Photo by: Katy Padgett – used by permission
Exaggeration comes naturally to many of us. We’ve all heard it. We’ve all done it.
On Saturday Night Live, Kristen Wiig’s Penelope character told a room full of people “I invented air so every time you breathe you owe me ten cents and my two best friends are a tomato and Liza Minnelli, so….” Of course, that’s an extreme example; none of us would ever say anything so exaggerated because none of it could ever be demonstrated to be true.
Except that, after the room emptied, Liza Minnelli burst in… holding a tomato….
So – what happens if you CAN back up what you are saying?
Big Shot
During a master class held at Vanderbilt University in January 2013, a young student stood up in the back of the room and told legendary piano man Billy Joel that his favorite song was Joel’s New York State of Mind, that he’d been doing gigs in a band with Joel’s saxophone player in New York City, and that he wanted to do the song with him.
This level of chutzpah created a low stir in the crowd. Joel seemed to be considering the request, but when the young man said, “I would accompany you, that is…” the crowd reacted strongly to such confidence. Joel shrugged and said “OK”, and the crowd ate it up.
It got better.
Joel threw some questions at the young man as he came up to the stage. “What do you play? You play piano? What key do you do it in?”. To the last question, the kid responded, “What key do you want it in?”
Oh, yeah. This was going to be GOOD.
As the student sat down at the piano, a palpable buzz rose in the room because he couldn’t back out, he couldn’t take it back. He told a recognized master of the craft not just that he could play his song with him, but that he could do it any way Joel wished on Joel’s own instrument.
Excellence isn’t something you can hold on to; excellence can only be released. When excellence is claimed, there has to be a demonstration that others can experience for themselves.
Piano Man
The young man began to play. What followed was a wonderfully skilled, incredibly nuanced introduction for New York State of Mind. Joel grinned and put on his Wayfarers as he began to sing. Together, they performed the song as if they’d been doing it for years – following each other’s cues, creating spontaneous riffs and culminating in a jazzy flair. As the song ended, the crowd went wild. Billy quipped (in reference to an earlier question) “And THAT is how you become a horn player in New York City…”
It’s not exaggeration to imagine that most people in the crowd thought the kid was crazy to even ask to play anything with Billy Joel, let alone accompany him on one of his signature works. And it’s also not exaggeration to imagine that, after witnessing the performance, most people in the crowd considered the student to be worthy to stand on the same stage as the master.
What may seem at first to be exaggeration will instead be recognized as excellence once experience is demonstrated.
The kid knew he was good. He had lived the experience of practicing for hours, days, months and years and he had multiplied that experience by seeking out and working with other individuals equally driven to excel. Every moment spent at the keys increased his confidence in his own ability, and when the opportunity to work side by side with the master came, he expressed his talent in a way that left no doubt regarding his claims in the minds of those who experienced that moment. The young man had not aspired to simply duplicate the artistry of Billy Joel; instead, Michael Pollack aspired to reach the level of the master, and to do so, lived his entire life in a New York State of Mind.
Just the Way You Are
As members of the Kingdom of God, not one of us is a mere reflection or a copy but rather a unique expression of the Master actively at work in our lives. Not only do each of us have gifts, abilities and a personal testimony to draw upon, but also within us is Jesus Christ, the living testimony of the perfect example of excellence, as well as the Holy Spirit, the enabler of God’s Kingdom. Within each servant of the Master are the example, the experience and the power to do whatever the Master wills. Knowing this, knowing that we have everything we need to accomplish His will should give us the confidence to dare to express Kingdom excellence in ways that astonish those around us.
All we have to do is live our lives in a Kingdom state of mind.
Experience Michael Pollack’s performance with Billy Joel at Vanderbilt University on YouTube.
[custom_author=Andrew]