Me and My Drum

All of us have different strengths and talents. Some more than others. God gives us what we need.

I'm sure you - like me - have faced times in your life when you've wondered, "I don't have what it takes. I'm not who I should be yet. I'm not sure I can meet His expectations."

What good desires! Yet, therein we lack an eternal perspective. (As a side note, we might say that the perspective is Terrestrial - still good! But not good enough. We want a Celestial perspective. That's a blog post for a later day).

Yes, it is true that we cannot be enough on our own. King Benjamin taught,

"I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants" (Mosiah 2:21).

How depressing! For the Terrestrial minded, that is.

Nephi balances the equation:

"...it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23).

Brad Wilcox once shared in his talk (reference needed), that the word "we" in this verse is inclusive of Christ. It is by grace we are saved after all Christ AND I can do. In another talk, Brother Wilcox says that life is not about filling requirements, but it is about filling us. I add, that life is not about checking boxes, but about checking our hearts.

Let's look at the heart of the little drummer boy.

Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum

A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum

Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum

To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,

rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,

When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum

I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum

I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum

That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,

rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,

On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum

The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum

I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum

I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,

rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum

Me and my drum.

(http://m.carols.org.uk/little_drummer_boy.htm)

The lyrics of The Little Drummer Boy touch me, because he had not much. But of what he had, he says, "I played my best for Him", and in return, "Then He smiled at me."

God is easy to please. He will absolutely love and adore everything and anything good you give to Him.

He is also hard to satisfy. He will say, "THAT'S SO GOOD! ...can I have some more?"

I love the thrill of playing the piano as a musical item for a congregation. I still make mistakes, here and there. Humbly I speak when I say, I have developed a talent for covering most of the mistakes, so that it sounds normal, and the Spirit is not distracted by the congregation hearing the mistake. I still say, after each musical item, "I did my best!"

But the Little Drummer Boy's story is not finished. We have not seen the effect of his giving his drum to the Lord thereafter.

I would guess - as is in harmony with my spiritual thought today - that the little drummer boy received grace.

Now, grace is the enabling power of Christ's Atonement.

This enabling power goes hand in hand with Christ's cleansing power. As the Atonement's cleansing power cleanses us from sin, the Atonement's enabling power strengthens us by changing our nature and desire away from sin.

The enabling power is also known as grace and strengthening power.

Enabling power, because it enable us to do this we would not otherwise be able to do on our own.

Grace, because it is from God, and God is graceful.

Strengthening, because it strengthens us.

That little drummer boy might have very well grown up to practice drumming throughout his life. He might have become the drummer for some popular rock band... I don't know many rock bands, I don't listen to rock. (I was going to say the Beatles, but one of them placed himself above Christ, which is a sore disappointment to me... this is the other extreme of using God-given talents thinking you are above the giver of the gift).

That little drummer boy, in a choice to consecrate his life to the Lord, would have experienced the joy of meeting insurmountable obstacles - then, with trust in the Lord, and pushing against those obstacles, he realizes that the Lord gives the strength and answers and help that we need in the very moment we need it.

We all have a need to understand that we must walk to the edge of the light, obediently going as far as the Lord has told us to go before expecting him to help us with the next step. Why not, in this connection, link the better known and far more dramatic crossing of the Red Sea with the episode involving Joshua and the children of Israel when the time came for them to cross the flood-swollen Jordan River. Notice that in the latter episode the Lord required them to get the soles of their feet wet first before he stopped up the swollen Jordan so dramatically:

“And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

“And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

“That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap. …

“And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were a passed clean over Jordan.” (Josh. 3:13, 15–17.)

“And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,

“Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.

“Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.

“And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.” (Josh. 4:15–18.)

(Neal A Maxwell, Teaching Opportunities from the Old Testament)

Behind my piano playing performances (alliteration intended), are months and years of practice - years filled with frustration, impatience with myself, giving up then trying again. Those struggles are more than worth the experience of playing for an audience, and knowing the Spirit touches many, because I see it in their eyes. I love touching lives.

And so, it is my prayer, that we fear not the frustrations of life - how are we meant to work on our weaknesses unless God plucks the painful strings of weaknesses in our character? I don't know if a string is off-tune until it is played anyway.

Throughout my entire life, for the rest of my life, I pray the Lord stands by me, as I try to give Him the best of me, with all that I have, playing my little drum.