YOU CAN BEGIN AGAIN

New Beginnings    Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether) . . .  2 Corinthians 5:17; Part I  

Help! I’m Stuck! “Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.” —  Fanny Crosby  A young minister who we will call Eric decided to take piano lessons. Due to his profession, learning to play music just made sense. If his worship leader called in sick, or if a musician backed out moments before a service, he would be able to step in and play. Eric, the  piano-  playing preacher; he smiled at the thought of it. Determined, Eric took lessons faithfully for over fi ve years. Every week, he showed up for his Tuesday lesson with a local piano instructor, and every morning he rose early to log diligent practice time. By his own admission, he was far from a natural. The learning was  slow-  going and the progress was incremental, but with the patience of his teacher and his own desire for improvement, Eric made steady strides toward his goal. One day, his piano instructor, a local legend with a kind disposition and a no-nonsense work ethic, announced that she scheduled Eric to play in a countywide competition. He would be required to play a full concerto in front of a panel of judges who would grade his performance. Though Eric was hesitant to play in such a venue, his instructor insisted, explaining that the pressure would be good for him.
The Saturday morning of the competition arrived. Eric was extremely nervous as he showed up to his assigned destination, ready to get the whole thing over with. There was an empty practice room available, so Eric practiced his piece repeatedly until it was f i nally time to face the judges. As he entered the room, Eric greeted the three accomplished judges anxiously and made his way to the baby grand piano. Though he was perfectly comfortable preaching in front of large crowds, the thought of playing in front of these three musical experts unnerved him. After exhaling slowly, he placed his fi ngers above the keys and began to play. To his delight, the fi rst few measures of music came out perfectly. It appeared the months of practice had paid off as his fi ngers touched each key fl awlessly, moving from sheer muscle memory. His teacher smiled in the back of the room, and Eric visibly relaxed as he worked his way through the introduction of the assigned piece. But his confi dence didn’t last  long—  moments later, musical disaster struck. His hands froze over the keys, not knowing where to go next. Inexplicably, Eric, the  piano-  playing preacher, had forgotten the next note. After a pause that seemed like an eternity, he guessed at a new note, but it was not even close to being correct. Eric winced at the ugly sound that came from the piano. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the frowning judges marking his mistake. Embarrassed, he shook his head and plowed into another chord, but it was even worse. Eric was hopelessly lost now. Nervous. Confused. Searching. Not knowing what to do, Eric stopped playing all together. Dejected, he hung his head low.  “How could this have happened?”  he thought.  “I practiced so hard!”  Looking at the panel of judges, he said sheepishly, “I’m really sorry. I seem to have forgotten the piece. I’m afraid that if I keep going, it’s only going to get worse. Should I just stop here?”