The Old Master


 

A mother wishing to encourage her son's progress at the piano bought tickets to a Paderewski performance.  When the evening arrived, they found their seats near the front of the concert hall and eyed the majestic Steinway piano waiting on the stage.  Soon the mother found a friend to talk to.  And the boy slipped away.
 

At eight o'clock, the lights in the auditorium began to dim, the spotlights came on and only then did they notice the boy, upon the bench, innocently picking out, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  His mother gasped, but before she could retrieve her son, the master appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard.  He whispered to the boy, "Don't quit.  Keep playing."  Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass part.  Soon his right arm reached around the other side and improvised a delightful obbligato.  Together the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.
 

In our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who surrounds us and whispers in our ear time and time again, "Don't quit.  Keep playing."  As we do, He augments and supplements as needed until works of amazing beauty are created."