Bravo Maestro

Last night Amanda and I got the privilege of meeting Maestro Anton Coppola. In Amanda's words "He is probably the most famous person we have ever met." Indeed! Before I get into the thoughts that I took away from our conversation with Maestro, here are some facts about him and his life:

• He is 93 and about 4'10" which already makes him amazing.
• As a child, he sang at the Metropolitan Opera in a children's chorus under the baton of the great Giacomo Puccini
• He has conducted countless operas and musicals and composed and opera himself!
• He has many operas memorized, meaning he steps up to his podium, opens to page 1 of the score, raises his baton, and conducts the entire opera without turning a page. This is a magnificent ability if you consider that he must know every note written for every instrument (violin, horn, cello, oboe, harp, piano, voice) as well as the timing of each second, as well as the volume dynamic. Unreal!
• He is Nicholas Cage's uncle.
• His family created the Godfather films and he conducted the score.

Okay, now you have a picture of the magnitude of this man's life. Amanda and I, along with the a few other friends and colleagues, wait outside his dressing room until he invites us in. He shakes each hand as we enter being sure to ask our name and repeat it back to us. After we showered him in well-deserved accolades, he begins to address us with simple words the simply inspired me.

"Are you musicians?" (most of the group responds affirmatively) "Well, things are really bad right now so it's amazing to see young people like you interested in music. Just know that it isn't...hmmm...you know what, I don't want to discourage you. I grew up in the Great Depression wanting to be a musician and everyone discouraged me because there would be no money in it. But you have to do what you feel in here (patting his heart). You have to devote your life to what you are most passionate about, what makes you feel alive in here. I pursued music with my whole life. Looking back I realize that it probably wasn't the 'right' choice. But it is the only choice that made sense in here (heart) and I still love it today. You have to remain true to what you feel in your heart because that is all that will matter when it is all said and done."

Anything a 93 year old says, I am going to latch on to with a fierce grip. These words, however, gripped me. It was amazing to see such raw honesty. "I realize it probably wasn't the right choice." He admitted that the wisdom of those in his life was valid and that the difficulties in his chosen path were far greater than he could have anticipated. Yet it was still the only thing that struck a chord in his heart (pun-somewhat-intended).

My life is a little different from the average 20 year old. Many big choices have already been made, but in all honesty, there are still many open doors before me. How many times have I considered giving in to what makes more sense, seems more logical, and is just more beneficial? One dangerous habit I see in myself and in my peers is that we tend to make decisions based on the needs of the moment and leave our heart's passion aside waiting for everything to "look right" before we begin pursuing it. Perhaps this is a flaw of the youthful. Perhaps it is a flaw of humans. Whichever the case, it is fatal to defer the drive and zeal we have in our hearts.

Amanda commented on the way home that the reason Maestro was so healthy at such an age probably has much to do with the fact that he has spent his entire life doing what he loves. Being in a undesirable circumstance has a way of draining the life out of us. We have all had to do things we simply did not want to do and most of us exclaim quite dramatically, "This is killing me." Unfortunately, we often do not realize the reality of the lethal effects such a situation may have. If our life is void of passion, it is void. We must acknowledge the dreams in our hearts and pursue them! They are the pulse in our existence. Working a job to make ends meet can be pretty frustrating. However, working a job to make ends meet and seeing your dreams get further rather than closer is the lethal part. What I am saying is that you are responsible to pursue those God-given dreams in your heart that only you know about. Otherwise, you will find yourself empty and resentful in everything that you do.

Be warned, however, that even the life of your dreams can be quite a nightmare. Do not idolize your dream. Every path in life has dark, dark valleys. In fact, that is the whole purpose behind what I am saying. When you find yourself in a valley on the path of your dreams, you may feel like giving up. Yet in that moment, the one ray of hope that can get you through is the realization that "I am made for this."

