| The Beauty of Self Control |
Chapter 15 |
Page 7 |
There is One who can take our lives, with all their jangled chords, their faults and sin, and bring from them the music of love, joy, and peace. There is an old legend of an instrument that long hung silent upon a castle wall. Its strings were broken. It was covered with dust. No one understood it, and no one could put it in order. Many had tried to do this, but had failed. No one could play on it. But one day a stranger came to the castle. He saw the instrument on the wall. Taking it down, he quickly brushed the webs from it, gently reset the broken strings, and then played upon it, making marvelous music.
“Then chords long silent woke beneath his touch,
And hearts and voices round were strangely stilled
As deeper rolled the harmony and grand,
Till all the castle with the notes was filled;
It pealed the war notes ‘mid the conflict’s din,
Then sank into a solemn requiem.
“Beneath the fingers of the master hand
Gladly it echoed youth’s ambitious dream;
Then, gently, like the ripples on the shore,
Whispered sweet confidence in love supreme.
Changeful the theme as waves upon the sea,
From low breathed hope to psalms of victory.
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