When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place. He came to his home town and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’ And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.’ And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.
- Matthew 13:53-58
My meditation today is a repeat from February 3, 2016. It is my favorite.
This verse reminds me of a wonderful story I heard many years ago “about appreciation in your home town” as told by Peter Schickele on his radio show, “Schickele Mix”. I’ll try to tell the story from memory with apologies to Mr. Schickele.
It seems there was a musician who grew up playing the local clubs and music venues in Harlem(story may have been Philadelphia) in the 60’s and 70’s. Let’s say he played a horn. The man was a musical genius and became a legend in the Harlem clubs. The local musicians at the time frequented a legendary local club and our hero was a regular performer there with quite a following. Let’s name the club “Sammy’s”. Our man was always in demand at Sammy’s, and after his gigs there were many all-night jams with musicians from around the world who journeyed to Sammy’s to meet him and play music with him. His acclaim spread and he was “discovered”. He left Harlem and accomplished great things with his talents.
At some point, Sammy the club owner died and the old regulars and performers made a pilgrimage from all points to Harlem to lay Sammy to rest. Our musician friend attended the funeral and afterward was waiting outside for his limo when one of his old friends and fellow Sammy’s performer ran up to him to say hello. His friend said, “I haven’t seen you in thirty years, where have you been?”
Our man had some time to kill and answered, “I’ve just been doing some things.” He saw that the old friend was truly curious and went on in a humble manner. “Remember, I was asked to appear on the Tonight show back in the 70’s and became a regular on that show.” His friend remarked that he didn’t know about that. “The Tonight show provided me an opportunity to write a score for a movie and by God’s grace I won the Academy Award for Best Original Musical Score.” His friend again remarked that he hadn’t heard that. “Since the Academy Award, I’ve traveled the world touring. Now, I am not performing much anymore. I’ve been able to become involved in some international diplomacy and goodwill efforts. In fact, when I leave here, I’m heading to Washington to meet with the President. He wants me to help raise money for some worthy musical organizations around the country.” His old friend acknowledged that he hadn’t heard anything about any of these accomplishments. But his old friend did know he had attended the invitation only, standing room jam session the other night honoring Sammy and asked how it went. Our friend said he had indeed attended, and was in the audience when the performers and the crowd began chanting for him to get up on stage and blow a horn.
Our friend said, “I had no choice, I had to get up and play but I gotta tell you, I was some rusty.” Then he continued softly, “To tell you the truth, it’s been a long time since I played live, and I just don’t think I have it anymore.”
The old friend said “yeah, that’s what I heard.”
Musical Reflection - See Me as I Am - Terence Blanchard
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