Humble Yourself

"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:4

"And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." Matthew 23:12

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." James 4:10

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:" I Peter 5:6

Notice in each of these verses, the commonality: Humility of oneself. I am to actively take part in humbling myself. It is not something that is done to or for me. I am to do it myself. I am to humble myself. What does that mean? It means that each compliment is to be graciously accepted and then put into context. It means that we make a conscious effort to remind ourselves that while we might be technically advanced, we also would not be so without the Lord's help. We choose not to think more highly about ourselves than another.

Musicians generally have a difficulty with this area, and it is somewhat understandable. Yet, we are commanded to do this as Christians. I like the way David Guzik puts this:

"Humility is demonstrated by submission. It is the ability to cheerfully put away our own agenda for God’s, even if God’s agenda is expressed through another person."

Note one final quote from Matthew Henry:

"Humility is the great preserver of peace and order in all Christian churches and societies, consequently pride is the great disturber of them, and the cause of most dissensions and breaches in the church."

So how can we be confident in who we are, proud of what we can do, and yet still maintain a level of humility? By serving others, by submitting to authority with sincere joy, and by thinking of others more highly than ourselves!

Blessings,
Frank

Raising A Standard

As many of you know, I am often lurking on various drum forums all over the internet. One of my favorites is the House Of Drumming, created and moderated by Steve Holmes. There are many excellent drummers there who often can be found giving away great wisdom to other drummers. One such example came from Andy Vermiglio in response to a question that I posed some time ago. Here was the question and here was his reply:

"I was just wondering how it is that you judge your own performance. What things make a great performance and what things make for a lousy performance?"

Good questions Frank. (Thanks Andy;)

Here are a few questions that I try to answer when I play:

1) Did I set up a comfortable environment for my bandmates to play well?

2) Did I set up a challenging environment for my bandmates to play better than they think they can?

3) Did I play in such a way that I was responsive to the musical leadings of others on the stage?

4) Did I communicate well enough so that others were following me through various emotional stages of the tunes?

5) Did I play soft enough for everyone to hear themselves well and loud enough so that no one got lost?

6) Did I know the forms/phrases/breaks of the song?

7) Did the audience get in on the communication on stage? Did they experience something really enjoyable, creative and perhaps pleasantly unexpected?

Andy Vermiglio
Senior Hostboard Member, HOD