Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. was an American author, poet, doctor, and teacher of the 1800s. Ever since I read his clever poem the Deacon’s Masterpiece about a one-hoss shay in high school I have been drawn to his work. So many quotes are attributed to him and here is one of my favorites…
“Alas for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them!”
I’ve always wondered what he meant when he wrote that. Is it that we allow the shattered hopes, disillusionments, unfulfilled expectations, hurts, rejections, and broken promises of life to beat us down so much that the “music” that lies within us will never be played? Or is it that the “music” lays within us because we are too timid to sing?
I’ve always thought it was referring to fear. Maybe we are just afraid to step out and do something. We are afraid of what others will think. We are afraid we will make a mistake. We are afraid we will be hurt. In many ways we can be our own worst enemy. We talk ourselves out of happiness, success, relationships, and usually what we fear or anticipate is far worse than what actually happens.
Here’s an example. A few years ago I had a tooth pulled. It was what they call a “dry socket” which has a very painful healing process. Now I’m deathly afraid of dentists. It took every bit of courage I had to just go get the tooth pulled. So when the dentist said, “If this gives you any pain, come back to me and I’ll take care of it for you,” I thought, “Yeah, right!” I conjured up visions of Steve Martin as the sadistic dentist in Little Shop of Horrors.
The first couple of days I had excruciating pain. I called and got a prescription for some high-powered painkillers but even they didn’t do the trick. About the fourth day I became “painfully” aware that I would have to go back to “Steve” for some relief.
I tentatively came in and told him my problem. He put me in “the chair,” looked me over, smiled wryly, and said, “I’ll fix you right up.” Then he took a piece of gauze, dipped it in a solution, tucked it in the cavern where my tooth once was, and presto, change-o, NO PAIN. So for four days I had suffered unnecessarily because of what I feared would be done to me.
I wonder if people fear pursuing a relationship with Jesus Christ for the same reasons. They fear they are unworthy. Well, yes – we are all unworthy but that shouldn’t hold us back. After all, that’s why we need Jesus in our lives. People fear Christ will force them to make changes in their lives – changes they don’t want to make. Actually, Christ’s way isn’t generally one of forcing. If we come closer to Him, we may choose to make changes, but those are our choices. He pretty much loves us just the way we are. (John 3:16, 17) He loves us with all our problems, unworthiness, and imperfections.
Whatever our heart’s desire is, we shouldn’t let fear hold us back. Fear robs us of what could be. We all have some kind of music in us. Music is a metaphor for our hopes and dreams. But unless we overcome our fears and actually “sing” or do something about it, that music dies within us. How sad! It would be better to “sing” slightly off key than to let the music die in us.
