Prepared Piano

People may say, "What an odd term to choose for this meditation!" To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive about it myself. However, my heart was stirred within me as God began showing me His cues through prayer and scripture reading. So, as I collect my thoughts and share what He has shown me, I pray that God will cause all who read this to see Him in a new light and that they will be empowered in their worship of Christ, the Dayspring, the Rod of Jesse, the Desire of nations, the Key of David, the newborn King!


First, what is meant by the term prepared piano? 


Coined by American composer John Cage in the 1940s for his Bacchanale, the term refers to any piano in which the pitches, timbres and dynamic responses of individual notes have been altered with screws, rubber erasers and other objects placed between the strings. This level of preparation takes a great deal of planning, forethought, and practice. The result can be stunning or horrid depending on tastes but one fact remains that a serious transformation always takes place in the sound of the piano in question and, therefore, in the impact it has on audience members.


Every year, I do a lot of thinking during the holiday season between Halloween and New Year's. I see how people, church people, are divided about what to celebrate and what not to celebrate. Some people are offended by such terms as "Season's greetings" and "Happy Holidays." Others are consumed by the never-ending trips to malls and other shopping centers. Yet others are looking forward to the perpetual events and traditions that constitute a cultural holiday season -- presents, turkey dinners, Santa Claus rides, cookie-decorating parties, Christmas pageants, etc . . .


Do I dare ask the questions that keep coming to my mind? 


How should Christ-followers celebrate such holidays? 
Are we to fuss over traditions for the sake of appeasing consciences and maintaining status quo? 
Are we to be primarily concerned and consumed by political correctness, etiquette, decorations and lights, food gatherings, social outings? 


There is nothing inherently wrong with any of the aforementioned words per se; however, they all focus on the outside.


Perhaps, just like a prepared piano, we should endeavor to focus on the inside. Being the Master preparer, Jesus travails and traverses between the strings of our hearts in order to transform us, His earthen and clay vessels, and thoroughly prepare us to worship and welcome Him. He pulls, twists, pricks, prods, digs, urges, stirs, prompts, molds, and shapes the strings of our hearts in such a way that we are rendered prepared masterpieces “created in Christ Jesus to do good works which He prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)


I think of the lyrics of a worship song I learned while a freshman at Biola University,

“Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary

Pure and holy, tried and true,

With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.” 

(Jaci Velasquez)

How can we be refined, prepared, tried, purified? By allowing God to reveal to us the areas that have kept us chained, confessing them to God and others, and turning from old sinful habits while embracing the call to obedience. 


When we feel harassed, insulted, infringed upon, we are simply being prepared to extend grace to others. When the exorbitant bills are due and there is still “more month at the end of the money,” it means that we are being prepared to hope and exercise faith/trust in God. When we are stretched too thin by deadlines and responsibilities, we are being prepared to receive the solace and comfort that the peace of Christ provides. When tears and heartaches become our daily food, we are being prepared to experience full joy in our Redeemer and Friend. When we are served with divorce papers, marital unfaithfulness, and betrayals, we are ultimately being prepared to turn to God’s unfailing love. 


He is preparing us, dear friends, in good and bad times.


So, let us follow in the footsteps of David who humbly said in Psalm 139:23-24, 

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; 

test me and know my anxious thoughts. 

See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Let us enter God's examination room during times of preparation, asking ourselves:

• Can I find a quiet space in the busy-ness of my life to commune with God?
• Is my heart truly prepared to meet Christ during this season?
• Have I been thinking more highly of myself or more highly of God?
• Do I think that I can justify myself by following the law or do I embrace the blood of Christ?
• Am I trusting God to save me and keep my feet from slipping?
• Do I belittle others because of their wrongdoing?
• Do I honestly and completely recognize that without God’s intervention I am capable of committing heinous crimes the like of murder and sexual perversion?
• Am I submitting/surrendering my sinful tendencies and desires to God so that He can do away with them on a continual basis? 

Answering those questions honestly will bring to us an awareness of our need to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ and to express our gratitude to God for His amazing grace and the gift of righteousness He has granted to us.


Holy Spirit, do in us all you want to do in order to prepare our hearts for Your service. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.

Whole Rest

"God Himself is at rest.

And at the end of the journey

we'll surely rest with God."

Hebrews 4:10, MSG

I have spent the majority of my life as an academic person and I must say that breaks are some of the most anticipated features of academe. Students, staff, and faculty alike look forward to having a most blessed respite from the daily grind. Simply put, the idea of a break is one that is always welcome. 


