It all started when Brian and I joined our friend Shelly to go to the Eugene Symphony. Yes, Eugene has a symphony. Potheads AND culture, all in one! The best part about going to the Eugene symphony is that you can wear jeans, possibly even ripped jeans, and no one cares.
Anyway, besides my husband's affinity for classical music, which I accompany with a smile, but not near the level of enthusiasm, we also went to this particular performance because of a hot, young female cellist, Alisa Weilerstein. I had never heard of this girl (and I say girl, because she's younger than I am), and both Brian and Shelly were excited to see her play, so I went along with an agreeable shoulder shrug.And the music was amazing.
But I was struck more by the transformation of Alisa Weilerstein that anyone who was paying attention had to have noticed. When she walked out onto the stage, carrying her cello, she looked like a young, beautiful, dressed-up musician. Put the right dress on me, and I could've done the same thing...walk, don't trip over dress, carry large stringed instrument. Check.
But then, her bow hit the strings, and she asserted her uniqueness boldly - and in an instant.
I had been sitting in my usual posture at a symphony event...comfy, but also teetering on having to start holding back my yawns over the next hour if nothing changed. (Don't get me wrong, the Eugene Symphony is actually really good...this girl can only take a rationed amount of unrecognizable classical music at a time.)
But thankfully something did change! Alisa happened.
I had been sitting in my usual posture at a symphony event...comfy, but also teetering on having to start holding back my yawns over the next hour if nothing changed. (Don't get me wrong, the Eugene Symphony is actually really good...this girl can only take a rationed amount of unrecognizable classical music at a time.)
But thankfully something did change! Alisa happened.
She made me sit up, learn forward...and just watch.
In the moment that Alisa began playing, it was like she became someone else. Or, she became herself. I felt like I saw with my eyes and my heart, a woman who had come to know her God-given gift and was sharing it wholeheartedly in exactly the right space at exactly the right time.
And all this makes me think......if it's not professional cello playing, what is it that arouses this transformation in the rest of us? What is it that makes God sit up in Her chair and smile?
I know we can't all be professional cello players. Or professional anythings, for that matter. But I'd like to believe that God's got big plans for all of us crazy humans. And that at some point in my own life, and in the lives of those around me, I might get to experience and witness what I saw in Alisa Weilerstein that night. Whatever "it" was, made me say to Brian on the way to the car afterward, "Damn. That girl was made to play the cello."
What is it inside you and me that could cause someone to stop and say, "Damn. YOU are clearly made to do THAT."? And how can we support others in the same quest?
