After years as a pianist at several small churches, sudden requests from the pastor didn’t scare me anymore. At least not too much. I would just be sitting there at the piano bench after all the congregational songs, after the offertory and the choir anthem, after the sermon and the invitational song – all relaxed and ready to play a quick, bouncy hymn to let people know it’s safe to get up and rush out to their favorite restaurant – when suddenly the pastor turns to look at me and asks, “Could you just play something softly while we wait for the vote to be taken?”
What? Play something? Right now? Something soft? I panic for a second, and then lean over to grab the hymnbook from the creaky shelf beside the piano. I start flipping through the book, the pages rustling louder than the whining of that five-year-old on the third row as I try to find the “something soft” section, aware that the pastor continues to stare at me.
How many times have I told myself to pay attention, even at the end of the hour? Pastors do tend to throw random things into the service now and then. I’m convinced it’s just to make sure the musicians are awake. Of course, I should have read the bulletin, right at the end of the page, where it said, “Vote will be taken immediately following the service.” A vote always means to be ready to play something. Something soft. Perhaps for quite a while, if they forget to pass out the pencils with the ballots again.
Awareness is a key ingredient in preparation.
If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
Deuteronomy 28:13