Joshua Bell and your Christian walk

Monday night, Jan. 23, Wayne and I went to Joshua Bell's concert at the Kennedy Center.  Along with 2500 other fans (all the seats were filled), we listened to  him play Mendlessohn, Brahms, Ysaye, Gershwin and Ravel on a 400-year-old Stradvarius violin.  Words to describe his playing sound as if I am trying to sell a set of Ginsu knives:  Amazing, Incredible, breath-taking, Stupendous!  At one point, he played legato and staccato at the same time--honest!  And once he played a note high on the bridge that, if he had gone higher, only dogs could have heard it.  Collectively, the audience held our breath for this perfect sound, totally unplugged, devoid of any mechanical helps.  Wow. 

So what does that have to do with you?  I'm thinking about how Joshua Bell got to this level of performance.  Remember the New York City taxi driver's response to the question, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?''...he repied, "practice, practice, practice."  Bell began playing the violin at the age of 4 years.  And I am sure there were (and are) days he dreaded practicing.   But every musician disciplines the self to do the mundane for the spectacular to occur.

When it comes to living out our faith there is no daily pill to swallow, nor is there surgery to implant a new method.  We learn to live out our faith by practicing, practicing, practicing.  When we give an unkind response to someone, we have to practice how we could have spoken differently.  When we are in situations unbecoming to Christ, we have to think through, and practice, how to avoid the snares again.  When we are letting our own comforts and desires  rule all those around us, we need to practice the humility of Christ, the love, joy, peace, patience kindness...of the Holy Spirit. 

This never comes naturally; it is cultivated.  Practice is the discipline to help make you more Christlike.  So I am going to practice reading the Bible, practice praying, practice serving others.  Betty Stacey, my drama professor, always warned, "the way you rehearse is the way you will perform".  She's correct.  So who will join me as we practice the faith?