After attending a recital featuring young local musicians, Deacon Patrick Conley opened The Inner Life with a fitting question for guest, Fr. Rob Kroll, S.J.: What can learning an instrument teach us about examining our conscience?
Fr. Kroll offered the image of a boy sitting at a piano for the first time. With no training, the child might happily strike any of the 88 keys in any order. He is technically “free” to play whatever he wants, but the result is more likely to be noise than music.
Compare that with a trained pianist. After years of practice, the musician follows music theory, observes the notes written by the composer, and respects the proper tempo and dynamics. Those apparent “rules” do not destroy the pianist’s freedom. Instead, they allow him to create something beautiful.
Fr. Kroll explained that our consciences work in a similar way.
The world often presents freedom as the ability to do whatever we want, whenever we want, especially according to how we feel in the moment. But God’s commandments are not arbitrary restrictions keeping us from happiness. They teach us how to live according to the purpose for which He created us.
When we choose behaviors or attitudes contrary to God’s will, Fr. Kroll said, we are often left unsettled, disturbed, and unhappy. A well-formed conscience helps us recognize those wrong notes and return to harmony with God.
Like a pianist learning to play beautiful music, we form our consciences so that we can use our freedom well. True freedom is not found in playing any note we please, but in learning to make something beautiful of the life God has given us.
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