The Gamut and Descant
December 1st, 2005gam·ut n.
1. A complete range or extent: a face that expressed a gamut of emotions, from rage to peaceful contentment.
2. Music. The entire series of recognized notes. [Middle English, the musical scale, from Medieval Latin gamma ut, low G : gamma, lowest note of the medieval scale (from Greek, gamma. See gamma) + ut, first note of the lowest hexachord (after ut, first word in a Latin hymn to Saint John the Baptist, the initial syllables of successive lines of which were sung to the notes of an ascending scale CDEFGA: Ut queant laxis resonare fibris Mira gestorum famuli tuorum, Solve polluti labii reatum, Sancte Iohannes).]
des·cant n.
1. An ornamental melody or counterpoint sung or played above a theme.
2. The highest part sung in part music.
Those who have run the gamut of spiritual experiences know how to sing the low notes. If all you can sing is the high notes, you may just be ornamental.
Descants are pretty, but they are worthless without the low notes. Can you apply this to your Christian walk?
Category: The Crucible |
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