The unmistakable longing we have for rest is one that has been placed within us by our good Creator to help us remember who He is and who we are. Out of the dust He made us, but He made us in His likeness. Therefore, just as He rested after His work of creating, we, too, need to pause at regular intervals and become refreshed.


Yet, not all of us fully appreciate the idea of true rest, whether in life or in music. As soon as we get a free minute, we are busy filling it with mindless chatter or doodling. Though we take all kinds of breaks, we tend to overcrowd them with incessant activity. At times, even our vacations lose their intended purpose. They include so much running around that they often become more tiring than the actual load we carry in our jobs. 


Similarly, in music, I find that the younger or the more inexperienced the performers, the more uncomfortable they are with silence. Even more experienced musicians have to remind themselves from time to time that it is alright to observe the rests indicated in the music. It is as if there is this magnetic pull inside of us toward more and more sound. This tendency in us has but conditioned us and our audiences to grow uncomfortable with silence, which partly explains the decline in recital attendance. A loud rock band is more likely to attract huge crowds than the most accomplished classical guitarist because of the sheer volume of sound generated.


Theoretically speaking, rests are signs that indicate a time of silence or a brief interruption in the continuum of a musical execution. They exist to frame specific sections of music and to heighten our aural readiness for what is to come next. Whole rests are even more effective in that they require more attentiveness since their duration encompasses a whole measure. 


Still, that rationale does not convince every musician of the importance of musical rests as suggested by the following interaction. 


This seemingly innocent question was posed in a freshman level sight-singing class: 


"Why do we have to have these stupid rests in a score?"  
(And yes, for those who are theory teachers, the previous question came [unfortunately] from a singer). 


The wise professor calmly answered, 


". . . Because music would cease to exist without the blessing of silence . . . there would simply be this unending cacophony . . . and you, Miss Soprano, would be out of a job since you must breathe in order to sing." 


Ouch! Despite the redness that covered her face, I believe that young singer grasped the importance of the teacher’s statement.


Humorous or hurtful though it was, the previous exchange poignantly made me aware of the fact that without silence, there can be no music. Without music, there can be no heartbeat. And without a heartbeat, there can be no life. This connection between silence, music, heartbeat, and life points me directly to God's Word.  A passage that has served me well in silent meditation is Psalm 4:4 which says, 

". . . When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent."

Silence affords us the opportunity to place our hearts before the mirror of Christ so the hidden desires of our hearts can be exposed and cleansed by the Master refiner. When that occurs, silence ushers us into a place where we can hear the beauteous voice of Christ, which is music to our ears. The Word of the Lord, according to Psalm 19, "revives the soul and gives joy to the heart," creating the kind of heartbeat that produces and sustains life – such a life that even the angels pale in comparison.


Christ offers us the only rest that we truly need but we seem to go in all kinds of directions looking for cheap, unfulfilling, depleting rest. We are a plugged-in culture and, as such, are accustomed to seek “rest” in fluff – continuous white noise. We have grown incredibly restless, contentious, and haggard in our pursuit for more relaxation. Whole industries are based on vacation, entertainment, leisure, and pleasure such as resorts, movie theaters, tours, etc . . . Despite all these major conveniences, we still find ourselves more tired. How often do we jokingly say to each other, "I need a vacation from my vacation?" After a long day of work or school, how often do we long to park ourselves in front of the TV or mindlessly surf site after site on the internet? 


I wonder how much delight we would bring to God’s heart if we would include rest, whole rest in our lives. When a break is coming our way, could our plans include a time of restoration with God? Could we possibly survive as we go from activity to activity with an occasional fast-food prayer? Often, these leisure plans require a great deal of money and time -- the two "lords" of our era. Are we allowing our time and money to dethrone Jesus with our vacation plans? 


It is staggering to think that Jesus is doing something entirely different with His "vacation." Ever since He ascended to heaven, the Holy Scriptures tell us that He is sitting (resting, vacationing) at the right hand of God. Doing what? He is preparing a place for you and me, watching over us, grieving when we disobey, rejoicing when we honor Him, providing for our needs, working tirelessly to bring His kingdom to completion, orchestrating the events leading to His union with His beloved church. In His vacation, He is hard at work preparing for eternal intimacy with His bride. 


