Midori

Rachel & I received some last minute symphony tickets on Friday evening. Midori, the great violinist, was playing with the symphony, and while I had never heard of her, everyone said she was incredibly talented.

And they were all correct. And yet wrong, because immensely talented doesn't even begin to describe her abilities. I have never seen someone's hands move so quickly and so accurately, never seen such passion poured into a musical piece. I was very impressed.

I couldn't help but think about how many hours she had poured into that violin in her practice. It's so easy and tempting to think that she just picked up the violin one day and could play like that. While I'm sure she has the gifts necessary, those were cultivated with hour and hours of hard, grueling work.

I wondered how this world might be changed if we all worked like that. What if we all poured ourselves into our vocations? We can't all play the violin like she can, but we all have a gift, and if we exercised it for the glory of God with all of our passion and might, I believe the world would be a very difference place.

What is your passion? What is the thing that excites you more than anything when you get out of bed? How can you pour your heart and soul, your energies, into that?