The surprising sound nearly knocked the breath out of Health Nut Hal. He couldn’t believe how wonderfully deep and rich it was.

“Wow, Mr. Lincoln, that’s amazing!” shouted Hal in order to be heard above the lustrous music. “I never thought you’d get all those messed up parts and pieces together…not together enough to make something that powerful.”

Alfred Lincoln’s dirty head appeared from behind the massive organ. He grinned at Hal as he played a few more chords from Bach’s famous “Organ Toccata.” It was breathtakingly beautiful as it filled the church with its robust tones. The organ’s pipes seemed to dance with their renewed life.

Alfred lingered on a final note and then let the wind from the pipes fade slowly away before he said, “Yeah, this old baby has a lot more life left in her.” He patted the front side of the organ’s keyboard, almost lovingly. His gaze upon the old organ was just as gentle.

Hal said, “It’s really awesome how you could take all those broken, jumbled up parts and put them back together to create that!” He emphasized the “that” with broadsweeping gestures of his hands as if to encompass the magnificent music which had filled the air.

“Well, thank you, Hal. That’s a nice compliment,” said Alfred. “You wanna know the trick?” he asked.

“Trick? Sure!” replied Hal quickly. “I love to know inside tricks.”

“Funny you should mention ‘inside‘ tricks,” chuckled Alfred. “That’s exactly the analogy I was going to use.” Hal’s eyebrows scrunched together as he peered curiously across the dusty organ at Mr. Lincoln. “You see,” continued Alfred, “organs like this one are sort of like you and I are…on the inside, I mean. They are all about organization. Once you understand that, you then know that all you have to do is find that organization and put all the pieces together the right way. Organization leads to beautiful music.”

Hal’s eyebrows scrunched even closer.

“You know that we all have ‘organs’ inside of us, right?’ questioned Alfred.

Hal nodded agreeingly.

“Well, those organs – our internal organs, like our heart, our liver, our kidneys, our brain and such – are all just groups of organized cells. These groups of cells work together to create their own little ‘concert’ which is played by that organ. All those organs are also organized to play together to make one big concert – a whole person!” Alfred stated the last part of the last sentence with a profound air.

Hal’s eyebrows had yet to unscrunch.

Alfred saw the scrunching and said, “It’s all about organization, Hal. Organs like this dusty old beauty here are just a bunch of parts and pieces that need organization. Once all the parts are put in their right places, once each system of the organ is organized, the organ can make its beautiful music. It’s the same with the cells in your body which are organized into your body’s organs. Your body’s organs are further organized into body ‘systems’ which all together, are organized into one whole person. When they all work together…”

“…I can make my own beautiful music!” Hal finished the sentence as his eyebrows went from scrunched to understandingly raised.

Alfred grinned and played a lovely “Ta Da” on the organ whose pipes sang out and filled the old church magnificently.
 

Dr. Gregg
Posted – September 4, 2012