聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 The story is told of a little boy whose mother took him to a Paderewski concert.聽 He slipped away, made his way to the platform, sat at the piano and began to play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."聽 When Paderewski saw this he went to the piano and whispered to him, 鈥淜eep going.聽 Don鈥檛 quit, son.聽 Keep playing.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 ThenPaderewski reached down with his left hand and began to fill in the bass part. Then with his right arm around the little boy, he added a running obbligato.聽Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Whenever we attempt something in God鈥檚 name, God comes along beside us, sits down next to us, and whispers in our ear, "Don't quit; keep playing."聽 Then, with His subtle guidance and able assistance, we suddenly find ourselves making beautiful music both with and for God, and enriching the lives of ourselves and of others as we glorify God. 鈥淚 can do everything through Him who gives me strength鈥�聽(Phil. 4:13).
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In a homily 鈥淓very Soul is kissed by God鈥� Brendan McGuirerefers to the tradition in the Catholic Church that when a person is created, God kisses their soul and then sends them forth into the world. 鈥淓ver since that kiss,鈥� he says, 鈥渨e yearn for another kiss from God. We can never unlearn it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That restless yearning is described by St. Augustine, "Our soul is restless until it rests in you." Theologian Father Ron Rolheiser puts it this way: we have a holy longing within us; we are never, ever complete until we are in the presence of God, and everything we do is an appeasement of that longing.鈥�
鈥∕cGuire suggests how we will find our way back to God鈥檚 presence, and that is through God鈥檚 gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate GPS that will guide us right back to the Lord. Then our mission is to share that gift, and the joy with others. But we have to find a way to listen to the Holy Spirit.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It is not always easy to respond to God鈥檚 call or even to discern it, but we need to go on doing what we are doing with faith that God will use our little effort and multiply it. 鈥淔aith is one foot on the ground, one foot in the air and a queasy feeling in the stomach.鈥� Mother Angelica
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I have been fortunate in my pursuit of spiritual writing, and I use this to illustrate how God can work through us. After writing over 1,000 articles I still am amazed at how those words reach into little corners to someone who needs to hear them.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As we use our gifts, in our clumsy human way, we should listen for God鈥檚 whisper, 鈥淜eep playing鈥�, as God adds the accompaniment to our symphony of life.
