A Piano Man and His Monkey

Unable to let go of impending work filled with requirements and timelines, I sat quietly, though impatiently in a chapel along with a few others awaiting our host on an obligatory three day retreat. I’d committed to the shortest time required. I considered it a blessing our meeting time ended at noon. After lunch, I’d planned to substitute work I needed to complete during the designated time I was to be contemplative with Christ during our retreat. After all, I could contemplate Him any time I wanted and He’d understand. He’s always around … right?

Morning sunlight through the stained glass radiated dust suspended in the air. Interrupting my busy mind, a priest from Kalamazoo, Michigan … with a small monkey seated on his shoulder, hobbled across the room. Perhaps in his late forties, he used a cane to assist him for a leg he’d lost earlier in life. He silently settled on a piano bench with his back to us while he faced the altar. The monkey hopped to perch on the bench’s edge to stare at us mirroring our stare at him.

Not particularly interested in being there, my expectations were low. The man in a black shirt and white collar plucked single black and white keys, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” An elementary tune, exactly what I expected from a man missing one leg with a monkey. With no fanfare, the padre, fingers traveling the keyboard, transitioned into a complex classical format filling the large chapel with music. A simple theme, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” streamed through the classical form. As a musician myself, I listened with pleasure absorbing his rendition. With ease, he rolled the composition into rock followed by country and western, a little reggae, then on to jazz. He eventually concluded with a soothing lullaby … and … flowing through each piece “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” as I’d never heard it before illuminated the morning. He rested his hands on his lap and silently pondered a Man hung on a cross elevated above us.

I considered the years of practice, frustration, performance, confidence building, critiques, study of style, sacrifice in time, commitment to bypass other distractions, even opportunities for the piano man to be who he is … for him to share this gift, this day from the labors of his talents. Our Lord’s ambassador with a monkey entered the house and I had a free pass along with a few others expecting to sit in the cheap seats and I landed in the front row!

Simplicity is not simple minded. It is the process, the journey to getting at a Truth through all of the chaos, the distractions. It is letting go of God created in my image and realizing I and everyone else is created in God’s.

Parting notes: With 7 whole notes and 5 sharps and flats, man has written millions of songs.
Jesus told 32 parables. Man has written billions of stories wrapped in His words.

Here's one story out of the billions ...

http://www.ted.com/talks/tania_luna_how_a_penny_made_me_feel_like_a_millionaire