Great Teachers and Masters

I am one of those people who cannot carry a tune in a bucket.  As a child, I used to think of heaven as the place where I would be able to sing and no one would laugh.  Yesterday in church, I happened to sit in front of someone who has a strong and beautiful voice.  With her behind me, I ventured to try my own voice and found that I could sing if I forgot everything in my own head and just let her voice carry me along.  I actually for a moment thought I was singing quite well.  Then she stopped singing for a moment, and I heard my own weak, wavering, out-of-tune voice.  There was certainly no joy there, but the moment she began singing again, I joyfully joined in, convinced that I too could sing!

In the same way, in taking oil painting, I am under the guidance of a wonderful teacher, one who actually makes my work look good.  I leave every class carrying a canvas of which I am very proud---even though I know what no one else does--- that I could never have done it without his watchful eye and sure hand:  No, you're dabbing it; just push it and pull it gently; make it like a cloud.  Make that shadow darker; here, let me show you.  With him, I am an artist.  Without him, I can do nothing---but I am gradually learning "how it's done."

A good teacher makes the student look competent and imparts confidence.  If I could sit in front of the singer every Sunday, the day might arrive when I could sing without her---although I doubt it.  Still, each day, I would surely grow more confident that it could be done.

The same is true in the spiritual life.  What is not possible to us now---Love one another as I have loved you---becomes possible as we allow ourselves to be lived in and loved in by the Master, the one whose strength carries us beyond our own limited capabilities.  We don't actually have to "do" the loving right now; we don't know how.  We just have to surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus dwelling in us, who alone can love as God loves.  We have to allow ourselves to be carried on His strength, until the day comes that we are confident and competent---not that we will ever be able to love without Him, but that we will be confident that He will love in us and through us, and our own inadequacies will no longer be the bottom line and the definitive answer. 

I can sing; I can paint; I can love----all through the energy, the talent, the wisdom, and the love of the Great Masters!