The Piano Lesson

The Piano Lesson

MY FIRST PIANO LESSON—I was so excited! Five years old, heart thumping, I carried my new music books in a little red satchel (I’ve always been “all about the bag”) to Mrs. Lucile Booth’s house. Well, to the other children she was known as Mrs. Booth, but to me she was my great-aunt, whom we called Aunt ’Cil.

Aunt ’Cil was not a pushover for any of us—especially me. She had my number from day one and promptly burst my bubble by explaining to me that, no, I would not be prepared to perform on stage anytime in the near future—I had work to do. Work? I thought this was called playing the piano, not working it! Besides, what was the point if I couldn’t sit on the stage, under the bright lights, with everyone applauding my magnificent performance? “We have to prepare,” she explained. And prepare I did. Yes, there would be annual spring recitals in my future, but I wouldn’t perform on a real stage (for me that meant a college auditorium) for twenty more years.

But those two decades of piano lessons, theory classes, and the endless ticking of the metronome gave me the foundation I needed for the day when I finally hit the stage. I was a nervous wreck that day, knowing my final grade depended on a flawless performance. The heat was on.

I suspect that for about half of you reading this today, the heat is on for you too. Life is hard; tragedy is staring you in the face, or at best, disappointments are mounting. If you’re part of one subset of the other half of our readers, maybe you’ve not yet had your face-to-face with despair. Well . . . you won’t be left out. I don’t mean to worry you, but I’m also not going to sugarcoat the reality: None of us escape the pain and suffering that accompanies the gift of life. Every one of us, women of all faiths and no faith, single and married, rich and poor, will live through the season when suffering seems to have no end. The question is—how well have you prepared for it?

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)

And my second question for you is this: Are you listening to God’s direction as he works today to prepare you for tomorrow?