A small bird, a hand, and grace
The hospital in our university town is huge and the layout complex, so when I walked in yet one more time for a visit yesterday, I had time enough to think about all the dear people I've seen there in the past few weeks. We've had an extraordinary number of church members in for very serious reasons, and I know I carried much of my compassion fatigue with me. But this visit was different: I was about to meet a healthy baby girl, less than one day old.
The room was dimly lit; the baby and her parents all asleep. I stood still, and soon the new dad awoke, greeting me with the most joyful look on his face. I'm not sure I've held a baby less than one day old since holding my own, nearly 28 years ago now. But this babe, fast asleep, held her hand in the most graceful position: fingers cupped so gently, she might have been cradling a small bird. It was then that I recalled the face of my piano teacher, Grace. I was 7 or 8 when she placed my hand on the keyboard, reminding me to cup my hand so carefully over the keys that I could shelter a bird.
I knew that meeting and blessing this wondrous child would be a moment of true joy, but it wasn't until I saw her fingers perfectly placed that I once again remembered Grace.
The room was dimly lit; the baby and her parents all asleep. I stood still, and soon the new dad awoke, greeting me with the most joyful look on his face. I'm not sure I've held a baby less than one day old since holding my own, nearly 28 years ago now. But this babe, fast asleep, held her hand in the most graceful position: fingers cupped so gently, she might have been cradling a small bird. It was then that I recalled the face of my piano teacher, Grace. I was 7 or 8 when she placed my hand on the keyboard, reminding me to cup my hand so carefully over the keys that I could shelter a bird.
I knew that meeting and blessing this wondrous child would be a moment of true joy, but it wasn't until I saw her fingers perfectly placed that I once again remembered Grace.
posted by Raisin at
6:04 PM
1 Comments:
How lovely! This is the sort of idea that Mr Suzuki would have liked - getting the basics of hand position right at the very beginning is of utmost importance, and it cannot happen by being forced or browbeaten into it (the whack-on-the-knuckles method of piano pedagogy), but by allowing Grace to happen, and natural spontaneous action of the hands and fingers (which bad hand position prevents).
I love it that we sometimes begin the Daily Office with St. Paul's oft-repeated greeting:
"Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ."
And I think of Our Lady, who was full of grace. And of her Son, who is the source of all grace -- "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth."
May this new child and her parents be blessed with Grace and Peace.
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