Just Ask Ludwig...
Monday, March 10, 2025
“This is the mark of an admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble.” - Ludwig van Beethoven
I have about an 80% hearing loss in my right ear for which I wear a hearing aid. However, I cannot imagine what it would be like to not be able to hear at all. And yet, that is exactly the fate that befell Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the greatest composers of all time.
Beethoven started experiencing hearing loss at an early age, which grew more severe as he got older. From 1802 until his death in 1827, he suffered from severe depression due to his worsening deafness. He even admitted in a letter to his brothers that he had contemplated suicide but felt that he still had some great music left to compose.
With the help of some primitive hearing aids as well as his keenly developed sense of rhythm and harmony, Beethoven managed to complete most of his compositions. Some of his best-known works include The Piano Sonata No. 14 (known as “Moonlight Sonata”), the Bagatelle No. 25 (known as “Für Elise”), the Third Symphony (known as “Heroic Symphony”, the Fifth or Destiny Symphony, and the Ninth Symphony or Choral.
We may not be as musically gifted as Beethoven, but we do have several things in common with the Maestro. First, Romans 12:6 makes it abundantly clear that as Christians, we received at least one – and in many cases multiple – spiritual gifts the moment that we were “born again”. And just like Beethoven’s musical talent, these gifts are not meant for us to keep to ourselves. On the contrary, we are to use them to glorify God and to bless and edify our fellow believers.
Second, again like Beethoven, our life is certain to be filled with challenges to meet and obstacles to overcome. Some of them will be physical like Beethoven’s deafness and my hearing loss, vertigo, lisp, and arthritic knees… and others are of a mental, emotional, or spiritual nature. No matter what tests and trials God allows to enter our lives, throwing in the towel isn’t an option.
Just ask Ludwig…
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Revelation 3:21 (NKJV)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
