One of the memories from my childhood involves the Saturday morning trek we used to make each week to attend music lessons in Slidell, Louisiana. At the time my older sister was putting her finishing touches on her knowledge of the piano, and I was learning the violin. I guess we must have made that weekly transit for at least three or four years; my mom driving as we listened to the radio. Casey Kasem was in his heyday, and American Top 40 was inarguably the radio show for the decade of the 70’s.
Every week, with the exception of holidays or other rare occasions, we made the trip. Our teacher was a little old lady that knew how to swing a conductor’s baton. If my hand positions were not correct, I could expect a light tap on my knuckles to remind me of the proper technique I should have been using. I thought it part of being instructed on the violin, as in some mysterious old world method brought to America from say, Austria or Prussia. But my sister later confirmed that the same corrections were used on her knuckles when her hands were not properly placed on the piano keyboard.
As always, out of courtesy I will not use the music teacher’s name, though surely she must have passed by now – she was probably well over two hundred years old at that time and it was a long time ago. But she knew her music, and she was a good teacher despite a few quirks evident to both my sister and me.
My sister eventually learned to play the piano, but I switched instruments in my teenage years from the violin to the guitar. Somehow playing classical music on the violin could not be construed as ‘cool’ to a teenage boy. Do I regret it today? Mom has asked me that on an occasion or two, and to be honest the answer would have to be 'yes and no'. It would be great to know how to ‘saw’ on a violin these days, but I also had a lot of fun with my guitar over the years.
But back to the trip as that is where I am going this morning. Those were good times as a family – not just the lessons, but the trip in itself. We would listen to Casey as we began our trip in the early morning with him beginning the countdown, and it would complete at the number-one song for the week sometime during our return trip home. No matter what song happened to be on top of the charts that week, he always ended the show in the same manner. He would, in his ever memorable voice say, ‘keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.’ My music teacher, strangely enough, believed and taught almost the same philosophy.
Solomon wrote, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Whatever we do with our lives (and our lives are merely vapors that appear for only a little time) we should go all-out with it. We should in fact reach for the stars; which is metaphorically saying that we should try to do our very best in whatever we attempt to do.
If it happens to be music lessons, or sports, or something to do with our careers - we should strive to make our mark. By doing so, it just may bleed over into other things in our lives. We may be better parents, better spouses, or better employees as a result. Most of all, by diligently following a Christian walk, the stars may be the limit as to what we can accomplish in our own church and surrounding community.
Couple that with an occasional loving correction from God’s baton when we lose our form and we just might achieve that goal.
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