JUNE 12-13 -

“I will lead blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along an unfamiliar way. I will brighten the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead of them. Yes, I will indeed do these things; I will not forsake them” - Isaiah 42:16

Alec and Russ had a lot in common even though they lived in different countries and never met – Alec in America and Russ in England. Both were musicians, and both had a wonderful, witty sense of humour – blessings and gifts that brought them through many difficult years. Another thing in common....Alec and Russ were both congenitally blind and had attended facilities and schools for the visually impaired from a very early age. As children they showed an incredible natural ability to play the piano and produce the most beautiful music. When Alec and Russ played, the audience was strangely quiet as they listened to masters at work.

Alec and Russ retained a remarkable skill. They asked their audience to name three notes – any three notes chosen at random, then from those three notes they wove melodies, moving from a march, to a ballad, to a sacred hymn, to a waltz. Beethoven or Wagner may have used those notes in the same way. I never met Alec, just read a snippett of his life story, told by Harleigh M. Rosenberger – enough to identify the likeness with Rus. But I did have the privilege of knowing Rus over a six month period – hum the first notes of a song unknown to him, and he would immediately pick up the note and play the song in full – all the more remarkable because Rus had been premature at birth, and started his life in an incubator where he was over-oxygenated. As a result he was blind, and had the additional handicap of a severe learning disability.

Life gives to each of us certain notes to play, and at times it may feel discordant. Life handed Alec and Russ the challenge of blindness, yet they were able to rise above their handicaps and become fine musicians. It takes a real artist to use the notes we are given and turn them into a melody of such beauty that others are speechless. But it can be done. Not alone though, but by the grace and power of Almighty God – plus a great determination on our part.

“I have within me some known or unknown talent that I have never been aware of,,,,I hold in my mind the image of myself succeeding....and make that image become fact.”

Today's music is “Lord you Keep on Blessing Me” - Primitive Quartet. Click on the picture to listen.