Recently I had the privilege to tour the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. The theater hosts some of the finest ballet and opera in the world, and it is a magnificent structure. Gold leaf covers large portions of the main auditorium, making the room both regal and beautiful. The attention to detail throughout the auditorium is world class, and it is obvious that room has been engineered to produce the best quality of sound available.
As we stood in the auditorium listening to our guide provide us a detailed history of the Bolshoi, I noticed that under the seats were small disks that looked like vents. I thought it was odd that the vents would be in the floor blowing air underneath the audience, but I chalked it up to not wanting ductwork in the upper parts of the room.
As our guide told us of the different construction projects that the Bolshoi went under, we learned that it had burned on more than one occasion. It was during one of those reconstructions that Alberto Cavos served as the architect, working to build not only a beautiful building, but one whose acoustics were a marvel. Cavos is quoted as saying, “It (the Bolshoi) is constructed as a musical instrument”.
The design qualities he incorporated provided for excellent sound throughout the auditorium, with part of his genius being the construction which lined the walls with acoustically resonant pinewood panels, and replacing iron and metal in the ceiling with resonant woods. His design shaped the auditorium and stage areas to best project and resonate the sounds coming from the stage, and he cleverly inserted air chambers under the floor of the auditorium to allow for resonance, with strategically placed air holes in the floor to achieve his desired effect. They served much the same purpose as scroll cut holes do in violins and other stringed instruments. In the latter part of the 19th century, the Bolshoi was considered one of the finest theaters in the world to see and hear a performance in.
Sweet Sounds or a Muffled Mess?
As I looked at those symmetrical holes in the floor I understood the intricacies that had been designed into the room to allow it to produce the best representation of the music being played and the songs being sung to the ears of each audience member – no matter where they were sitting. Looking at those holes I realized that if they were covered or clogged, the quality of the sound would be diminished. The same could be said for the coverings on the walls. Without the right covering, the sounds coming from the instruments wouldn’t be accurately represented. The rich, full sound would be diminished and possibly deadened. The song that was composed with defined notes and sound textures would be less than what the composer had intended for the listener to hear. The vessel had a definite impact on the integrity and quality of the work that was being presented.
Weeks later I was looking at pictures I had taken during my tour, and I remembered those features that had been carefully added to produce the room’s ability to resonate so beautifully the music performed in it. I realized that my life has the same capacity. I have the ability in my life to resonate with clarity what is at work in me. It will require me to surround myself with things that allow me carry those waves with integrity, and to allow them to flow through me unimpeded – just as the sound flowed through the walls and floor of that auditorium. My representation of the song being played in my heart is only as true as the attention to detail I put in to make sure it is as pure as possible.
During World War 2, a bomb damaged the Bolshoi, and it was subsequently repaired by the Soviets. To cut costs and time, they filled in the floor of the Bolshoi with concrete, and the resonance that Cavos had built into that floor was lost until the Bolshoi’s renovation which began in 2005 and was completed in 2011. The acoustical quality the Bolshoi had been famous for had been lost until the time of the renovation. Countless performances had been enjoyed by the audience, yet the true sound had been degraded by the corners that had been cut over the years.
Sometimes You Need to Renovate In Order to Resonate
I think about my own life and the sound that is coming from it. God has orchestrated such a beautiful work of love and grace for each of us, and I have experienced it in my life in so many ways. Yet I often allow the busyness of life to clog up the holes in the resonant floor, or the cares of life to cover the walls. That beautiful message becomes muffled and muted until instead of a heavenly sound people hear something more like a garage band. There are days that I don’t resonate who God is and the love He has for us all. If I don’t watch it, those days can string together into weeks or even longer. I finally realize that to resonate as God intends me to, I need to renovate. Just like they did with the concrete floor in the Bolshoi, I have to take a jackhammer to the hardened places I’ve allowed to exist, break them up and allow the Holy Spirit to flow back through my life as He desires to. Only then can I be the vessel to accurately convey God’s love and the Good News of Jesus.
In Ephesians 4:1-3 Paul wrote of this:
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, exhort you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called. 2 With all humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 be eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
“Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called”. Live your life in such a way that the sounds God intended others to hear through you are as clear and true as possible. You and I are vessels, and have the potential to make a difference in other’s lives. Paul wrote of this in 2 Timothy 2:20-23:
20 In a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay; some are for honor, and some for dishonor. 21 One who cleanses himself from these things will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, fit for the Master’s use, and prepared for every good work. 22 So flee youthful desires and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
So what is resonating in you? Is anything resonating in you? Take the steps to renovate whatever is needed in your life to allow God to resonate through you, and expect the Holy Spirit to bring a fresh wind through you to make a difference in the lives of others.
