Quiet at last.
There was noise all day, since about four in the morning when I awoke to a peculiar smell and realized with a panic that I had left my chicken broth boiling all night. Bolting into the kitchen I discovered no longer broth, but a pot of greasy charcoal bones still trying vaguely to bubble or pop a little. The smell was overpowering (though that's not the point of this post...but it was. And is. Still.) Since then the windows and doors were open so I could hear everyone outside. The fans were going in the kitchen and bathroom, candles were burning, and a pot of spices boiling away on the stove to get rid of the smell.
After I closed the doors again there was the noise of two violin lessons. Mercy! How soul-baring it is to teach! I would must curb my passion for technical finesse and remember I am here to inspire as well as equip. Today I "held back" (or "released", as I like to think of it) a student from the technically challenging pieces for THREE WEEKS to have her listen with a good set of earphones to one CD of Itzhak Perlman--for twenty minutes every day with no distractions! I want to inspire her with the liquid strains, soaring melodies, delicate nuances of that mysterious woodbox in the hands of the merry master--and it's not happening just by talk.And it doesn't happen by tuning in the radio now and then, or listening once through a CD while talking or working. You don't catch the magic if you can't focus!
She didn't seem thrilled with the prospect, and I wished I could make her see that this was totally for her benefit, to get her excited about playing violin, not to limit her practicing . . . Actually in the long run it's to HELP her practicing! There's no point to playing if you don't like it, and I'm helping her get to LOVE it! But it was hard to communicate that, and I just hope she "gets it" over time.
It reminded me though, of my own Teacher. There have been many times when He took me off the "regular diet" of daily activities and production (oh how I love to PRODUCE!). Usually it is something like a stomachache or just fatigue. He sits me down, hands me the headphones and says, "Try this one!". I sigh, sometimes procrastinate or complain about the pain, but eventually put them on and turn on the volume.
And there He teaches me. He shows me Life in Jesus, He shows me Forgiveness, He shows me Love. He sometimes leads me through grief or loss like Rodrigo's second movement, but always ends with peace like Bach, and somewhere in midst I hear His voice, His own true voice, with such precious tone (and sometimes so plain and matter-of-fact) it's better than any music I've heard, though probably this comes closest. Perfectly accurate, lovely, lovING, possessed of immense intelligence and knowledge . . . Sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing even between bone and marrow. There are jewels in the silence I will never notice if He does not slow me down and make me listen.
And then I get a violin student who makes me understand MY Teacher a little more. How often He must be saying to Himself, "Polly, if you'd just sit down and enjoy this--I have something beautiful to show you, I'm not doing this to bore or limit you for heaven's sake!"
So it is lovely even after a great practice time of my own, to finally pack up the viola, turn off the last fan and sit. (Even music becomes Noise too, after awhile.) Let's do it without waiting til we're exhausted!
BTW, I'm loving this lady's blog today. :)
There was noise all day, since about four in the morning when I awoke to a peculiar smell and realized with a panic that I had left my chicken broth boiling all night. Bolting into the kitchen I discovered no longer broth, but a pot of greasy charcoal bones still trying vaguely to bubble or pop a little. The smell was overpowering (though that's not the point of this post...but it was. And is. Still.) Since then the windows and doors were open so I could hear everyone outside. The fans were going in the kitchen and bathroom, candles were burning, and a pot of spices boiling away on the stove to get rid of the smell.
After I closed the doors again there was the noise of two violin lessons. Mercy! How soul-baring it is to teach! I would must curb my passion for technical finesse and remember I am here to inspire as well as equip. Today I "held back" (or "released", as I like to think of it) a student from the technically challenging pieces for THREE WEEKS to have her listen with a good set of earphones to one CD of Itzhak Perlman--for twenty minutes every day with no distractions! I want to inspire her with the liquid strains, soaring melodies, delicate nuances of that mysterious woodbox in the hands of the merry master--and it's not happening just by talk.And it doesn't happen by tuning in the radio now and then, or listening once through a CD while talking or working. You don't catch the magic if you can't focus!
She didn't seem thrilled with the prospect, and I wished I could make her see that this was totally for her benefit, to get her excited about playing violin, not to limit her practicing . . . Actually in the long run it's to HELP her practicing! There's no point to playing if you don't like it, and I'm helping her get to LOVE it! But it was hard to communicate that, and I just hope she "gets it" over time.
It reminded me though, of my own Teacher. There have been many times when He took me off the "regular diet" of daily activities and production (oh how I love to PRODUCE!). Usually it is something like a stomachache or just fatigue. He sits me down, hands me the headphones and says, "Try this one!". I sigh, sometimes procrastinate or complain about the pain, but eventually put them on and turn on the volume.
And there He teaches me. He shows me Life in Jesus, He shows me Forgiveness, He shows me Love. He sometimes leads me through grief or loss like Rodrigo's second movement, but always ends with peace like Bach, and somewhere in midst I hear His voice, His own true voice, with such precious tone (and sometimes so plain and matter-of-fact) it's better than any music I've heard, though probably this comes closest. Perfectly accurate, lovely, lovING, possessed of immense intelligence and knowledge . . . Sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing even between bone and marrow. There are jewels in the silence I will never notice if He does not slow me down and make me listen.
And then I get a violin student who makes me understand MY Teacher a little more. How often He must be saying to Himself, "Polly, if you'd just sit down and enjoy this--I have something beautiful to show you, I'm not doing this to bore or limit you for heaven's sake!"
So it is lovely even after a great practice time of my own, to finally pack up the viola, turn off the last fan and sit. (Even music becomes Noise too, after awhile.) Let's do it without waiting til we're exhausted!
BTW, I'm loving this lady's blog today. :)
