The Surrounding Master

     A mother wishing to encourage her son's progress at the piano,  bought
tickets to a Paderewski performance.  When the evening arrived, they found
their seats near the front of the concert hall and eyed the majestic Steinway
waiting on stage.  Soon the mother found a friend to talk to, And the boy
slipped away.

     At eight o'clock, the lights in the auditorium began to dim, the
spotlights came on, and only then did they notice the boy, upon the bench,
innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

     His mother gasped, but before she could retrieve her son, the master
appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard.  He whispered to the
boy.  "Don't quit.  Keep playing."  Leaning over, Paderewski reached down
with his left hand and began filling in the bass part.  Soon his right arm
reached around the other side and improvised a delightful obbligato.  Together,
the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.

     In our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who
surrounds us and whispers in our ear time and time again, "Don't quit. Keep
playing."  And as we do, He augments and supplements, until work of amazing
beauty is created.

-Anonymous