As a former piano teacher for many years, I cannot help but give advice occasionally. So I was listening to a young student play one day, a beginner actually, and noticed that he had a problem with his finger numbers. If you will notice on your own hands, if you hold them out in front of you, they run the opposite from each other, with both thumbs in the middle. So in piano, where playing with the incorrect finger can keep one from increasing facility and smooth playing, knowing which finger is which is fundamental. I have always taught my beginners the little saying, "Tommy Thumb is finger 1, finger 3 is tallest finger, finger 5 if smallest finger." Then I have them hold their hands together so that the fingers of each hand match, and count 1-2-3-4-5, moving the correct finger of each hand with each number. Then when they spread their hands apart, they can see that the hands are mirror images of each other and do not run in the same direction. It worked for forty years with countless students.
So when I saw this little guy playing fingers 1—1—2-3-4---, when he should have been playing 5—5—5-4-3---, I knew he had not gotten the memo, so to speak. After he finished playing (the whole left hand backwards), I applauded and complimented his rhythm and his touch and then asked if I could show him something. He was an amenable little guy, so we went through the Tommy Thumb rhyme a couple of times, along with the rest of the routine. He looked at me long and hard, then started playing again and played exactly the same thing—wrong. Then he got up from the piano and flounced off, stopping only to turn around and say, "My thumb is NOT Tommy!"
I must say that I laughed. It was funny. And it was new for me, something that had never happened before. But then, maybe it had.
A long, long time ago, God sent the prophet Nathan to tell King David a story as if it were real. After hearing the story, which I am sure you have all heard (2 Sam 12:1-6, just in case), David was incensed. He pronounced an instant judgment on the evil man Nathan had spoken of. You see, he didn't get it. His thumb was NOT Tommy. Finally, Nathan had to say, "Thou art the man" (2 Sam 12:7). When it's YOUR thumb, when you are the one being talked about, the picture which had been so very clear, suddenly becomes muddy. We are all prone to it.
The most difficult part of studying the Bible is, and always has been, applying the message to oneself. No one wants to admit wrong, especially when it becomes crystal clear exactly how wrong one has been. James talks about looking in the mirror and then walking away without changing a thing (James 1:23-24). If I see my hair is a mess but don't brush it, if I see mustard on my shirt but don't change it, if I see green in my teeth but don't brush them, exactly how much good did it do to even look in the first place? That is exactly how much good Bible study does for us when we won't apply what we hear.
The little guy I mentioned is playing quite well now. He eventually got the message that his thumb was indeed Tommy. What messages are we missing?
As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it (Ezek 33:30-32).
Dene Ward
So when I saw this little guy playing fingers 1—1—2-3-4---, when he should have been playing 5—5—5-4-3---, I knew he had not gotten the memo, so to speak. After he finished playing (the whole left hand backwards), I applauded and complimented his rhythm and his touch and then asked if I could show him something. He was an amenable little guy, so we went through the Tommy Thumb rhyme a couple of times, along with the rest of the routine. He looked at me long and hard, then started playing again and played exactly the same thing—wrong. Then he got up from the piano and flounced off, stopping only to turn around and say, "My thumb is NOT Tommy!"
I must say that I laughed. It was funny. And it was new for me, something that had never happened before. But then, maybe it had.
A long, long time ago, God sent the prophet Nathan to tell King David a story as if it were real. After hearing the story, which I am sure you have all heard (2 Sam 12:1-6, just in case), David was incensed. He pronounced an instant judgment on the evil man Nathan had spoken of. You see, he didn't get it. His thumb was NOT Tommy. Finally, Nathan had to say, "Thou art the man" (2 Sam 12:7). When it's YOUR thumb, when you are the one being talked about, the picture which had been so very clear, suddenly becomes muddy. We are all prone to it.
The most difficult part of studying the Bible is, and always has been, applying the message to oneself. No one wants to admit wrong, especially when it becomes crystal clear exactly how wrong one has been. James talks about looking in the mirror and then walking away without changing a thing (James 1:23-24). If I see my hair is a mess but don't brush it, if I see mustard on my shirt but don't change it, if I see green in my teeth but don't brush them, exactly how much good did it do to even look in the first place? That is exactly how much good Bible study does for us when we won't apply what we hear.
The little guy I mentioned is playing quite well now. He eventually got the message that his thumb was indeed Tommy. What messages are we missing?
As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it (Ezek 33:30-32).
Dene Ward
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