What about us? 
What are we doing for our gloriously handsome groom? 
Are we resting in Him or are we running from Him like Jonah?


My prayer is that we will cherish His words found in Matthew 11:28-29, 

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 

and I will give you rest. 

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 

for I am gentle and humble in heart, 

and you will find rest for your souls." 

Jesus, the Music of all ages, the Heartbeat of every believer, the Hound of heaven, beckons us to enter His rest, true rest. Will we not we heed His call?


Lord Jesus, we are so grateful for Your invitation. We are indeed weary from trying so hard to be in charge of our own lives. We are tired of giving our attention to ephemeral recreation instead of truly soaking ourselves into the peace You provide. Now, we come to You and surrender our hearts to You so we can rest in You for all eternity. In Christ’s holy name, Amen!

Ostinato

Long after the multi-headliner earthquake, Haiti lingers on and on in my mind. Gone are the long hours of coverage and the notes of encouragement or sympathy. Still, silent tears often stream down my cheeks as memories of lost lives and hungry faces continue to roll on replay in my brain. Not unlike my brain, those images seem to be a perennial occurrence in Haiti.  It seems as though this island nation is to be on a perpetual sequence of attacks, traumatic experiences, and assaults. 


To say that the almost minute-long earthquake of January 12, 2010 caused great damage is purely an understatement. In truth, it is but a symbol of what has taken place on Haitian soil for centuries at many levels – physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, and environmental. It resembles a fatal series of darts going into human flesh – a grievous scenario that was quite common to the native Indians of Hispaniola. It typifies the endless misery, poverty, degradation, erosion, and mismanagement of Haiti.  It is reminiscent of the ongoing voodoo sacrifices that claim the lives of thousands of Haitians. 


Those are serious issues that disinter great desperation and even anger in concerned individuals, causing them to ask, 


“How much more can Haiti take?”   


In that, we all share a common lot with Haiti. Each one of us has pondered the familiar question, "How much more can I take?" Problems and challenges seem to lurk at every corner with no respite in sight. 


An old friend betrays our confidence. 
A spouse calls it quits. 
A family member abuses our generosity. 
A tornado successfully destroys the house we carefully built . . . twice. 


At times, it seems that no matter how hard we try we fall flat on our faces. The promotion for which we worked so hard goes right under our noses and lands on somebody else’s lap. Our medical bills are above the roof and by the due date we realize our bank account balance falls far below the needed amount. "When it rains, it pours," is a saying to which we have grown quite familiar and it seems to be true in so many of our lives. It is often hard to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel because we are so consumed or engulfed by life’s woes.   


Thankfully, there is grace. 


God’s grace provides exactly what we need when we need it. In His quest to transform my heart and meet my need, God graciously brought a term to my attention that has completely changed my perspective, and that is the term ostinato. 


Ostinato refers to a brief phrase or motive that is repeated over and over in the same pattern or pitch. A piano piece that is well-known for its effective use of ostinato is the "Raindrop" prelude by Chopin. It features a constant A-flat/G-sharp repetition throughout the piece that can be quite nettlesome and irritating in the hands of an unskilled pianist. Yet, with an expert and sensitive performer, we are brought to a place of exquisite tranquility as we listen to a haunting melody in the upper register amply supported by beautiful harmonies.


Several years back, a wonderful friend and colleague played said piece in a modest chapel in Limbé, Haiti during a North Haiti Music Camp session. I am biased, perhaps, but I think his was possibly the most beautiful rendition I have heard to date. It was such a reminder of God's presence and peace in a land of unrest, strife, and scarcity. Though the middle section of the piece is scored in the lower register and intended by Chopin to be tumultuous, out of it emerged a beautiful and sonorous duet as my friend played.  


As I contrast the haunting and high single melody with the low and somber duet, those two pictures depict to me the presence of God in both good and bad times. In good times, we tend to think that we are faring well on our own (solo); yet, that is never true because God is always with us. In bad times, however, we realize that we need help but the melody of God is quite low and almost too imperceptible for us to hear because we focus so much on the "ostinato" (the troublesome and repetitive darts) of our lives. 


Luke 18:1-8 brings forth an alternative for those of us who believe in God. It tells the story of the widow who repeatedly went to the judge of her town with the same request, "Grant me justice against my adversary." She remained humble; nonetheless, she was so persevering and persistent that her wish was eventually granted to her. The passage said that the judge was determined to see that the widow gets justice if for no other reason than putting an end to her incessant request and daily trips to court.


