Across Church Street
Practicing Our Scales
Imagine if our walk with Christ, representing his kingdom in the world, were as practiced and pure as Hania Rani’s fingers on the piano keys.
INNtöne Jazzfestival 2021 | Wikimedia Creative Commons
My wife and I used to lead a small group for young adults ⏤ the Friends and Followers group. I often talked about the need to ‘practice our scales.’ That meant returning to a short list of essential statements that would (hopefully) guide our formation. The idea was that if we really worked at practicing these ‘scales,’ they would become embodied. Lately, I have been studying Hania Rani’s piano genius. I share an example below. Imagine if our walk with Christ, representing his kingdom in the world, were as practiced and pure as Hania Rani’s fingers on the piano keys.
Good posture
Above everything, bow down in worship and take hold of God’s grace.
Want to be healthy and avoid injury? Pay attention to your posture.
I mean your spiritual posture.
Wherever God places you, whatever he gives you to do, two things:
Bow down.
See God's majesty. Recognize his worth. Remember that he alone is all-knowing, all-powerful, and good. Surrender. Trust him.Take hold.
God is offering you everything you need for this moment. Take hold of it. Stretch out to receive it. Jump up to pull it down. Possess it.
Bow down and take hold. This is faith.
How many times have I bowed down, but failed to take hold of the grace I've been promised—moving timidly in my own strength?
How many other times have I taken hold of something God has given me, without first bowing down—and the 'tool' intended for blessing has become a weapon in my hands?
Pay attention to posture.
Born poor, reborn rich
Thanks to the Cross, I've been reborn into 'old money'—family wealth and security, connection, acceptance, and power, going way back.
At our church, we practice a discipline called My One Word. Each year we ask God for a word by which we will look for his work in us for twelve months. This year my lens-word is possess. 'Possess' is about taking hold of everything God gives me in Christ Jesus.
Four months into the year, I make three observations:
1. I think the word is too big. It's like Christmas morning when you receive too many gifts—when you want to stop opening and fixate on the gift you just unwrapped. But everyone else in the room is prodding you to move on.
2. I've seen again that I was born poor and reborn rich. Apart from these 'gifts' I could only feel disconnected, ashamed, fearful, insecure, unstable, rejected, vulnerable, insignificant, hopeless, victimized, defensive, and unsettled—that is, if I couldn't find something to distract me. But now I have moments—more and more moments—when I get that I've been reborn into 'old money'—family wealth and security, connection, acceptance, and power, going way back.
3. There's an ever-present danger of focusing too much on the 'gifts' and too little on the Giver.
Eight months to go with this word. And a lifetime to possess these gifts.
- love
- friendship
- beauty
- thankful
- attunement
- communion
- discipline
- video
- hope
- hania rani
- holiness
- serving
- seth godin
- dean sherman
- across
- covenant
- music
- eternal life
- justice
- embodiment
- wonder
- gracious
- hesed
- welcome
- poetry
- rest
- image
- brokenness
- disruption
- invitation
- companion mode
- resonance
- steadfast
- observer mode
- framework
- pastoral
- oneness
- caritas
- difference
- shalom
- john stott
- worship
- status
- care
I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.