Maestro's words reminded me of Paul's charge to Timothy. Paul has literally spent his life ministering the Gospel. Yes, he had to make tents on the side to support the ministry, but I can just see Paul biting his tongue as he fashioned those tents considering each one as the funding for one more soul to be saved and reminding himself, "I am made for this." Paul has been beaten, mocked, rejected, abused, and sentenced to death. In his last days before execution, Paul begins to communicate with a vibrant and hopeful young pastor named Timothy. He could have very well told Timothy, "Turn back while you can. Pursue law or farming and make a decent living, raise a family, live a comfortable life, die at an old age. The ministry has bucked me and then trampled upon my head. It is exhausting, frustrating, and painful." Yet, like Maestro did in front of me, I believe Paul still felt a flame in his heart when he pondered his life's passion of preaching the Word. He honestly and boldly exhorts Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-5:

"You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant."

After nearly drowning in the ministry, Paul confidently looks back at Timothy and beckons, "Come on in, the water is fine!" He doesn't say it will be easy. He doesn't say people will respond well. But he DOES say that Timothy is called to serve in this way. He DOES say that Timothy is made for this.

Cue Maestro quote: "You have to remain true to what you feel in your heart because that is all that will matter when it is all said and done."

Please, consider your dreams well. Do not defer them any longer. Even if you can only take baby steps like journaling about what you want to do or making a five-year plan for how you might get your dream started-DO IT! By at least actuating our dreams we find meaning and hope to draw from in everything else. Knowing your purpose fills you with a sense (which means a motivating awareness) of purpose.

As all this is reeling through my head, Maestro concludes his brief but profound monologue. Then with the bravado that only a man of his status could carry, he looks at us and sharply says, "So, good luck and good bye."

Bravo Maestro...bravo.

God on I-4

I commute. My home, my job, and my school are 52 miles apart from each other resulting in a 104 mile commute-5 days a week. I am not complaining, believe me. I love the drive time and how it gives me a great excuse to just sit back and enjoy an hour and a half of my life. I think all kinds of thoughts. I sings ALL kinds of songs. In fact, most of the foundations of my relationship were laid somewhere between mile markers 38 and 58 on I-4. (Anyone trying to work on your relationship should try commuting with your significant other since you are forced to gain good communication when you are stuck in a car doing 70;) This past week I was driving by myself and God started showing me some things that I wanted to write about...

The drastic weather here in Florida lately has notably effected the landscape. In other words, everything is brown right now. Much of the grass that runs alongside Interstate 4 is dry and dead and the trees stand bare like ominous skeletons cheering on the chaos of rush hour. Driving home a few days ago I noted how bleak everything looked. Then God showed me something. Now whether He organized these events for me to see or heightened my awareness to see them I do not know. All I know is as I looked at a tree void of leaves, I noticed how all that was left was the moss that hangs from the branches like droopy sackcloth. As I watched, a beautiful bird, perhaps an eagle (pardon my incompetent ornithology), swoop down and grasp all the moss that it could. The majestic creature soared alongside my car for a few moments until it reached a half-completed nest further down the road. It added the new addition to the work-in-progress and I smirked at how there was such purpose for something I thought was so uselessly ugly.
A few moments later I saw the fields of brown grass that are usually filled with grazing cows, void of any signs of life. Dead grass does no service to hungry cows. A few moments later I passed a row of trees that were dead on the top but had lower branches that were regaining their green vitality. I then saw cows with necks raised up, eating leaves from trees. Cows eating from trees!! Perhaps my child-like attitude towards life attributed more amazement than necessary, but I am still in awe over that sight.
How many times has this dumb cow looked at the grass of my life and fretted over the lack that I see? How many times have I stressed about how everything would work out? How many times have I neglected to see the purpose in moss and low-branches? This is a long passage, but please read it openly. Jesus said in Luke 12:
"Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can't even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don't fuss with their appearance—but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself."
Jesus has a way of lovingly stopping us in our tracks doesn't he? According to Him, if we worry, it means we don't really know God. Ouch. We must be steeped in God-reality, seeing things the way He tells us to see them. Where others might see a dry and barren land, we must be the ones gazing upward for manna and looking to rocks for water. When others are looking at the mountains of economic and circumstantial impossibility, we must be the ones who look BEYOND the hills to where our help comes from. If you know your Father, you will trust Him. I need to get to know Him more...perhaps you do too.