Happy I’m-admitting-nothing Saturday, friends!
I’ve heard it said that the first step is admitting you have a problem.
I’m admitting nothing (at least about my topic today).
Question: How do guitar players determine the ideal amount of guitars to own?
Answer: Simple mathematics—current number plus one.
It’s not rocket science.
I’ve included a photo of my collection from August 2020. Since that photo was taken, I’ve sold 3 of those and given 2 to my grandchildren (one of which will be played in a recital this afternoon).
I’ve also added 3 new ones.
Mrs. Sweetie doesn’t understand why more than one is necessary because I can only play one at a time.
Silly Sweetie!
Something rare happened with my guitar collection this past week.
My most prized guitar (pictured with me playing it) left the house. This is maybe the 4th time in the past 15 years I’ve taken it “on the road.”
If you told me I could only keep one, I’d tell you, “you’re not the boss of me.”
But if I were legitimately limited to one, this one would be it.
Not because it sounds the best or plays the easiest. (It doesn’t).
Not because it has the highest monetary value. (It doesn’t).
Not because it’s the one I learned to play on. (It is, but that’s not the main reason).
It was my dad’s guitar. My grandpa bought it for him from Sears & Roebuck in the late 1940’s.
When I was 9, Dad showed me—on that guitar—the only 3 chords he knew and the rest is history.
In addition to the collection in the photo and the 3 new ones, I’ve had 6 more in the past 55 years. I sold 1 to a friend in Singing Men of Texas, 4 were stolen out of our church in Tucumcari, NM in 1989, and one was destroyed in the fire that destroyed our Harvest Baptist Association office building in 2010.
About 20 years ago, Dad’s rheumatoid arthritis got bad enough that he couldn’t play anymore, so he gave me his guitar.
For me, that 75-80 year old guitar is priceless.
The last time I took it “on the road” before this week was to play it at his funeral in 2020.
This week, for the third consecutive year, I was the worship leader at the West Texas Ministers Retreat.
The theme of the retreat this year was Sabbath and developing rhythms of rest.
I took Dad’s guitar (that’s what it will always be called) and played his favorite hymn “Our Best.”
“Hear ye the Master’s call, ‘Give Me thy best!’For, be it great or small, that is His test.Do then the best you can, not for reward,Not for the praise of men, but for the Lord.Every work for Jesus will be blest,But He asks from everyone his best.Our talents may be few, these may be small,But unto Him is due our best, our all.”(S.C. Kirk, Published 1912)
I shared with the men (most of whom were considerably younger than I), that a lifestyle of chasing whatever is new, shiny, high impact—whatever promises to take us farther faster—is actually an impediment to giving the Lord our best.
Just like this old guitar, we all have access to some ancient practices and some seasoned saints who have much to offer in helping us learn to walk in step with Jesus.
My hymn text today is a reminder that Jesus is life. Our challenge is to live in His name, in His ways, at His pace.
Ok, maybe I will admit that this is often a challenge for me.
A friend texted me recently that he heard an interesting perspective on the word “Godspeed.”
It is learning to live at the speed of God—“God’s speed.”
I like that a lot.
Not too slow.
Not too fast.
Walking in step.
Godspeed and be amazing today, my friend.
