…THOUGHT FOR THE DAY………………….
“HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER, THAT YOUR
DAYS MAY BE LONG ON THE LAND WHICH THE LORD
YOUR GOD IS GIVING YOU.”
( EXODUS 20:12 NKJV )
As we all know the top verse is one of the Ten Commandments.
I would like to share with you a message I received from one
of our Sister’s In Christ. Then you will know why I used the verse
when you read the message. I hope that this will move you as it
has me. So let us begin:
Robby’s Night
. I am a former elementary school
music teacher. I’ve always supplemented
my income by teaching piano lessons-something I’ve done for
over 30 years.
______________________
Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical
ability. I’ve never had the pleasure of having a prodigy though I have
taught some talented students.
However I’ve also had my share of what I call “musically
challenged” pupils. One such student was Robby. Robby was 11
years old when his mother (a single Mom) dropped him off for his
first piano lesson. I prefer that students (especially boys!) begin at
an earlier age, which I explained to Robby.
But Robby said that it had always been his mother’s dream to
hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student. Well, Robby
began with his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it
was a hopeless endeavor.
As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic
rhythm needed to excel. But he dutifully reviewed his scales and
some elementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.
Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed
and tried to encourage him. At the end of each weekly lesson he’d
always say, “My mom’s going to hear me play someday.” But it
seemed hopeless. He just did not have any inborn ability. I only
knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or
waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and
smiled but never stopped in.
Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons.
I thought about calling him but assumed because of his lack of
ability, that he had decided to pursue something else. I also was
glad that he stopped coming He was a bad advertisement for my
teaching!
Several weeks later I mailed to the student’s homes a flyer on
the upcoming recital. To my surprise Robby (who received a flyer)
asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital
was for current pupils and because he had dropped out he really
did not qualify. He said that his mother had been sick and unable
to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing. I’ve just got to play!” he insisted.
I don’t know what led me to allow him to play in the recital.
Maybe it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of
me saying that it would be all right. The night for the recital came.
The high school gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and
relatives. I put Robby up last in the program before I was to come
up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought
that any damage he would do would come at the end of the
program and I could always salvage his poor performance through
my “curtain closer.”
Well, the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been
practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on stage. His
clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked like he’d run an eggbeater
through it. “Why didn’t he dress up like the other students?” I
thought. “Why didn’t his mother at least make him comb his hair
for this special night?”
Robby pulled out the piano bench and he began. I was surprised
when he announced that he had chosen Mozart’s Concerto #21 in C
Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were
light on the keys, they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went
from pianissimo to fortissimo. From allegro to virtuoso. His
suspended chords that Mozart demands were magnificent! Never
had I heard Mozart played so well by people his age. After six and
a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo and everyone was
on their feet in wild applause.
Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms
around Robby in joy. “I’ve never heard you play like that Robby!
How’d you do it? ” Through the microphone Robby explained: “Well
. .. .. remember I told you my Mom was sick? Well,
actually she had cancer and passed away this morning. And well.
she was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me
play. I wanted to make it special.”
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house that evening. As the people
from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into
foster care, noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I
thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking
Robby as my pupil.
No, I’ve never had a prodigy but that night I became a prodigy. . .
of Robby’s. He was the teacher and I was the pupil For it is he that
taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in
yourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don’t
know why.
And now, a footnote to the story.
Where is Robby today? I am sorry to tell you that Robby was killed
in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
in Oklahoma City in April of 1995.
With Our Love and Prayers,
Dr. Lowell & Judy Mason P.O. Box 1195 – Joplin, Missouri 64802
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Every morning we pray for those of you who read our Thought For The Day.
Have a wonderful day, and may the love of Christ
fill your heart and mind, now and always.