KEEP GOING

A mother wanted to encourage the progress of her young son at the piano and so she bought two tickets to a Paderewski performance.

When the night arrived, she found their seats near the front of the concert hall and they eyed the large Steinway parked by itself on the stage. Soon the mother found a friend to talk with and she did not notice the boy slip away.

When 8:00 p.m. arrived the house light dimmed, the spotlights came on, the Steinway was bathed in light, and only then did this mother notice that her son was seated at the piano bench, where he began innocently to plunk the keys in a rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

The audience roared, his mother gasped, but before she could retrieve her son, Paderewski himself appeared and moved quickly towards the keyboard. “No, don’t quit, keep playing, he whispered to the boy. And reaching past him with his left hand the Master began improvising a bass part, and then with his right hand, he reached around on the other side of the boy to add a running obbligato.

The crowd was spell bound and the piece concluded in thunderous applause as the boy announced, “I didn’t know I could do that.”

Sometimes, we do not feel worthy or able. We get discouraged and are tempted to give up, but by some miracle of grace we feel buoyed up and nudged on. God whispers in our ear, “don’t quit, keep playing” and as we continue, we are lovingly enfolded, graciously inspired, and from our feeble efforts, something wonderful can emerge.

Let us pray. Thank you, God, that all things are possible through you. Strengthen me as I face the difficulties and challenges of this day. Use me as a blessing for others. Amen.