife, she was singing in a musical group. They did a great job and traveled from church to church on the weekends. So, she can sing very well.
Not once have I even entertained myself with the idea of her and I singing a duet.
“Where is that aggravating noise coming from?”
I learned that when my wife asks a question I must be very careful in my answer. I’m not saying cheat questions, it does, but I’m not saying that.
He searched the entire living room to find this tree frog that sang for the rest of the night. Not once did the music stop while I was searching. I lay back and enjoyed the concert.
At one point, she looked at me and said, “Why are you smiling?”
Without realizing she was smiling, I just looked at her and said, “I’m enjoying that wonderful music.”
“Well stop and help me find where that tree frog is.”
We never found that tree frog that night. He sang all night, and when I got up in the morning, he was finishing his concert.
During the following nights, that tree frog entertained us with his musical concert. I enjoyed it while my wife despised it.
I guess that’s the difference between people. One person enjoys music while the other sees it as noise. What is the real difference between music and noise?
The only difference is the person who listens. Since I don’t have any musical credibility, I can listen to the song of a tree frog and enjoy it as a beautiful musical concert.
On the other hand, my wife is very skilled musically and can distinguish what is musical and what is just noise.
A few days later, my wife got up, walked into the room and asked, “Where is that noise?”
“Oh,” I said quite cheerfully, “you mean the musical concert that we enjoyed the last few nights.”
She looked at me with one of her looks.
“I think the tree frog has finished his concert and has moved on to his next engagement.”
For a moment, I was a little sorry because I enjoyed all the music from that tree frog. If it was up to me, and it isn’t, I’d hire that tree frog for a concert every night.
Last night, while we were sitting in the living room, my wife said, “Isn’t that wonderful?”
Not knowing what he was referring to, I asked him and he said, “That aggravating tree frog noise is gone. I really enjoy the quiet.”
For a moment, I wanted to reply, “I really enjoyed the tree frog concert.” He knew that would not be the right thing to say at a time like this. There is a time when you can agree on something. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we have to agree on what is important.
Amos, the Old Testament prophet, put it this way: “Can two walk together if they disagree?” (Amos 3: 3).
Throughout my life, I have discovered that the important thing is not what you disagree on, but what you agree on, and that unites them.