Open It Up

Twelve years ago, I attempted to play guitar in a small rock and roll band that included two of my adult children and three of my friends.  Everyone in the band was gifted musically. For example, my oldest son is an accomplished drummer who won multiple percussion awards in High School and my oldest daughter performed and sang the lead in local theatre shows as well as at one-point auditioning for American Idol. Everyone was super gifted, everyone that is except for me. So, I practiced over and over to become better and even though the best I ever got was mediocre, I absolutely loved it. I still get goose bumps just thinking about how thrilling it was to perform in front of a crowd. But after playing together for 3 years, my daughter became pregnant with her third child, and the band stopped playing. I put my beautiful Taylor acoustic guitar in its case, closed the lid, and shoved it under my bed.

Fast forward nine years later... On this past Saturday I took my wife to the Monarch Beach Resort so that she and two of her friends could attend an art class. Besides having zero musical gifts, I also have zero artistic gifts, so while they painted a beautiful ocean scene, I went to the Gym to get in some exercise. I finished my work out before the painting class was over and wandered over to the lobby to hang out while I waited. The lobby of the Monarch Beach Resort is spectacular with a long bar at one end and huge floor to ceiling glass windows showcasing a beautiful sunset view at the other end.

Since it was a Saturday evening, the bar was packed, and people were enjoying live entertainment provided by a professional violin player. This obviously gifted musician wasn’t playing classical music, he was playing beautiful modern songs by artists like Ed Sheeran and Marron 5… and he was playing them with an extreme passion! I was absolutely captivated by his music and could have listened all night long. I even took a video of his performance so that I could show it to my 12-year-old grandson who is taking viola lessons. I’m pretty sure watching a professional perform live with such passion would be tremendously inspiring to a youngster who has already shown that he too has musical gifts.

And that got me thinking… One of the main reasons I write Monday Messages is to inspire people to remember the important things in life. Things like hope and faith, family and friends, and all of God’s gifts and blessings. Well, it dawned on me yesterday that inspiration comes in many forms and so do God’s gifts. In fact, yesterday I got down on my knees, reached under my bed, and pulled out an old, dusty guitar case. Who knows, I might even open it up!

God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning