Are you releasing “the voice of God?”

January 27, 2012 in Finding Passion with 18 Comments

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would have had a birthday this week.  He was born on January 27th, 1756.  By the age of three, he was picking out chords on the family piano.  Mozart’s father was an accomplished composer himself but pretty much gave up teaching little Wolfgang by the time he hit five years old.  The little guy resisted formal training and just seemed to have an innate connection to the music that went beyond traditional learning.

In fact, his ease of creating musical works gained him the scorn of his contemporaries.  While fictionalized, the movie Amadeus reveals the jealous and angry feelings of Antonio Salieri, another composer in Vienna, Austria at the time:

“Astounding! It was actually beyond belief. These were first and only drafts of music. But they show no corrections of any kind. Not one. He had simply written down music already finished in his head. Page after page of it as if he was just taking dictation. And music finished as no music is ever finished. Displace one note and there would be diminishment. Displace one phase and the structure would fall. It was clear to me. That sound I had heard in the Archbishop’s palace had been no accident. Here again was the very voice of God! I was staring through the cage of those meticulous ink strokes – at an absolute beauty.”

Can you imagine having talent like that?  Talent that just breaks through – without formal training or book knowledge?   Maybe you do have that kind of talent.  Is there an area in your life where you suspect a God-given talent that has never been fully released?  In art, music, comedy, writing, cooking, landscaping, architecture, gardening or ???   Have you second-guessed it because it’s “not normal?”  Because you never read all the books on the subject?  Could it be that you too are a vessel for imparting a supernatural gift to the world?

Click on this YouTube segment of Mozart’s Requiem.  As you listen to Mozart “capturing the voice of God” ask yourself where your greatest talents lie.  Are you allowing them full release?

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  • Theresa

    Absolutely love this, Dan.  I taught myself to play the piano as a teenager and even though I was a regular pianist for church, I never considered myself a “real” musician since I play by ear.  As I’ve gotten older, I have tossed that thinking aside.  And it amuses me that I can transpose a song on the spot while many formally trained pianist will need the music written in another key.  

    So yeah.  I wonder how many talents lay uncultivated because of perceived barriers.  Off to listen to the Requiem.  Mozart is one of my very favorite composers.  

    • Dan Miller

      Theresa – yes, I am confident there are many talents that have become buried because of “perceived barriers.”  Thanks for your comments. 

  • http://www.leadtoimpact.com/ Bernard Haynes

    Great post Dan. I am working with my teenage son with cultivating his talent with music. He is teaching himself how to play the keyboard. He also has a gift of leadership. People gravitate to him young and old for leadership in certain areas. This post was a great encouragement to me to keep supporting and encouraging my son.

    Thanks,
    Bernard Haynes
    http://www.leadtoimpact.com

    • Anonymous

      Bernard – what a privilege we have as parents to help release our childrens’ unique talents.  Enjoy the process!

  • http://talesofwork.com kimanzi constable

    I’m working to cultivate my writing talents and I find myself second guesing sometimes. Thanks for the inspiration!

    • http://www.leadtoimpact.com/ Bernard Haynes

      Kimanzi, I checked out your site. You have some good things going. Don’t second guess yourself. Keep doing what you do.

      Regards,
      Bernard Haynes
      http://www.leadtoimpact.com

      • http://talesofwork.com kimanzi constable

        Thanks for those kind words and nice to “meet” you!

  • Cfeather

    A lot of talented people can’t make a living with the talent God gave them because what they produce has no value in the marketplace. That’s the sad reality. I think Mozart died a pauper, but a lot of people got rich off his music because they were situated at a different spot in the marketplace.

    • Jeantype

      Sometimes the limitations on making a living are self-imposed. How many talented people refuse to accommodate the marketplace with their creative work because they consider what is in demand as “beneath” them? Edgar Allen Poe’s wife starved to death because Poe refused to write stories that could have been serialized in the more popular literary magazines of the day. I knew a gifted artist who refused to do commercial art (magazine, advertising, etc.) and ended up making minimum wage working in a sporting goods store. It may be less challenging or gratifying to write ad copy than it is to write the Great American Novel, but it sure beats living under an overpass and dumpster diving.

  • http://www.facebook.com/wendi.gordon Wendi Gordon

    I am definitely my own worst critic, and regularly doubt my abilities despite affirmation from others.  However, I began this year by finally publishing Timeless Truths for Troubled Times, the book of Christian meditations I’ve felt God calling me to write for several years now.  New Year’s Eve was when it first became available on Amazon. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with many people at church buying multiple copies to give to friends going through difficult times.   I’m very glad I allowed my God-given talent for writing to be released in this way.

    • Anonymous

      Wendi – it’s easy to second-guess our talent when expressing it seems to come easily.  Congratulations on taking action and getting something out there.

  • Kathleen

    I have always been talented with Leadership and Administration. It just came natural to me but you cannot lead when you have no specialty and you cannot administer if you have no power. I have been laid off from the design field which is where I have all of my job experience. BUT I am breaking back in after a 3 year hiatus, after God did a major work in my mind and after I did some major work becoming prepared to lead. I am a much better person for all of this and hope that those skills will someday be used by the Automotive. If not then it will be their loss.

    • Anonymous

      Kathleen – you point out a very important issue.  ”Talent” must be surrounded by clear plans, passionate action, administration and perhaps sales and marketing to really make an impact.  Talent by itself can languish and atrophy.

  • http://www.postcollegesuccess.com Daniel Holterhaus

    I believe the most important thing here is that Mozart’s father quit teaching him at age 5 because he had such a knack for music.  What if his dad had sent him to lessons from someone else at that time?  Sometimes finding out what we were good at when we were young is the easiest way to find ourselves later in life!  Thanks Dan.

    • Anonymous

      Daniel – I cringe to think how often true talent has been subverted by others who tried to shape it into something we already recognize and understand.  

  • Bernice Coles

    As a lover of classical music my thanks to Mozart and his father. Often “talent” doesn’t look like “talent” to us because it does not SHOUT loudly, run FAST, speak BOLDLY, or taste WONDERFUL. As we create work we love let us all yearn to discover our talent no matter what venue it takes and learn to serve our gifts with a hungry, thirsty, wanting and waiting…..world. Thanks Dan, great insight.  

    • Anonymous

      Bernice – isn’t that the truth.  ”Talent” takes so many forms to embrace the unique ways God gifts us.  I know you’re expressing yours in meaningful ways.

  • http://www.liveitforward.com Kent Julian

    Great post, Dan!

    As a youth pastor, I never realized I had an “entrepreneurial” gift because I didn’t really know what an entrepreneur was (I couldn’t even spell it :)

    Interesting…all the things that made me a good youth pastor have made me a good entrepreneur.  ”Marketing” youth events.  ”Communication” – both speaking and writing.  Plus, I learned that success takes a lot of focus and grinding it out.

    Thanks for always encouraging us to dream big!

    Kent Julianwww.liveitforward.comwww.KentJulian.com