I relaxed on the couch this Sunday afternoon as my oldest was drawing with chalk on the concrete in the back of our house. It wasn’t until later in the day that I saw the drawings and told Samuel how proud I was of him. “It’s you, Daddy!” Well, that warranted another look and a snapshot. I’ve been looking at the picture for a while now and it just makes me smile.

“[The Son] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” – Colossians 1:15

My friend Pete sent me a message today about the possibility of a piano for free. I’ve been half-heartedly looking for one. Can’t really afford a proper one at the moment, but I’m interested in getting something semi-decent for Samuel to start learning on if he wants. Anyway, Pete did some research for me and found the following info about the brand of the piano, which I found very amusing:

Out of 7300 brand name pianos produced, Currier is considered second from the bottom in quality. Only one other piano ever made (Kincaid), is considered worse in touch, tone, serviceability and musical enjoyment … I normally don’t relay such information about an individual piano, but these pianos are considered among musicians and technicians as P. S. O.’s. (Piano shaped objects) The scaling and design does not allow for anything close to a “good tuning” and some pieces simply can not be performed on these pianos because of the remedial actions they have. (found here)

Anyway, it reminds me of the 3 little words you see in the top right hand corner of this blog, a phrase I’ve taken as my life motto – “Esse Quam Videri”. It’s Latin for “to be rather than to seem to be”. It’s the motto of the state where I was born (North Carolina – go Tarheels!). It’s the motto of my alma mater. For me personally, it’s a call to integrity and excellence as a musician and a follower of Jesus I don’t wanna just appear or sound to some to be a good-enough musician – I want to actually be one. More importantly, I don’t want to be a J.S.O. (a Jesus-shaped object); I want to have the authenticity – all the inner parts and mechanisms, I guess you could say – of someone whose life is tuned by God.