As parents, we get invited to a lot of events when our kids are growing up. There are band concerts, scouting events, graduation parties, and the occasional fundraiser to support the many extracurricular programs that seem to always need more funds to do what they do. Thank goodness my kids didn’t have to sell Amway rug cleaner like I did.
Recently, Denton Knight, the ninth grade son of friends of ours, came up with what I think is a brilliant, yet slightly quirky idea. He held a private bass concert to support a local center for the homeless. And I’m referring to the orchestra bass, not the fish.
It all started as part of the confirmation process at his church. The project is based on the Parable of the Talents, which essentially suggests that we should take what we’re given by God and do more with it. Denton was to take a small amount of seed money and turn it into something more, or better. He took the idea of “talent” seriously and felt that he should use his own talent for good. He conducted an inventory of his talents and determined that what he knows best is how to play an upright bass. So, he decided to hold a concert to raise money for the homeless center.
He enlisted the help of two other bassists (who knew there were so many?) and turned his living room into a small-scale and less acoustically engineered Carnegie Hall.
And it worked.
It was a delightful afternoon of classical music, hot coffee and delicious baked goods that Denton helped prepare. Plus, there were a multitude of professional-looking bows by the performers as the audience of friends and family applauded the performances.
So what’s the point?
What if each of us not only discovered our true talents but used them for good? Heck, what if we simply used our talents more effectively in our day-to-day work? Either way, I bet we’d make the world a better place. When we connect our gifts to our purpose, it’s amazing what we can do.
I must admit, I wasn’t really excited about spending my Sunday afternoon listening to a group of ninth graders play their stringed instruments. My daughter played a violin and stringed instruments are just not very forgiving of an inexperienced errant bow position. But the longer I sat there listening to the classical solos and duets, the more I realized I was witnessing something much bigger. I was watching a young man applying a life lesson that had the potential of making a huge difference in his life and the lives of others.
BASSically, that’s pretty cool.