As Jesus concludes the story, He calls His followers to embrace a similar commitment to a spiritual ostinato -- a summons to pray with perseverance, constancy, and devotion. Paul echoes that sentiment in Ephesians 6:18,

"Be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

He reiterates said principle in Colossians 4:2,

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."

And again in 1 Thessalonians 5:17,

"Pray without ceasing."

Through the Master's teaching we learn that the right response to the constant presence of strife is daily and incessant prayer. Therefore, as trials pile up, so should our prayers increase. And since trials produce joy by keeping us on our knees and dependent on God, we can conclude that the call to be joyful always is directly linked to our commitment to pray continually. 


So, let us seek to be persistent (ostinato/obstinate) in prayer -- fixing our eyes on Jesus in the midst of trials, doing what is right, pursuing and embracing purity, helping the poor, developing our gifts, clinging to the hope found in Christ, holding on to our faith until Christ returns, encouraging the body of Christ, and sharing the good news of life to a dying world.


Father, guide us today and grant that we will seek You when things do not go according to our wishes and preferences. Teach us to keep our spiritual "ostinato" intact and unsullied so that, come trials and persecutions, we may endure, persevere, and persist in righteousness until the day of the Lord. In Christ and for the glory of Christ, we pray. Amen!

Performance

"Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting You are God."

Psalm 90:1-2, NIV

This morning, I am awestruck by two phenomena. The first one took me by surprise last evening while I was still going non-stop through a dizzying day packed with sundry activities and the second was equally unexpected -- I fell asleep and I woke up!  


How does that work? 
How does the body know the very moment to clock out and clock in?
How does this high-tech communication take place between mind, heart, and body?


Despite the availability of coffee, alarm clocks, sleeping pills, "mood" music, and a host of other controlling measures, I have to admit that I may well facilitate good sleeping habits but I certainly cannot control the actual instant when sleep and my being come together or when they part ways. One thing is sure, however, I have learned that my whole being (mind, heart, body) is an instrument that can neither achieve excellence nor maintain healthy function unless I sleep and wake up regularly.


Sleep and wakefulness go hand in hand. The more restful the former is, the more productive the latter becomes. As people become accepting of and disciplined with their sleep schedule, they perform more efficiently and effectively -- they eat better, they breathe more easily, they smile more often, they produce more fruit.


So, one would think that living accordingly must be an easy matter or a sensible decision that all gratefully adopt.


Yet, bombarded with deadlines, demands, directions, doubts, and depressing thoughts, we often fall prey to the lure of performance success which leaves us overwhelmed, overstretched, overbooked, and overcommitted. Forgetting that there is a divine hand in charge of our lives, we pack our schedules stock full until it seems that one thing barely ends before another is already in full swing. It is a clear picture of a hurried society that nurses frenzy and on-the-go mania, a losing battle with time.


This fast-paced lifestyle is not foreign to performance-minded individuals. It is becoming clearer to me that the more accomplished people are as performers, the more peppered their lives become with commotion, stress, and pressure. The more they seek to have their performances under control, the more out of control real life turns out to be. If they are not careful, performers may mistakenly sacrifice the peace -- the inner peace God promises to His children -- in deference to the thrill, the adrenaline rush, or the "high" that can be attained in the spotlight, regardless of the brevity of said attention.


Some may believe it is a problem that only surfaces in the performing arts. However, the Bible suggests that it is a human problem -- we all desire to "perform" all the time. We perform in real life each time we seek to take the reins of our lives, failing to acknowledge that only God is sovereign. We perform when we greedily receive and hoard recognition -- failing to send the glory up to its only deserving recipient, our Master and Lord Jesus.  


King Herod made that mistake, as recorded in Acts 12:21: 

"On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, 

sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 

They shouted, 'This is the voice of a god, not of a man.' 

Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, 

an angel of the Lord struck him down, 

and he was eaten by worms and died." (NIV)

I, for one, find myself awestruck by this human tendency to usurp God's authority and to steal His glory. There have been so many blessings granted to me throughout my life. Yet, have I always paused to thank God for each one? When decisions come to be made, do I always consult my Master and Lord or do I quickly pounce on the plunder of opportunities?


No wonder time tends to slip through my fingers so quickly. God is counseling my heart to dare to do something different. He wants me to exercise patience as I interact with the life choices that come my way. He is interested in my willingness to watch Him perform through me as I surrender my agenda to His direction and will.


