4 minute read
Mae Mae, our seven-year-old, wants to learn to play Jingle Bells on the piano. She’s never taken piano lessons and has only a passing knowledge of notes and music theory. Basically, she knows what sounds right, but isn’t clear on how to make her fingers play what needs to be played.
This morning, we printed out some basic sheet music for the song so she could try to figure out how to play it on her grandmother’s electric piano. The sheet music didn’t only include the notes on the staff, but it also had the names of the notes (E-E-E, E-E-G) written above the actual notes.
At first, Mae Mae played the song with a single index finger. That finger moved back and forth from key to key. It kind of worked… but not totally.
Mae Mae’s problem was that she’d lose track of what key was what as she played.
I taught her to start at “middle C” (just like my old piano teacher taught me when I was her age) and go from there. So, she started at middle C… then moved that index finger two keys up to E… then hit it five times… then move up two keys to G… and then lose where she was on the keyboard.
Next, I taught her to keep her hand in one position and use all the fingers on her right hand. Thumb on middle C, index finger on D, middle finger on E, ringer on F, and pinkie on G.
This helped… but looking down at her fingers curved over the keys, they all kind of looked alike to her. Is her pinkie on a D or a G? Is that pointer going to hit the E or the F?
Then, I got an idea. We grabbed a pink marker and I wrote on her fingers. I wrote a bright C on her thumb, D on her pointer… and so on.
Each finger had a name corresponding to the note it would play.
What came next was… music.
She actually played Jingle Bells… straight through! No mistakes! She was so proud.
All she needed was to get herself correctly oriented. Once she was lined up right—and had a solid reminder of where everything belonged—she was able to play what she wanted to play.
That thumb with the C on it just had to start on middle C.
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I get disoriented a lot in life. Not that I’m wandering around on the street, unsure which way is up or confused about which is my nose and which is my knee. I just get disoriented as to what’s most important to me.
I have good intentions, wanting to accomplish good things, grow into the guy God wants me to grow into, learn new things, love people well, be a good husband, father, and friend.
But when the busy-ness of life takes over—work and tasks and communication and errands and the flood of input and the demand for output—I start to lose track of what’s truly important… and what’s not.
Because of that, I end up focusing too much on what’s immediately calling for my attention as opposed to the longer term focus required to grow good things over time.
I lose my centering.
In other words, I have trouble finding middle C. I often start at middle C, but then lose track of it.
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I’ve found, though, that when I spend a little time focusing on God and His priorities for me and how He’s currently wanting to grow good things in me, making me more like Jesus in my marriage, parenting, friendships, work, and all stops in between, I get my bearings a little better. I find my middle C.
But I’ve also found that one quick shot in the morning isn’t enough.
Usually, by 11:00am, I start to get disoriented again. The tyranny of the immediate takes over and I go into “respond and react” mode rather than staying focused on what more important in the long term.
This tells me I need reminders of what’s true—not just in the morning, but throughout the day.
When I pause throughout my day and think—even just for a few moments—about something that’s true (a Bible verse, a statement God has communicated to me, my highest priorities), I stay a little bit more on track. Not just in the morning, but all throughout the day.
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What’s of highest priority to you today? What truth does God want to serve as your middle C?
How can you remind yourself of that today? Not just in the morning… but all throughout the day, keeping you aimed at your ultimate goals and allowing God to grow good things in you?
What would it look like to write the notes on your fingers… letting truth be your guide as you live out every hour of every day?