Working with high school musicians has to be one of my greatest joys. It can be challenging, humbling, exhausting, and enlightening all at the same time. One thing for sure, it’s filled with the unexpected.
We were at a music retreat the church sponsors every year. It’s always amazing, and God always moves in unexpected and unpredictable ways. The theme for this year was humility, something that musicians often fight to balance. Some have too much, and others too little.
The high school band I lead had done a fantastic job of preparing for the weekend. They came to camp prepared and ready to work. Quite honestly these kids have a better work ethic than most any adult music organization I’ve been a part of, either as a participant or as an observer. We worked on our two songs and had them ready to go for the showcase about 15-20 minutes ahead of schedule.
There are many things high school kids can do with an extra 15-20 minutes, especially those that love music, play multiple instruments and simply like to make a lot of noise. (Think drums.) I pretty much told them to take ten and relax until we needed to go to our next activity, fully expecting them all to grab an instrument and make a lot of noise.
What happened next was a blessing to every person in that room. In the back of the room quietly stood a 10-year-old boy. He was there with his family enjoying the music camp as his very talented mom had been invited to be a mentor and teacher of one of the music workshops. They had been downstairs with us, along with a few others, listening to our final rehearsal as we finished up. One of the band members knew the boy had fallen in love with the piano. He also had watched an adorable video of the boy playing and singing a worship song that was proudly posted by his mom on Facebook. This high school student was selfless enough to ask the boy if he would like to play his song for us, and the rest of the band followed suit. The boy shyly nodded in agreement with one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen. If for one moment I thought the boy felt put on the spot, or pressured into something he didn’t want to do, I would have stepped in. Additionally, his mother and father were standing by his side, so I carefully, quietly, watched them and took ques from them to judge if this was good idea.
The boy moved from the back of the room to the front where the band gear was still set up from the rehearsal we had just completed. As the young man stepped up to the keyboard, the students in the room treated him with the same respect and consideration they would have had he been a seasoned professional musician. Someone moved a mic over to the keyboard for him and adjusted it to his 10-year-old height. Someone else gave him their cell phone with the lyrics to his song, and when that proved difficult for him to read, someone else ran upstairs and got him a chord chart with lyrics that would be easier for him. These students were incredibly humble. And in it, I believe they gave that young man an encouraging moment he likely will never forget.
The young man simply, bravely, started playing the piano and singing his worship song. As he did, everyone in the room gave him their undivided attention as they encouraged him and worshiped with him in that basement. It was beautiful.
Worship shows itself in so many ways. It can be giving your time. It can be giving your talent. It can be a loud, high school youth band, or it can be a simple, piano playing 10-year-old who sings and plays the piano like an angel. As I reflect on that precious moment, Philippians 2:3 comes to mind. It says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”
Wishing you joy and peace,
Lorrie