He is the only true performer because time is no match for Him. Christ is the One who does not slumber, who does not sleep. He is the only One who functions at the optimum efficiency. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is sovereign and He is majestic. "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17, NIV


So, moving forward, let us reflect on Christ's performance. All that has happened on this earth has been the result of His handiwork -- professional markers, health issues, relational strides, spiritual drought, financial headway, emotional concerns. It should all inspire gratitude in us because, at the very center, Christ has been hard at work further fashioning us into His likeness, strengthening our faith, and maturing us to receive fullness of joy.  


What an astounding performer! 
What a skillful artist!


May God richly bless our eyes to spot His performance in our lives! May He prepare our hearts to joyfully participate in all that He has planned for us for the remainder of our time on this earth! May the memory of our past propel us to worship Jesus more readily, more ardently, and more gratefully! May Christ be our idol, the only God we revere!

Listening

"Do you hear what I hear?"


In October of 1962, a month after my parents tied the knot, the song Do You Hear What I Hear? was written and released as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis -- a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union on the one hand, and between the Soviet Union and Cuba on the other. Cuba is important to me because of family connections; thus, this song holds a special place in my heart. Written by then married partners Noel Regny and Gloria Shayne, the four-stanza anthem depicts harmony and parity, all the while putting a strong emphasis on the blessedness of a peace-inspiring dialog between polarizing entities.


A dialog can only be effective if the parties involved take to heart the number one rule about a conversational exchange -- they must commit to listening to one another.


Since it is true that music is the art of sound, three major components of the work of the musician are: 

• Thinking of sounds
• Producing sounds
• Experiencing sounds

Listening, however, constitutes an essential ingredient in all three of those elements. 


Thinking requires the act of hearing in one's mind (listening to one's spirit) enough information about the sound source. Composers determine the pitches, rhythmic patterns, instruments or voices, and all other elements related to the creation of sound while performers receive ideas and feedback from teachers, coaches, colleagues, and fans in order to picture in their minds their desired tone and timbre of sound delivery.


Producing relies on a clear understanding (listening to one's heart) of the information received. Performers are the key players in producing sounds. Once the piece is in their hands and the performance has begun, composers and audience members are at the mercy of performers who are actively translating to every ear in the audience the information which was passed on to them.


Experiencing is the concept of judging the sound (listening to one's body) as it is being produced or even after it is over. Does it make sense? Do I like it? Can I relate? This is the step that everyone does and will have to do for as long as there is breath. That is why mentors spend so much time training listeners so that they can learn to experience sounds fully.


In considering the three types of listening mentioned above, I could not help seeing a connection with holism (spirit, heart/soul, body) in human beings. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize that all individuals are called upon to actively listen with all their ingrained faculties throughout life. From the time they are in the womb, babies have learned to recognize the voice of their mothers and even their fathers. Once babies are out, language skills are required, cultural sounds are passed on, clues and cues are given for the purposes of safety, relatedness, and adaptation. It is clear that listening is an important skill to have and one that encompasses spirituality, emotion, and physical processes.


In terms of daily life, there is a lot of listening to do. The world is dying for people to take time and listen. Every human being has a score to play. Every person has others to train. Every individual has a voice to hear and every single one of us has a choice to make. 


The following scenarios are classic examples of a world that is yearning for people to listen:

• A young woman is being raped outside the movie theater
• A single father has run out of options 
• A boy is at the end of his wits because of bullies at school
• A divorcee is crying because she never wanted to be separated from her unfaithful ex-husband
• A pastor is earnestly trying to know how to deal with his congregation
• A teacher is frustrated with the poor attitude of her students
• A student is struggling to find ways to please the professor
• A family is torn with pain - unpaid bills, unrepentant hearts, unforgiving siblings, and unfaithfulness. 

Are we listening? 
Why are we not listening?


The problem is, we are too busy to listen. We prefer the act of doing instead of listening. We would rather move on. It would be easier to send afflicted individuals to a therapist, a soup kitchen, a social outreach center, and put them out of our minds. We would rather solve such difficult issues in our own way as quickly and efficiently as possible. We would prefer to sweep them under the carpet. 


But listening? 


Nope. 
No way.


Listening takes too much time and requires too much involvement on our part. 
Listening brings too many soiled rags out of our closets.
Listening takes us out of our comfort zone.
Listening brings on too much pain. 


