My Friend Dan and The Cello Girl

About once a month I get together with my friend Dan.  I liked Dan the minute I met him.  Dan is a coach, an encourager, self-proclaimed "Josh Hebert Cheerleader" and a very close friend. 

During my day in Bainbridge I had a number of "Ah Ha!"  moments (his phrase) which helped me greatly.  I am still processing our conversation which spanned about four hours from dock to breakfast to coffee and dock again.

Back to the beginning...

I jumped on the ferry to Bainbridge Island at 9:35 and settled in to enjoy the ride.  The ferry ride is an interesting experience.  It's great because you can do just about whatever you want for the 35 minute duration of the trip.  I discovered yesterday that I have very mixed feeling about this freedom.  I get onboard, find a great spot.  A great spot has three things: 

1. Comfort
2. Power Source (I wanted to watch a video on my Macbook and it was pretty low on juice.)
3. A view out the front of the boat. 

So I am in my spot and I notice across the way that the cello girl from the coffee shop 30 minutes earlier is not sitting close to me and is in the process of putting fresh rosin on her bow.  I am thinking to myself that people don't just rosin up the bow for fun, but it is in preparation to play the instrument.  Sure enough she grabs the cello and starts to play. Two things went through my brain...

"Why does she feel like it is OK to play for this "captive" audience "trapped" with her while at sea?" and "She is pretty good and it is truly soothing to listen to a gifted musician play." 

I was torn right down the middle.  I have thought about why and the truth is I don't think it is really that deep.  I think I wanted her to ask permission.  Not sure why, or why she would have asked me but I want her to acknowledge that it is a shared space and she was imposing her wish on the rest of us. The truth is that when those big boats turn they shimmy like mad and it can be a little disconcerting for the occasional rider.  I really don't like boats to shimmy so violently when I am trusting them to get me from one port to the other.   It was actually quite soothing to have the cello playing during the ride.  She was very skilled and played difficult music from memory, which I truly appreciate. 

I wonder how often I miss beauty because I want to be in control.  I promise, I am trying really hard to not go cheesy with this, but there is such a beauty to His Church.  When people are empowered and released to use their gifts we start to get a picture of what the church was meant to look like.  We see Jesus in these moments.  The church paints a more beautiful and more accurate picture of Jesus when people are using their gifts.  The challenge of the leader is to paint such a clear picture of the vision that people naturally see their gift as a tool given to them in order to play their part in moving Jesus mission forward. 

 

Challenging little boat ride for me. 

Thanks cello girl.