For a much needed break I am currently staying with relatives, and in their living room sits a piano. I think this is my favorite musical instrument. As a child I started lessons but unfortunately decided to stop so that I could concentrate more on my studies.
This is one of my biggest regrets. Every year I would procrastinate and say, “I’m going back soon” but never reached. Some years later, my teacher died. I was heartbroken. She was a very warm and gentle person. It hurts me to think she may have been disappointed that I never returned, but really I was extremely disappointed with myself. I haven’t taken lessons since but to be honest, I want to. Sitting at their piano my mind raced along pathways of memories – times of me practicing at home, playing at functions, and one time my teacher hugging me after I played entire sheets of music incorrectly in front of her colleagues. I was so embarrassed but her efforts to comfort me helped in easing the humiliation. These occurrences, good and bad, never caused my desire for playing the piano to dissipate. I still want to make music.
This thought then led me to think, life is like music. We all try to follow the rhythm in our hearts, play different instruments in the orchestra of society, and as the popular saying goes, some march to the beat of their drum! Sometimes the pitch produced is perfect as the melodies and harmonies are spot on, other times we are way out of tune. Nevertheless, we all continue to create our own unique style of music. I imagine God singing with us as we write songs of joy, tranquility, and love, for Him and ourselves with our choice of actions. Every kind word, every good deed, a quiet prayer, or even a smile is a lovely accompaniment for another person’s score. So I may never make it back to piano lessons but it doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped making music.