Who are we anyway? 
Why are people burdening us with their woeful tales? 
Why are they dumping on us? 
Why are they not going elsewhere for comfort?


No, we will not listen easily because, understandably, we want to protect ourselves from emotional harm.


The truth is, this whole listening matter goes against our nature because it requires daily maintenance. It requires all the things that a serious musician needs -- patience, persistence, practice, processing, and a positive attitude. 


Then I realize that not one human being can, in fact, possess those five qualities in a perfect way. The only one who can is our Savior -- Jesus. He alone can do everything for us, in us, in spite of us, and through us. As our Redeemer and Lord, His Word reminds us that, 

"The Lord will fight for [us]; [we] need only to be still."

Exodus 14:14, NIV 

He, alone, can achieve great things. We can do nothing. That brings me back to a revelation that God gave me while volunteering at the North Haiti Music Camp in the summer of 2010: 

GOD DOES EVERYTHING; WE DO NOTHING!

If we want to listen, and God is begging us to listen, then we ought to "be still and know that He is God." (Psalm 46:10a, NIV) 


Let our beloved Jesus use our ears --

• so we can listen to the stories of others with love and care, 
• so we can give them our full attention when they come to us,
• so we can listen with heart and understanding, 
• so we can listen without our own agenda, 
• so we can listen with openness and without judgment, 
• so we can listen without interruptions,
• so we can listen with a focused mind,
• so we can listen with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Then, when it is time to give feedback, would we listen to God and let His wisdom guide us? Indeed, His Word rightly says,

". . . Pay attention to my wisdom and listen well to my words of insight, 

that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge."

Proverbs 5:1-2, NIV

So, friends, let us saturate our minds with God's Word so that His Spirit, instead of our flesh, can speak through us. 

Dear Master, thank You for listening to our cry. Teach us to listen to our brothers and sisters in their time of need. And as we listen, teach us to be still, let go, and let You do amazing things through us for Your glory alone! Amen.

Practice

"Practice makes perfect."


We all grew up hearing the above phrase. In my own life, the times when that phrase was directed at me were instances which found me not doing what I was supposed to do. As soon as I went astray, that familiar phrase would be repeated by one or both of my parents until I got back on track. So, little habits like reading my Bible regularly, making my bed every morning, brushing my teeth twice daily, and doing my chores without complaining were life-building skills that my parents wanted me to practice continually. 


Parents encourage their children to practice other things as well. One such thing is playing the piano. In fact, most people recall having to take piano lessons when they were little. Although, for many, practicing the piano was not a fun thing to do, most will particularly remember how much and how often their parents told them they needed to practice. In the eyes of those who did not heed that advice, there was no real pull toward the musical perfection promised by their parents and teachers. They simply preferred spending time playing with their friends, watching movies, or frequenting amusement parks.


My story was quite different. 


I came to the piano at the age of thirteen, as opposed to the more common five or seven. My family did not own a piano and could not afford to pay for piano lessons on my behalf. So, it came as a huge blessing when I received five 15-minute lessons for free during a week at the North Haiti Music Camp. Once I returned home to Port-au-Prince, I had to rely on an old out-of-tune upright piano that was relegated to the back of a Bible School building not too far from where I lived. My parents never told me to practice but I had this vibrant desire to do so and I practiced three to four hours each day. Practicing the piano was like an all-consuming passion in me.


That passion or discipline was so strong that it eventually led me to become proficient enough to get accepted at Biola University where I majored in piano as well as voice performance. While there, a colleague began calling me "the practice machine" because I was known to practice the piano as many as seven hours a day. In those days, playing the piano felt as easy as drinking water because I practiced well and regularly.


As seasons of life change, my practice habits have also changed. Between family responsibilities, work duties, and other life circumstances that come with adulthood, I find that I can no longer dedicate seven hours to practicing the piano. Surprisingly, I now realize that my brief practice sessions – though musical mastery takes longer to arrive – have brought a new dimension of trust, sweetness, and peace into my music.


Perhaps, prayer is like practicing music. 


The first verse that I ever learned concerning prayer is 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing." I was but six years old at the time and remember thinking how impossible that was. I remember, even as I got older, trying to lengthen my prayers. Questions plagued my mind: 


How long should my prayers be? 
When is it okay to stop praying to take care of my chores or to do my homework? 
Is God really going to bless me if I do not pray continuously?


