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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for March 18, 2009
“Armstrong, Driscoll, Mangione, Marsalis”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
I traced a really cool picture of Terry Metcalf.
He was leaping over a defender, and I traced it – for a grade school art class.
It was terrible.
And it was the death knell for my career as an artist.
I figured if you can’t even trace, why bother?.
I went to an art gallery in Orlando the other day, and I think they were trying to sell some of my old tracings. Judging by some of their “art,” maybe I could have been an artist after all.
But truthfully, I just don’t think I had the ability to be a great artist.
“Oh, Doug, you just didn’t give it a good shot.”
True. So my backup reason is I just wasn’t that interested.
I was more interested in music, so I joined the grade school band – and learned to play the trumpet.
See, if you draw badly, it hardly annoys anyone. But when you play trumpet badly…
But you know what? Everyone starts by playing badly.
Lord have mercy on the family with a trumpet-learning child, but that’s where Louis Armstrong started, and Phil Driscoll, and Chuck Mangione, and Wynton Marsalis. All of them – terrible – at the beginning.
In grade school we started with a lot of trumpeters, but as the years went by, more and more of them quit. Eventually I even quit.
Recently I reconnected with one of my old fellow trumpet players on Facebook. He said he had started playing again, was playing at church, and was part of a little combo. I told him I really wasn’t interested in playing anymore, and that he was always better than me anyway.
He loved playing trumpet. He was part of various bands and he practiced a lot. He knew all the scales, and could play equally as well with music or without.
Now listen to this. He is what I would call a skilled trumpet player. He played skillfully.
Me? I was just a trumpet player. Yes, I had some ability, but I did not play skillfully, not like him.
What was the difference?
Willingness, for one. He was willing. He had the desire. He wanted to play.
And practice. He practiced a lot, on his own, when no one was making him.
And learning. He hung around with musicians and they sharpened their skills together.
And here’s my point. A lot goes into doing something skillfully. A lot of time and practice and learning and patience and diligence.
Now look at Psalm 33. It’s talking about making music to the Lord and it says, “…play skillfully…”
Just two little words, but it will take you a chunk of your life to pull it off. I bet it took half a decade before I could play the trumpet in a way that didn’t make you want to kill yourself.
And that’s just the bare minimum. And I don’t think this is just for musicians.
I believe God has given us all certain abilities and interests. We have gifts, but they come as raw material.
And now it is our calling in life to learn to do them skillfully. That means willingness, and a lot of practice, and lifelong learning.
My son taught himself to play guitar, and he is constantly practicing and getting better. He hangs around guitar players and they share licks and ideas. And now it’s enjoyable to listen to, even a blessing.
So are you a musician? Than master the craft. Learn to play skillfully, and do it for the glory of God.
And if you aren’t a musician – whether you are an artist or a teacher or a mechanic or an administrator – whatever you are, learn to do it skillfully.
Yes, it may look rough to start with, but don’t give up. Everyone starts rough.
Keep learning and working at it. Yes, it will take a chunk of your life to do it, but the goal is to live up to these two little words in Psalm 33:3, “…play skillfully…”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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