My piano makes me sad

Technically, I guess it is Jessica's piano. After all, she is the only one in the family (other than her husband Matt) who can actually play it. But she is now halfway around the world so...it sits in silence.

When JR first started playing piano we purchased a modestly priced "starter' piano....I think it was a Baldwin. Because our house, at the time, was on the smallish side, we really didn't have a good place to put it so it ended up in the dining room...not too bad...we could simultaneously eat and listen to Pachelbel's Canon in D. As the years went by and her playing improved, her teacher told us that we needed to invest in a better piano...one that was larger, had larger hammers that would help strengthen her hands and fingers. He recommended a Yamaha U1 piano. Now, this was a serious piano with a price to match. No matter...if we were going to invest in Jessica's piano instruction, something she was excelling in, it was very worthwhile to provide a worthy instrument. Eventually, we enlarged the house and the piano was able to find a good spot in the living room.

The house used to be filled with the sound of the various pieces of music that she was working on for her upcoming recitals. I think the sound of music in a home is just about one of the best things you can hear.

But now it is sitting in the house where we currently live and, interestingly enough...it is in what is supposed to be the dining room. But we use that room as the "music room" ...filled with guitars, amplifiers and that ebony black piano.

There is something sad about a beautiful musical instrument that doesn't have the opportunity to make music. It's not that the piano is not functional....it is in perfect condition save an occasional layer of dust. It just needs someone to play it. All by itself it is just a big chunk of wood, metal and strings. But in the hands of someone that knows how, it can produce a most beautiful sound that can bring joy to your heart or tears to your eyes. As a guitar player, I have always been envious of the piano...my guitar has only 6 strings so it can only produce a certain amount of musical fullness. That beautiful Yamaha has 88 keys with its corresponding strings. A magnificent instrument...but no one to play it.

I think some folks are like that piano. They are full of potential but, for whatever reason, don't make music (metaphorically speaking, of course.) I see it way too often in young people who somehow have become convinced that they "can't" or "never will" ________ (fill in the blank.) They need someone or something to help them "make music." Maybe it is somebody to encourage them...to tell them they can accomplish anything they set the heart and mind to. Maybe it is a teacher or mentor to inspire them. Maybe it is just a chance to show what they can do.

I know some of my sadness is that I just miss my daughter. The piano is a reminder that she is a long way away. But that piano is also a reminder that God has put a gift in all of us...maybe not music, but some special gift that He wants us to use to tell others about Him and to bring Him glory. It would be sad to just let that gift stay silent. What is the piano in your life?