God’s grace has taught me that, not only is it possible to “pray without ceasing,” it is impossible to please God unless we do pray continually. The problem for most of us, however, is that we have a distorted view of prayer. We think of prayer as drudgery, a bore, or a tedious/non-productive activity as opposed to the lifeline to spiritual sustainability which God has created it to be. 


I equate spiritual sustainability to a strong and sweet friendship -- a covenantal relationship. In order for human beings to cultivate friendships, they must communicate. The more deeply and regularly friends communicate, the closer they feel to one another. The more intimate and honest the conversation, the firmer the bond between them becomes. Close friends do not spend every second of every day in each other’s company, but each brief interaction provides enough sustenance to keep them closely connected through life’s harshest blows.


Good practice sessions equally enrich the craft of a brilliant musician. It matters not how difficult that Prestissimo section is or how high the trumpet part lies, the player will have peace knowing that he/she will do exactly what has been practiced time and time again.


Even more so, prayer provides spiritual sustainability for the life of a follower of Christ. In other words, praying without ceasing is not up for debate, it is a sine qua non element in the armor that we must bear and wear as the people of God. 


The phrase, “pray without ceasing,” means that we keep an attitude of prayer by aligning our will to God’s Word as we face every situation.  It means that we ask God for His opinion before making decisions – both big and small. It means that we choose to trust His commands and not our emotions. It means that we say, “Thy will be done,” especially when we are itching to take the reins of our lives. 


Prayer demands that we subject ourselves to self-examination:

• If we call ourselves followers of Christ and sing What a Friend We Have in Jesus, then must we not commune and fellowship with Him by reading His Word and praying for all things in all occasions?
• If we choose to sing Jesus, Lover of My Soul, then should we not be willing to date Christ and grow in intimacy with Him by memorizing and quoting His Word back to Him?
• If we dare to sing Jesus Is the Sweetest Name I Know, then how can we shy away from praying in His name, mentioning His name wherever we are, glorifying His name in the presence of other people, and cherishing His name in our hearts?
• If we go to chapel services, worship centers, church buildings without ever preparing our hearts on a daily basis to stay connected to God, how can we be shocked when we feel a strong disconnect with heavenly things? 

It says in Colossians 3:1, 

"Since then, you have been raised with Christ, 

set your hearts on things above 

where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." 

What better way to do that than to pray, to communicate with Christ?


In this time of over-communication and escalating technological accessibility, we find it difficult to have enough time for God. As we allow ourselves to get busy texting 100 miles a minute every waking moment, checking facebook 25 times a day, reading emails, surfing the net mindlessly, and always having the iPod playing, precious time that could be set aside for prayer simply evaporates. Choosing not to pray basically ensures that we will have a withering relationship with God.


Let us encourage one another to create some space and to give God some time. 
Let us dare to practice today. 
Let us seek to pray. 
God’s love for us is worth the effort and His promises are worth the discipline.


Lord Jesus, I pray that You will hold the precious souls of all who read this blog in Your strong and loving arms. Strengthen their hearts and their resolve with the power of Your glorious might and cause them to increase in obedience so that their love for you can increase. Help them to be alert, watchful, and thankful so that when distractions surface and times of testing come they will be thoroughly equipped with every good work to fight the good fight, to win the race, to ride the wind of faith so they can inherit the crown of righteousness which You have reserved for them. Inspire them to seek to pray continually so that the desire of their hearts will be to please You in every way. Breathe into their lives today and for the rest of eternity. In Christ's Name, I pray. Amen.

Stage Fright

A while back, I studied the virtue of courage which, gratefully, helped deepen my understanding of God's grace. That study has since been a reminder that I am truly undeserving of God's favor and that any sign of bravery on my part can only be the work of the God-Head:

• The unending love of the Father 
• The ultimate sacrifice of the Son
• The ongoing empowering/indwelling of the Holy Spirit

God is everything and I am nothing. 

As I submit my nothingness to His abundance, I need not fret because He is certainly "my refuge, my strength, my anchor, my bulwark, my ever-present help in trouble, my song in the night."

The deeper I delve into this focus on courage as a virtue, the more I am reminded by God's Word that our lives are plagued with fear. One particular fear to which many musicians can relate is that of stage fright or performance anxiety. Uninvited though it may be, this guest always comes at the most inopportune moment. At times, it seems that the more important the performance, the more likely it is to show its ugly head. As I reflect on the ways in which I have been affected by stage fright in my career, I see some connections that not only apply to music but also link other areas of living with the principles taught by the Bible.

