Don’t quit; just keep playing

A wonderful story is often told about an incident in the life of Poland’s famous concert pianist, Ignace Paderewski. A mother took her small child to a concert by Paderewski to expose him to the talent of the great pianist. She hoped as she did to encourage her son in his piano lessons, which he had just begun. They arrived early at the concert and were seated near the front. Standing alone on the stage was a marvelous Steinway grand piano.

As they waited for the concert to begin, the mother conversed with the people beside her. Eventually, eight o’clock came, and the lights started to dim. Everyone turned their attention to the stage and the grand piano. The mother looked up and was suddenly horrified. Her son was sitting at the piano and banging out with one little finger, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” “Oh no,” she thought, “How am I going to get him down?” As she began to make her way to the platform, Ignace Paderewski himself appeared on stage. He went over and sat down beside the child.

He whispered in the child’s ear, “Don’t quit; just keep playing!”

As the little boy continued to pluck out the simple melody, Paderewski 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. Together, the old master and the young novice created a masterpiece that held the crowd mesmerized.

New Years Day is quickly approaching us, and with the beginning of the new year comes a tradition of becoming a new person. But did you know that 80% of people drop their resolutions that they had been so committed to keeping by the second week of February? Oftentimes, people feel guilty because they failed to keep their resolutions or realize that the goals they set for themselves were too high. Faced with disappointment, it seems easier to cut your losses early instead of muddling through a year of broken promises. This pattern appears evident not only when it comes to optimistic oaths at the beginning of the year, but also in our attempts to become more diligent followers of Christ. It’s HARD to walk in the footsteps of the only perfect person who’s trodden the earth.

Knowing that we would easily be overwhelmed by the seemingly immense goal of following His gospel, Jesus Christ reminded us that “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” (Alma 37: 6)

In the past month and a half, I helped put together and performed in a Christmas youth choir concert. At first, I was just asked to play a solo piano piece. But as time went on, I was then asked to be an accompanist to the choir, then to help organize and run the entire production. I’m not going to lie. I had ZERO faith that the performance would be ready in time to perform it, much less polished enough to bring the Spirit to those who came to listen.

Our practices were a mess, people hardly showed up to them, we were still ironing out details in the musical arrangements half an hour before the show, and it seemed like an all-around disaster was imminent. Discouraged and embarrassed after a particularly rough practice, I vented my frustrations to one of my friends, who wisely listened to all my worries before responding, “Avery, you’re forgetting about the ‘but Jesus’ effect.” Curious, I asked her to explain further, but she just smiled and said, “Just wait and see how the concert turns out.”

It was a huge success. I don’t understand how or why, but somehow our amateur musical efforts were transformed from earsplitting attempts at harmonies to beautiful and emotional swells. Somehow, all the soloists performed their pieces flawlessly, even under pressure. Somehow, the measly attempts made by sincere disciples were magnified into a miracle.

I often feel like the little boy at Paderewski’s concert – doing my very best, but even then, only pecking out a simple tune. However, with the encouragement and help of the Master Pianist, our simple tunes can become glorious melodies. Jesus appreciates our efforts, no matter how small. He takes those minute attempts and magnifies them as we could not on our own. This New Year (and every day following it), try not to be discouraged as you attempt to improve yourself. Try not to feel guilty or broken when you fail to live up to your promises. Jesus takes the pieces we can give, and through the “but Jesus effect,” fills in the rest to create a masterpiece. All He asks is that we don’t quit and just keep playing.

Avery Palenske is 25/26ths of the way through her K-12 education, and the thought of attempting scholarship applications scares her almost as bad as her fear of tripping as she walks across the stage at graduation. Her goal for winter break is to start and finish four Korean-Dramas (hello pajamas and popcorn) and to get used to 9 AM church without too many tears, but her love of Jesus Christ makes going to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints worth it at any time.