A mother, wishing to encourage her son's progress at the piano, bought tickets to a performance by the great pianist Paderewski.

When the evening arrived, mother and son found their seats near the front of the concert hall and beheld the majestic Steinway Concert Grand Piano waiting on stage.  As mother began talking with a friend, nearby, the boy quietly slipped away.

Promptly at eight o'clock, the lights in the auditorium began to dim as simultaneously spotlights on the stage gradually came up ... and only then, did the mother notice her son sitting on the piano bench, softly, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

His mother gasped as the audience softly stirred and some chuckled, but before mother could retrieve her son, the master appeared on the stage, went quickly to the grand piano, and whispered to the boy:

"Don't quit.  Keep playing."

Leaning over the boy, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a beautiful bass accompaniment.  Then, after just a few bars, he reached around the boy with his right hand and improvised a delightful obbligato.

Together, the old master and the young novice held the surprised crowd mesmerized.

Is this not the situation in each of our lives?  Unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who surrounds us and enfolds us with His love and whispers in our ear time and time again:

"Don't quit.  Keep going."

As we do, the Master fills in what is missing, augments, and supplements our meager efforts until work of amazing beauty is created.