One such connection is the fact that poor preparation always leads to performance anxiety. Poor preparation is unique as it always relates to time management. It could be that I did not have enough advance notice to be ready for the performance. Sometimes I was given the wrong information concerning what specific piece to learn. It might be a matter of procrastination which robbed me of the adequate or necessary time to thoroughly prepare myself. It could be still that I was simply inefficient during the practice sessions choosing to use the wrong approach as I rehearsed which renders me completely ineffective in performance. Or, it could be that I opted to do nothing to prepare myself and simply hoped that I could wing it.

Another connection is that stage fright stems from the performer's wrong focus on the audience. When I think of who is potentially hearing me sing, then I start re-evaluating the choices I had made and the technical principles I had drilled into my body and mind. I get distracted and tempted to change things or to improvise in order that I might impress my audience. Then, doubt enters my mind: 

"Did I choose the right pieces?"

"Are there enough high notes on this program?" 

"Is my outfit stylish enough?" 

Such superfluous thinking renders me completely ungrounded and nervousness starts to reign in my heart.

A final connection is this: Self-focus is a deadly choice in terms of performance stress. When I focus on myself in performance, I almost always get plagued with fear before the performance is over. Since no performance is perfect, then each time a little flaw comes up, I hear it in my head as though a commentator was giving the audience a blow by blow report on my performance. At that point, I hear a little voice inside of me putting me down: 

"I knew you could not do it." 

"What made you think you were good enough?" 

"Nobody will ever want to hear you again." 

"You might as well quit right now."

"Your voice is going to crack at any moment now."

"The tenor who sang before you was so much better."

And on, and on, and on . . .  

For others, it may be different but the truth of the matter is every time we focus on ourselves our minds play tricks on us and we end up being completely disoriented. Nervousness then becomes the message we bear instead of the one prescribed by the composer.

This morning, I am reminded that life is a performance which inspires a great deal of fear in people. We are all guilty of being the prey of our nerves. We are afraid of introducing ourselves to people. We are afraid of being single and afraid of getting married. We are afraid of being barren and afraid of having too many children. We are terrified about public speaking. We worry that people might not like us or not accept us. We whine about the treatment we receive from others. We triple-guess ourselves before every step we take for fear of making the wrong move. We are afraid of not taking advantage of a deal only to have buyer's remorse after a shopping spree. We are constantly afraid. 

In our day, we are so accustomed to hearing so much depressing news that we are afraid of flying, driving, or even walking in a park. We are afraid of our spouses, other family members, neighbors, friends, and co-workers. We are sometimes afraid of going to a store or a bank for fear of being shot by robbers. We are afraid of natural disasters, an economic collapse, betrayals, and the list could go on. 

Living rightly and boldly requires excellent preparation, the right audience, and the right focus. The answer is found nowhere else but in God.

a) The training/instruction God provides in His Word is more than excellent preparation for a life well-lived. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reads, 

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, 

rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 

so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 

We can, then, rest assured that the Master teacher is ready to instruct us at all times through His Word if we would only go to Him. In fact, Psalm 32:8 tells us that, 

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; 

I will counsel you and watch over you." 

What more could we need?

b) We need to realize that our audience is the audience of One -- God and only God. When we go onstage to perform, the people in the seats are merely observers, they are not our main audience. It matters not, therefore, if they do not clap nor like our offering because God is applauding. In life, we should strive to no longer desire the empty praises of human beings but seek to honor God with our actions. His approval should be our number one priority.

c) The right focus is the worship of God in every circumstance. If I focus on myself, then I commit idolatry. We need to focus on God in good times and bad times. In good times, we ought to praise His name with thanksgiving in our hearts. In bad times, we must thank Him for the affliction because we know that godly sorrow will lead to righteousness. Psalm 16:8 instructs us rightly, 

"I have set the Lord always before me, 

because He is at my right hand, 

I will never shaken."

Have you ever been shaken? I know I have. Yet, should we fear? No, absolutely not. Whom shall I fear? No one. Why should we not fear? Because our heavenly Father promised He would never leave nor forsake us regardless of how it seems on the outside. He says that He holds everything in His hand. He is in control.

Heavenly Father, thank You for offering the protection and strength we need. Please preserve us and embolden us to fight the good fight of faith until the day of the Lord. In Christ alone, we pray. Amen!