Oct
15
2012
The Piano Teacher
Posted in Worship 2 Comments
I desperately wanted to learn how to play the piano.
Lessons were offered at school…but my mother asked about a private teacher.
I was six years old.
The only stipulation was that my hands needed to comfortably reach an octave.
I have no idea how she found her, but Mrs. Harrison became my piano teacher.
She was an older woman…widowed for many years.
She was British.
To me she seemed like Mary Poppins’ grandmother.
I loved listening to her British accent!
She lived about a half hour away from us.
My lessons were every Wednesday at 4:00.
I would come home from school and my mother would drive me to her home.
The lessons were in Mrs. Harrison’s living room.
She lived in a beautiful brick twin home…with a front porch.
It was an older house, with a wonderful staircase.
The comfortable chair at the bottom of the stairs was for the parents as they waited.
It was understood there was no talking…and definitely no interruptions.
My mother would bring a book or a magazine from home to read.
I wanted to see Mrs. Harrison’s entire house, since it was filled with antiques.
Her students never went beyond her living room.
In her lovely living room, there were two pianos.
The one on which her students played was a baby grand.
The other was an upright.
She often accompanied us on the upright…playing a duet.
Mrs. Harrison knew all the music by heart and heard every wrong note.
She would gently…but firmly correct…and you were the better pianist because of her ear.
Mrs. Harrison always had a cup of tea at the piano as she stood listening to her students.
I remember the delicate china cups and saucers…and the smell of the tea.
She even had a tea infuser…which looked like pure silver to me…to steep her loose tea.
Every student was to arrive on time…lateness was not tolerated.
My mother and I came five minutes before 4:00.
The same young man was always there before us.
His name was Joe.
Joe played the piano beautifully…his touch on the keys…expressive…masterful.
I could have listened to him play all afternoon.
As Mrs. Harrison would write his lessons for the next week, Joe would play.
Definitely not the classical pieces she expected us to learn…but rock…jazz…blues.
My mother and I would catch each other’s eyes and smile…Joe was incredible!
Somehow this type of music didn’t seem to fit in Mrs. Harrison’s living room.
She would hurriedly write Joe’s lessons in his book…and send him out the door.
Each week we tried to get there a bit earlier just to hear Joe play.
I always wondered what happened to him.
I never even knew his last name.
When David was king over Israel, the Ark of the Covenant had been taken by the Philistines.
David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go and attack the Philistines? Will You hand them over to me?” The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you.” David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the Ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the Ark. They set the Ark of God on a new cart…David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs, and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals. (2 Samuel 5:19-6:1-5)
God was very definite about how He wanted His holy things carried.
He told the people to carry the Ark with poles…over their shoulders…never touching it.
The men put the Ark on a cart, which was pulled by oxen.
As it reached the threshing floor, the oxen stumbled.
One of the men, Uzzah, reached out and took hold of the Ark, so it would not fall.
He was struck down and died because of his irreverent act.
David was angry and afraid after Uzzah died.
He did not want the Ark to come back to the City of David.
Instead, it was brought to the home of Obed-Edom.
Obed-Edom’s household was blessed the entire time the Ark was with him.
David was told that the Lord had blessed the household of Obed-Edom because of the Ark.
He went down to the home of Obed-Edom to bring the Ark back to the City of David.
There was great rejoicing.
As the Ark was entering the City of David, Michal, daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart…When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
…David said, ” I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.” (2 Samuel 6:16, 20, 22)
Undignified.
That is what Joe must have seemed to Mrs. Harrison.
She had her own expectations of what music must be.
Yet, Joe made music…wonderful music…using his gifts…and all that she taught him.
We come to worship God.
There is often disagreement about what type of worship God accepts.
God must be the object of our worship.
Worship is about Him…not about us.
It must be reverent and focus on His holiness.
Yet there is freedom in the expression of our worship.
Freedom with instruments…with dance…with voice.
Our question should not be…How do WE want to worship God?
Our question should be…How does GOD want us to worship Him?
God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)
Undignified?
Perhaps to others…but not necessarily to God.
He sees the heart leaping and dancing before Him.
Great story. Great Comments on Worship . In congregational Worship we must realize that the congregation is not the audience, but Jesus our Lord and Savior.He is only worthy to be worshiped. Thank you for sending this great story by my way. Love in Christ .Kenny Tedesco
Thank you, Ken.
You are so right in the way you worded your comment.
We are not the audience.
HE is the audience of One!
Keep praising our Lord Jesus with your music…with all you have and all you are!
Gina